How many DSLR users here?

[nickbot]

My style involves anything food-related.

Really? I hadn't noticed!

[phaleesy]

Very nice pictures, nickbot. I like the animal shots but I'm always partial towards animal ones. So good to be able to capture that conducting swan at the right moment!

Your best ever composition is still the 'Rubber duckies in strategic locations' shot, you know!

[phaleesy]

a soft brush with an inflatable handle that blows air through the bristles. works like a charm. cost me about $5 and have never had any issues with it.

That's what I'm using at the moment (which I'm happy with for 1st line cleaning) though many people I know swear by the Giotto Rocket.

I'm more concerned about getting a product for the second line cleaning. I have a habit of getting animal hair/fur and sand in my camera. Animal fur is particularly resistant since it tends to stick onto the sensor.

[haf]

I have to ask, how are you getting a habit of getting fur on your sensor?

basic considerations when swapping lenses:

-turn off the camera
-point the body down when mounting the lens
-protect the area if you can around the body when changing lenses to stop flying bits getting in there
-make the lens swap as fast as possible to reduce exposure time

[N_Architect]

No, no, haf, you just don't understand.

1. phaleesy loves animals.

2. Apparently she loves shooting wildlife as well.

3. As a result of the above, she is sometimes found next to furry creatures.

4. Upon being next to them (by the way, does the same happen with tigers in Africa?), she tries to make them feel more comfortable in order for the shoot session to be successful. To this respect, she opens up her camera (taking the lens off) and tries to explain/show them how light is captured in a dSLR.

5. A typical example is what nibbler has gone through in the last year or so (when phaleesy visits Nottingham during any weekend for a traditional cup of tea with Mrs. nickbot). The excellent training nibbler has received has been so good that the results of him being very comfortable with any photographer's lens are clearly evident in earlier posts of this thread.

Disclaimer: Any of the above given information is purely fictitious (but you should know by now that I love imagining things and putting them down to paper for people who especially like to read funny stories...)

[SQflyergirl]

Nice shots. Crispy sharp and with a point to make.

I particularly like the 'early am walk', 'cobweb' and the last one.

It is clear to me now that after the 'SQflyergirl' photo style, the 'haf' style, the 'kyo+' style, we finally have the 'nickbot' style...

(for those of you who read this and think "What is N_Architect talking about here?" wait till I incorporate the aforementioned shooting styles in my upcoming TRs... )

What IS the SQflyergirl style? SQflyergirl doesn't know herself......

[haf]

lol!

[nickbot]

Very nice pictures, nickbot. I like the animal shots but I'm always partial towards animal ones. So good to be able to capture that conducting swan at the right moment!

Your best ever composition is still the 'Rubber duckies in strategic locations' shot, you know!

Thank you phaleesy I'll have to remember to take along the duckies for my next TR!

Just for you, a few animal shots from the weekend:












Bat, ISO 3200, almost pitch black

...oh, and not forgetting a quick self portrait



Quickly (and fairly obviously) found the 20 mm lens a little limiting within the zoo environment - despite being able to crop, many photos I took look little better than from a straight P&S. Also found focussing through fences with autofocus a little difficult, and manual a little slow for faster moving creatures.

[phaleesy]

Excellent pics, nickbot!

I keep saying I want to go back to South Africa to photograph colonies of meerkats but have not had a chance yet.

Great use of DOF for the frog prince! Now THAT is how a small DOF should be used. Good job, nick. I'm getting rather tired of having to look at out-of-focus pictures which have been so 'fashionable' these days.

[phaleesy]

I have to ask, how are you getting a habit of getting fur on your sensor?

I sleep and work with furry animals? I wear them when I'm cold? My cameras sleep with me too?

When I brought the cameras in to be cleaned, I was asked if I had any pets in my household. Apparently it is a fairly common problem for some pet owners.

[haf]

Loving the animal shots nickbot! Great stuff!

[haf]

N_Architect - you will enjoy this review:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/R...ra-Review.aspx

The guy who runs that site has a review of almost every Canon DSLR and Lens. Even some Sigma stuff too. His reviews are extremely thorough. I would argue more than dpreview and the real shine is in his comparison work between other bodies.

Go make a cup of tea before you read this.

[nickbot]

Thanks guys - I am merely the disciple learning from the masters/mistresses

[N_Architect]

Thank you, haf.

I've actually had that site's address in my Firefox bookmarks for years now (well before you actually told me last summer when we met in the SQT meeting), and have been looking through his info every now and then but not in detail.

From a very quick look I've just had (about to go and make a cup of tea in a minute), seems a pretty detailed review; one however needs to look at this through a fitness-for-purpose perspective, in my opinion. This is a camera that would fit the needs of sports, action and wildlife shooters, and I do not think I am near that at this moment in time. In actual fact I am moving away from this, as I have the 1D Mk II N which I may sell soon - very high fps is great, handling and weather sealing is fantastic, but the existence of the x1.3 crop factor destroys everything for me. Perhaps phaleesy would still be much more interested in the Mk IV, although I suspect she may now be moving away from it as well.

Compared to the dpr reviews this one here seems more 'technical' let me say (something which is not necessarily a bad thing). To be honest I do look at dpr pretty often, but take all their reviews with skepticism and usually only look at their 'Body & Design' and 'Conclusion' sections (these are more than enough for me).

These beasts are fine, complex and rugged tools; they have capabilities and features that the user needs a lot of time and practice to master. As a result, if anyone ever decides to get into this territory and buy such a machine, he/she would need to be sure that plenty of time will be allocated to learn how to use the beast and take the best out of it, something which initially takes your focus out of exercising your creativity. If you are a pro it is different - you make money out of this so it will pay itself in a few months.

My present choice (5D II) is more than fine, but still, at the Mk IV price level I would keep my existing dSLR bodies & lenses and probably put any extra $$$ in moving to another camp, film or not (the "red little dot" club).

[SQflyergirl]

I found this on the net - just brought a smile to my face. Didn't know where to put it so i guess this'd be the place