JamesT

I should also add that if you only have a few to do and don't expect any more to come along then it might be most economical to get a photo lab to scan them for you.

Hi Fogey, The challenge is that flatbed scanners are not really designed for handling things on the scale of 35mm film. Epson's V800 and V700 do a passable job, as does the HP9000. However a dedicated film scanner (I have a Nikon Coolscan V) will generally be significantly better — but they can't do anything else. The Nikon scans at 4000dpi and that is actually meaningful resolution, and gives about a 20Mp scan. Most flatbeds claim higher resolution, but the results don't have that much information. When scanning medium & large formats I scan at the max physical resolution and then bin by a factor 2 (which gives better actual resolution than scanning at half res from the start). I use VueScan, partly because it's the only really usable solution for Linux (Xsane is very hard to use for negatives), but also it's a good deal cheaper and has a better upgrade policy than most others. Definitely to be avoided are those little 10Mp cheap photo scanners that scan to an SD card rather than connecting to a PC. I've not tried it but scanning with a DSLR (or mirrorless camera) and a holder such as the Pixl-Latr is also an option. Hope this is useful, James

Amazing little critters. At first I thought you had done a selective desaturation, but then I saw the lichens were also coloured. You'd think that with that much contrast to the surroundings they'd be very vulnerable to predation.

A very tame robin, a couple of seconds after this shot he had flown up and landed on the lens hood. Grey heron Great-crested grebe Little grebe and a cormorant drying off (love the metallic sheen on the feathers).

Nice shot. I can't do that, at least not if it's sunny. The kitchen window faces south and the glare is so bad that I can't see anything outside when the Sun is low.

Just for a bit of fun, using the G'Mic pencil filter in Gimp on one of the Fly Agaric photos. Also added a touch of colour to the caps.

I was working at NSO Sac Peak in New Mexico at the time and we had a public viewing session on the mountain. Looks like I didn't get any photos though.

An interesting take. Was that the 2012 annular eclipse? the crescents look very long.

At Snelsmore Common, mostly Fly Agaric

Thanks, @RyewolfIt was actually the only combination I could think of that might work without having to hunt for my rarely-used ND filter, and a lens for the 70D with a 58mm thread. The Bronica has the advantage also of a waist level finder so not looking directly at the Sun.

ETRS + FP4+, 100mm macro lens + 28mm ring.

Not the best ever shot of the recent partial solar eclipse. Shot with the Bronica ETRS, and a 200mm lens. On FP4+ film with an IR filter, with a bit of a guess for the exposure at 1/125, f/11. Rather surprisingly the combination of normal Pan film + IR filter has resulted in the H-alpha super-granulation being visible. This is quite a severe crop as most of the sky is very under-exposed and just shows dust from the negative.

A couple of quick snaps of last Saturday's sunrise.

For me the beach in the mono version looks a bit washed out, there's some subtle structure of sand and runoff that's present in the colour version but has got lost in the mono.

Great capture. I don't think I've ever seen a woodlouse caught in a spider's web. How do you find the EVF compared with the optical viewfinder on a (D)SLR?

Curlew sandpiper (I think) Actually a ruff. Sheep peckers Kestrel

Sorry to hear that you had a setback, but glad that you are recovering. I'd say Nala found the right family.

Carrion Crow Greylag goose Both at a very low Farmoor reservoir today.

There is a saying that the British and the Americans will never understand one another because the British think 100 miles is a long way and the Americans think 100 years is a long time.

Which was less than 50 years after the Wright brothers' first flight.

Here are some of the more conventional engine shots from yesterday's visit to Didcot. The two express stars (not star class though) were sharing the main line,both seen here passing the mail drop. #2999, reconstructed Saint Class "Lady of Legend" And #4079 Pendennis Castle And then ended the afternoon running double header Meanwhile on the branch line there was Trojan, the 0-4-0 dock shunter from 1897 and converted to fake FP4+ since I didn't have the real thing

Today was a rare chance to see Lady of Legend and Pendennis Castle in steam together (the former having spent most of the summer at Severn Valley). Unusually for me, I decided to go digital and took the 70D and a camcorder (maybe some video and more conventional loco portraits later). Reservoir on the Lady A wheelset from Maindy Hall: This one would be a good "what is it". The inner cranks of Pendennis: Inhomogenious and this idea really went down the tubes (the atmospheric railway)

Interesting set. I do find myself asking what are chain pocket lids? I was also playing about with similar ideas today (not I think as successfully) at Didcot.

I think it's the usual TIPF competition prize: Five minutes of looking at your screen and feeling smug.

Thanks Mark, I'm a firm believer in the idea that old tools and equipment are often as good or better than modern equivalents (and last longer).