Nice pub this - bring your own (or not) and pass the time of day with an interesting group of people.

Long may the thread live.

Mine's a Caol Ila - or a Laphroaig if they haven't got any.

Steve

I've put grips on my all my front line cameras.

For the K series DSLRs it provides a secure home for a spare card and, K7 excepted, a slot for the wireless remote. Invaluable imho.

The second battery is extremely useful if you are travelling and access to 215/240v for recharging the battery is limited or subject to competition with SWLTBO and her gadgets. But you do have to ensure the grip is off when the camera is off or battery life will be relatively poor compared to expectations.

I like battery grips for the added weight which helps counter balance mid to long DA* zooms which are relatively heavy compared to their FA counter parts.

Finally, they feel better in my hand with the grip - and I'll include my MZ-Ss, ME-Ss and LXs in that. The 'feel' aspect is quite personal and others here hate the grips because they make the camera too heavy or too big to handle comfortably.

Steve

i-Berg - had the pleasure of a couple night your way back in Jan 07. Drove round fron Sidney on the Princes Highway. Not the most interesting of drives but saw a lot of Australia that overseas tourists don't normally see.

Found the Melborne road system a bit of a challenge, especially the TAG system which wasn't very user friendly to short stay visitors like us.

Most of my photo's from that trip are not showable on this forum - using a Fuji Finepix 9500 mainly, plus an MZ50 with Velvia and an *ist with Pro 160C (later shown to have a shutter problem that wiped 1/3 of my images out )

Steve

Swop you - last Guiness Premier League game of the season and we should have warm dry and sunny weather. Bath's backs traditionally play best with sun on their backs. So what have we got? Grey skies, intermitant drizzle and a temp circa 9C

Understand it's perked up again in Sidney.


Steve

Only if you want it to be or if it suits your political cause (apt point today when we might or might not be voting in a new government )


Steve

Still shoot film - usually Velvia with an MZS - when on holiday in foreign parts. Shot 7 rolls in NZ/Au last month and that's covering a lot of ground I've already been over. Would have been more but Queenland was very dull when it wasn't raining and not very good for ISO 100 film

Use less film in the UK these days but will take a couple of rolls worth if I go down to Stourhead in the Autumn or West Woods (Southwest of Marlborough) if I'm after bluebells. Again, usually with an MZS but with the FA Ltds attached. I try to exercise an LX as well from time to time. This on top of what I do with the K20 or K7.

Film is a good for your technique - makes you stop, think, compose, check DoF then recompose before you complete the shot. Digi can be a bit too easy - especially if you have the camera set to auto bracket and use AF and Programme all the time (IMHO).


Steve

Not sure it's a class thing - the French are our longest (and most natural enemies). The Germans are well, just a bit too arrogant for our liking - they would say self-confident - plus the lack of a sense of humour

Steve

Interesting concept - English is an amalgam of lots of linguistic influences, complete with vast numbers of "foreign" words. But what constitutes "foreign" - what linguistic root would you consider to be "native"?

Logically, you could argue Cornish/Breton or one of the other celtic languages (Irish or Scots Gaelic/Welsh ) and that Saxon, Norse and Norman French are the languages of subsequent invaders.

The French seem to want to believe their language is pure. Sad really - no language can live in a vacuum as life moves on, new things are created and have to be named/described. If you don't adopt others' words you end up with some quite ridiculous work rounds that serve no purpose other than to pacify the linguistic purists.

Steve

My first digi camera was a Fuji 9500 and I've still got it. Sits in the glove compartment of the car for those rare occasions when you need a camera and you don't have your usual kit with you. It's got an 18-300 optical zoom, so pretty flexible. Didn't use it much in live view and never as a movie camera.


Steve

Pentaxboyo - firmware upgrade worth doing - won't notice any changes until you try to use an SDM lens - then it comes into it's own. Not doing the upgrade will restrict what you can do with some of the best lenses you can get - just as Mat W says.


Steve