Dear Amin,

I understand what you are saying, and appreciate that the choice of words was a wrong one. Therefore, whilst standing by the meaning of my post, I am here apologising to Feeb, and her tutor, for the use of the word 'idiot' which was inappropriate and rude.

Nathan

I am really very sorry that you have come to this conclusion Gwyn. I really wish you would reconsider, or at least give it some time, and then come back.


I have been called upon in this thread, and I don’t particularly appreciate being mentioned ‘behind my back’. I often prefer to say what I think, rather than hide it behind futile rhetoric.

Throughout the aforementioned post I did not write with any intention of offending, but rather, giving real and truthful facts and personal opinions regarding the topic that was discussed. I gave my personal opinion like many others did. Both George and Gartmore have tried to do the very same thing, and both of them have faced an inappropriately victimized, immature response, which was deliberately turned it into a personal attack, whilst it was nothing of the kind.

The only time where I personally exceeded in my wording was in this case (mis-quoted by Amin):

“"Pentax as a study camera" - your tutor is an idiot”

So quite clearly, the statement was referred to something that was mentioned in a previous post and not a generalist offence towards the tutor himself. In particular a pentax camera was considered ‘a study camera’ compared to a nikon camera ‘a professional camera’ - which I still consider a stupid opinion.

The thread quickly deteriorated in a ‘cheering with your friends and ignoring your enemies’ where ( I can only speak for myself) I tried very hard to explain that I was not trying to put someone down, but rather give sound advise having been in the situation before. All the ones that tried to explain something giving a different, instantly became bullies, and soon gave up trying to make sense of the argument.

Now, I have been here for a while, and I perfectly know that I can be harsh with my words, and I definitely lack the sensitivity of a mother tongue whilst passionately making my point. In this specific case I was not recalled by any of the moderators for what I wrote, and I don’t think I have written anything out of the ordinary, or of a real offensive nature. Obviously, quoting at random from any posts can show that some real atrocity was committed, but anybody who would take the time reading all the thread would soon understand the real intentions behind the words.

Finally, we live in a society where becoming the victimized part of the dispute has become a trend. It makes one stronger. Shocked spectators immediately sympathise with one’s struggle, and are quick to accuse the other part of rude behaviour, or bad manners, or ever worse wrongdoings. I disagree with this trend, and will not stop giving my opinion when I think this is appropriate, always keeping an eye on both sides of the dispute, in order to try to maintain a balanced view.

Kind Regards to Everyone,
Nathan

Oh Great news, welcome to Dan and Ken, good luck on shutting me up when I get too passionate about some topic!!!!!!!

Its great to see that the forum is becoming bigger and better, and that John and Matt are going to have some more moderators around

Good luck for the future endevours

Nathan

Seriously now, a professional photographer cannot victimse herself because another random person has given her his own opinions. WHat are you going to do when a customer doesn't like a photo you've worked on for days?

What I meant was - Did you read this? It was meant to apologise, explain and clarify.

and that's shot with a Pentax istD - isn't that incredible?

A 6 year old camera, 6 mp, really poor high ISO performance, lucky if you get 2.3 fps, and yet, Gary managed to get the VERY BEST out of it.

Makes you think. Like my previous post should have done.

But thank you for replying.

Regards,

I would be VERY happy to tutor somebody who wanted advice.

I've written and designed a few photography workshops for young people, and these have been very successful.

I would struggle with on-line tutoring though, because of the pain of having to write everything in detail.

I have often asked for advise on this and many other fora around the net, and usually found the answers I needed. I think that a 'intro to photography' workshop is nonetheless an invaluable tool for a beginner who's just starting up, and it would save on about 90% of the queries that are asked on this forum!

I actually think this assumption:

is wrong. I think they are exactly the same.
But I might be wrong.

Feeb, I really did not mean to offend you.

My opinions are mostly due to the fact that I have been in your position, and have (after long considerations) come to a very different conclusion.

I will not need a full frame camera bacause this will not give me but very little differences from an APC pentax. In the type of work you want to do, the very same principle applies. ANd I know because I am doing the same.

Just as for the flash system, your considerations regarding lens range is very inaccurate, and I would be happy to have you try my 31mm ltd, or my DA* zooms, or my 35 year old 100mm Macro - you will not believe the IQ and rendition of these lenses. If you want to believe that nikon lenses are better, please do.

Last but not least; I have considered doing the same move some time ago. I don't know who is paying for your swich, but I would like you to consider this, and consider it well.

D700 - £1730
24-70 f2.8 - £1269
70-200 f2.8 - £1510
SB900 Flash - £330

I don't care about your financial situation, but do consider that high quality nikon lenses are very expensive, and if you are not the one paying for it, I am not sure it is a justifiable expence - seeing that the difference (for you, and me) is going to be minimal.

I am not trolling, or wanting to be rude. I speak out of personal experience, and also, you have asked for this, opening this thread.

Regards,

"Pentax as a study camera" -your tutor is an idiot.

Your uber-confidence in your learning curve and your skills will really hurt you if you don't learn to be a bit more humble, fast. ONce your 'Happy student days' end, you will find out that life is a bit different, and HONESTLY charging £500 for a wedding is a disgraceful undercut on the real wedding phogographers out there. (READ SOME OF THE POSTS ON DPREVIEW IN THE PRO-FORUM - YOU WILL LEARN LOTS FROM IT)

I understand that all students and teachers around you are using Nikons, and taking the piss of your little Pentax. Sometimes (often) peer pressure will really screw with your mind. THey are wrong. the 2 systems are (and I reiterate) EXACTLY THE SAME for 99% of the work you do, in the lighing situation you shoot in.

Flash sync speed is a joke of an excuse for spending £2000

To answer the other smart bloke that showed us amazing live music gigs saying that we're grumpy: this was taken with a poor horrible low light focussing pentax K10 - I am sure its a disgusting photo, and if I had the next photographer's D3, my photo would look SO MUCH BETTER http://www.nathanservi.com/photo_4147738.html

Last but not least, I wish you all the best in FEELING like a pro with a nikon camera, and getting as much work as possible. Your confidence is unlikely to grow any further. I KNOW - first hand experience - that one day you will look back and think - "I was so naive back then" -
but then again, we are young, we should make mistakes...

Nonetheless, good luck with your new system, it will be AMAZING.

Regards, and I really did not mean to offend you, so apologies if I did.


p.s. scotttshehat - SO YOU DO CONTRIBUTE ONLY TO NIKON RELATED THREADS. WELL DONE MAN, GOOD STUFF.

NOpe, its one I bought in a butcher shop.

My wife wanted it as graduation present if she got a 'First' on her degree. And she did

It was awesome!!!!