Graham

Now I have go over the shock of my totally unexpected Nikon D3300 Christmas present and marvelled at the 11 point focusing instead of 3 AND the fact I can shoot above 400 ISO my mind is coming up with what I can do with this thing. I have wanted a prime for some time but never bothered getting one for the D40 so I am now looking again. But finances say that I can only get one in the near future with the possibility of another, or two, later. Question is, what do I go for first to get me into non zoom thinking? I am thinking a 35mm (56mm equivalent) a 50mm (70mm equivalent) and an 80mm (128mm) equivalent) based on 1.6 crop factor. I know it really depends on what I intend to shoot but I am thinking more along the around town and landscape will be my most common subject rather than portrait which I do want to do but not that often. I am thinking that this makes the 35mm the most obvious choice backed up with the new 18-55 kit zoom, which appears to be even better than the one on the D40, as my initial wide angle option. However, I am always happy to listen to wisdom from above :-)

Well, I was totally blown away with my after dinner present today. Great day with all the family around but after dinner, I had to go into a corner and very rudely ignor them as my much better half presented me with a Nikon D3300!!! I had planned to upgrade my ageing D40 later this year but this was an amazing surprise.

My (much) better half has a tradition where we have presents, the usual Christmas socks, Lynx and fun stuff but after dinner, we have our main present. Annoyingly, the rest of the family will not be with us until Boxing day and I have been told that that will be the after dinner day so I have to wait 24 hours...... Anyway, I have hinted strongly that I would like an Off Camera flash gun (Speedlight) but I wanted a manual not TTL or anything, with a light stand adaptor and radio trigger. However, I will not know if the hint was strong enough until Boxing Day...... Oh the agony of not knowing........

Great shot Martyn, well deserved.

Ahh, the Lubitel.... I bought mine from a beach front kiosk at Mabelthorpe on my honeymoon!! I remember taking some dark, late evening shots of fishermen sat around a small lake with their lamps glowing. It actually worked! Not bad, very cheap, but I remember it was so hard to focus. If I remember correctly, it didn't have a full screen for focusing just a centre spot. Just as an aside, the camera didn't last that long, neither did the marriage come to think of it............

Good to see technology being used to benefit animals :-)

I think that this is one of those subjects that people sometimes get so hung up on that they forget something vastly more important. The quality of an image should not necessarily be judged on its technical quality but it's esthetic appeal. When I started in film back in the 70's, Kodachrome slide film at 25 ASA (ISO) was regarded as the sharpest colour film available to the masses. A great friend of mine, sadly passed on many years ago, shot thousands of slides on his Nikons in his home studio at f5.6 which he considered the sweet spot for his prime lenses, he would never have a zoom in his kit as he considered them "inferior in so many ways". These slides were projected in a darkened room to about 4 feet wide using a Leica projector. We're they sharp? I honestly cannot remember. They were in focus and the detail was clear but to be honest, pretty boring two light paper background shot. The only thing of interest was if the subject was appealing or not. At that time, I mainly shot in B&W as I could not afford a colour darkroom. My cameras were the usual subjects for the day starting off with a Zenith and, initially, ending up with an Olympus OM 1 with a couple of lenses. I started using Ilford FP4 but the lure of photo heros like Baily soon had me using Tri X pushed to 1600 ASA to get the grain and contrast. I used this in just about everything from landscape to portraiture and most were printed at 10 x 8 with the odd one at 16 x 20. Were they sharp? Probably not but my focus (pardon the pun) was on getting the grain sharp. One of the things I found then was that people didn't get hung up on sharpness as much as they do now. In fact, it was when the first digital cameras came out that the technical quality of photos was first discussed in the circles I moved in. I well remember being in a great old camera shop in Sheffield and being shown the new digital wonder. Frankly it was rubbish. I don't remember much about it but it was obvious that prints above 5 inches were just impossible. It was at that time that image technical quality came to the for and I got a bit hung up on it. I decided that my pictures were rubbish and I needed the cameras of my heroes if I was to take pictures like them. I had discovered Cartier Bresson and I wanted to emulate his style but I had just gone over to medium format so it was time to revert to the simple smaller 35mm and my heart was set on a Leica. Eventually, in that same shop in Sheffield, I handed over £6,500 and walked away with a small carrier bag containing a black Leica body, a 50, 35 and 135 lenses. It was only as I walked back to Pond Street Bus Station that I realised I had no film! A quick call into Jessops on the way for a pack of FP4 sorted that and over the next few weeks, I shot thousands of negatives on that simply gorgeous camera. The outcome was that the pictures were rubbish, I was gutted and sold on the Leica and my darkroom within a few months of buying it. That is when I gave up for the first time. But it wasn't the camera that was rubbish, it was me. I now look at Cartier Bresson images, still one of my heroes, and realise that, technically, they are not that great. In fact, I would put my 6 mp Nikon D 40 against his Leica and, technically, it would be close but I will never take images as good as him because I am not as good as him no matter what the camera and that is what matters in my opinion. A great photographer can take great photos with anything, me? Well, I will 'upgrade' my D 40 one day as the low light capability is not as good as the the newer 'entry level' Nikons but I will not go for a pro camera as it will not take better pictures for me, I have to learn to do that first.

My better half is a Pharmacy Technician. She also takes Statins. I know exactly what her advice would be. Talk to a professional about your concerns. No criticism intended at friends on here giving their advice but health is not to be messed about with, life is something we only get one crack at. Talk to you doctor AND your pharmacist about your concerns and worries about taking them and, as with any medication, if you have side effects, stop taking them and contact your doctor not just stop taking them. Current Government thinking is that most people over a certain age should be taking Statins as a precaution and an attempt to save money on treating the elderly.

I was in a 'Photographic Society' in the 80's. Not fair to judge all based on one but, never again. Sadly, such organisations, I also have been in modelling clubs(plastic military models nothing for Korky to get excited about!) have been much the same. I don't know why but the same characters inhabit all clubs I have been in. Not the same people but the same attitudes. I suppose that includes me and mine too. I think you have to be the type who will fit in to get anything out of a camera club. From experience, I am not sure all the mutual creeping around other members to try and engratiate yourself upon the old guard is getting on in photography though. Horses for courses I suppose. There must be good clubs out there and if you find one, treasure it.

Great feeling isn't it :-)

Cracking shot that well deserves to be POTW. Congratulations :-)

Always going to be an issue but I have always considered that any picture you post on the Internet is possibly going to be nicked by someone. It is the nature of the beast that online = none secure. Even pictures on here could easily be taken off and used by someone else. I personally cannot see how this will ever change. The law on copyright is relatively simple in that the photographer ownes that copyright. If you see a picture being used without your permission, it is down to the photographer to chase it up. As far as Facebook is is concerned, they are not much different to others. Google, I believe, have similar rules, note sure about Fickr. It is simply down to the individual to either accept or decline. Most pictures I see on Facebook are of no use to anyone anyway, unless they have a cat fetish.

Oddly, I was looking on Amazon this afternoon and they have some great studio flas set as well as single units. Just search for studio flash in electronics and photography

Welcome Jo, I think you have come to the right place.

Thanks again for the very warm welcome guys. I spent a while yesterday looking for a suitable forum to get back into the hobby. I don't think I could have picked a better one.

Proud Grandad, great picture :-)

It's OK, I have moved on....... Almost..... I will get there.....

I know what you mean but there is something 'organic' about clipping a DSLR onto a tripod and getting the flask of coffee out while you ponder the shot...... Or is that just me? Much as I love my Canon G10 which takes gorgeous pics, it just isn't the same somehow.

Lol, I will remember that :-)

Wow, what a great welcome Thanks all!

Here I am with a Welsh friend..... I say friend but she has never replied to any of my letters or emails...... iPhone 5C font camera.

Hi folks. I have been in and out of photography for far too many years. Sadly, over the last five years or so the camera has ben resigned to holidays, birthdays and Christmas snaps. The digital equivalent of a roll of film with a Christmas tree at each end..... Many years ago I learned using 35mm and medium format film cameras but, like most people, digital took over and for a brief time I re discovered the fun of photography. I bought a Nikon D40 when it first came out and never upgraded apart from buying a Canon G10 compact to save lugging the camera bag around. Over the last few months I have been desperately searching for a new hobby that I can do in the limited time I have, no, I am not dying lol, but I do have carer responsibilities and work so time is at a premium for me. I do do a bit of gentle cycling in the Fenland countryside when I can and I usually take my iPhone with me as a camera. I one of those eureka moments, I thought 'why not take the Nikon and a tripod with me on the bike and cycle out with a view to taking pictures rather than just cycling for cake and coffee'. Of course, cake and coffee will still feature, it would be wrong not to..... So my 'New' hobby has been borne and the Nikon dusted off, batteries charged and memory cards formatted. I am horrified to realise how much I have forgotten about using the camera so I am spending quite a bit of time re familiarising myself with the controls and getting my mind back to thinking photos. So, I am looking forward to getting inspiration form this nice looking Forum and learning a few tips and techniques my old brain has forgotten. Mostly though, I look forward to the day when I can contribute and give something back. Still have a few of the pictures taken over the last ten years but nothing before that which are OK but I am keen to get myself out and start doing some new stuff. Thanks for reading my ramblings and hope to get to know you folks better over time.