No - they all look the same (unless you're a mouse yourself!). This was a clever one - sussed the trap and filled it full of nesting materials without getting caught. That was with peanut butter as bait. Choc spread was toooo much for it - probably a 'her' - most females seem to have a strong yearning for it IME.

Location of the hidout wasn't an easily accessed void - fully built in kitchen with no floor penetrations. Mouse would have to have jumped up onto the waste pipe, climbed up the steep incline and crawled through the cavity via a very tight opening. Most likely one of Cookie's (the younger of our cats) hunting prizes that she got bored with.

Trap was empty this morning when we checked it.

Steve

Chronologically:

1. ME Super - my first SLRs. Still have both bodies more than 30 yrs on
2. Fuji 9500 (my first digi - responsible for re-alighting the interest in photography and restraining my bank balance ever since :lol
3. LX
4. Super A
5. *istD (retired from front line work use only this month)
6. MZS
7. K10D
8. K20D
9. K7
10. :

Honourable mentions - *ist, MZ50, MZ3, SF7

Steve

If there was the equivalent of a PU's MBE for services to the community I think you'd be a winner thoughton . Probably one of the year's best links.

Thanks. Having a lot of fun with it.


Steve

The smc A 24mm is a nice lens. It's not that common - bought mine with about a year ago with an understated level of fungal infection and had Robin at Harrow Technical do the clean up on it. I think it stands me in at nearer £200 than the figure you quoted. The BIN for similar lenses was up round £180 then, so I didn't feel to bad about it. Price looks to have softened a bit since - may be more around at the moment?

I've been caught with auction fever - especially for something I've been after. Yep you can be seen to pay over the odds but the value of an item is what someone is prepared to pay for it - that's the chance you take with auctions. Sometimes there are no serious buyers around and you get what you want for well under your valuation. Another time everyone and there dog is after your must have!


Steve

Don't know about the effect on cyrils but chocolate spread is a good mouse bait.

Been trying to catch a mouse lurking somewhere under our corner sink unit - final got it with choc spread at the end of the trap yesterday. Released the captive into the undergrowth whilst cat far away. Reset the trap, just in case it had a friend. Check this morning - another resident!
Released at before.

Check for possible entry points - probably the cat bring us presents in as no route in. Trap reset again.


Steve

2010 was eventful.
March - Brother-in-law had a brain haemorrhage the night we arrived in Christchurch (NZ), our 25th Anniversary return trip down under. Hung on for 10 days then died peacefully with family close by. Then having left Coff's Harbour at an unholy hour for the mad dash down to Sidney to hand back our hire car and get our plane home, a certain Icelandic volcano intervened and we spent another 9 days stranded down under. University weren't sympathetic, so cost me another 5 days leave.

June/July - usual 2 weeks on our favourite corner of Dodecanese paradise - 4th year running.

November - Egypt for someone's 60th (no bus pass/winter fuel allowance 'til next July but she'll survive!) K7 proved to be equal to the failing light at Kom Ombo. Down to 1.5 days leave (all TOIL from call outs) to get me through to end of March.

Bought 2 DA* lenses - 60-250 in late spring and the 300mm this week - finally succumbed to Mifsud's offer on e-bay. Arrived today.

As for 2011 - plans

K5 at Easter, Halki in June and somewhere warm next January (NZ would be good for the Rugby World Cup - but I'll need a lottery win for that so soon after the 2010 trip!).

and wishes

Bath to start winning again. Started well but been all down hill since then.

Both my parents to see in New Year 2011/12. Both pretty remarkable for 82 (even if they are starting to repeat themselves now!).


Steve

I run it on a Core2 2.4Ghz processor with 2GB of RAM, with XP Pro SP3 as my OS, with no problems.

LR3 is quicker than LR2 in my experience. Worth noting that if you add LR3, it doesn't overwrite LR2. So can user either version if you wish to.

If you're a student - can get it as discounted rate also.



Steve

Gwyn - have a look at Greeting Card Factory Deluxe 8 - seems to be a relatively easy to use package for producing cards - covers printing front and back, adding graphics etc. My wife uses an older version for special cards - my images, her imagination etc. Not used it for post cards - do that in MS Word with the reverse side put through my laser as inkjets bleed on the 'unfinished' side.

List price is circa £30 but Amazon had it the other week for £15 with post free option.

Steve

Thoramay - difference between film and digital is like trying to compare a water colour painting with an oil painting. Different media, different feel.

Printers only work to max 300dpi - so at that level, the very finest detail won't get reproduced unless you have very heavily cropped the original image so you're only using a small part of it. Most of us will crop our images from time to time - if only to get rid of stray objects (people in my case ) or to bring a better balance to the final result. It's not usually a drastic crop.

Don't hide your Z1 in a draw - give it air time - shoot Fuji Velvia or Provia - the results are truly worth it. Because it costs every time you press the shutter, it will help with basic techniques because you spend that extra little bit of time thinking about then checking composition, balance etc.

If you prefer negative film, don't be put off from using Boot's processing offer - their disc have a High Res version of each image - can always give them a little sharpening in Lightroom. Works for me


Steve

Another poss spanner in bound....I think the speed the lens locks on in AF may be a bit of a red herring so far as the original target of the lens is concerned.

Isn't the tried and tested method of shooting motor sports based on staying in the same position and using MF and say F8 or F11 to get a reasonable depth of field before/behind the selected focal point? I'm sure I've seen this advocated on this forum.

I use the Sigma 135-400 as my long zoom when I'm overseas. Light weigth compared to the 150-500 and being an older lens, has an aperature ring so I can use it with my MZS. Have used both the 150-500 and the 60-250 at the same time - former on the K7 and the later on my K20D - when at Slimbridge back in August.


Steve