chorleyjeff

I have thought about moving from M4/3 to FF. The only affordable way would be a used Nikon D600/610 or Canon 6D with a 24-105 or 24-120 lens. But after reading reports about sensor quality ( DR same as my Oly EM5), lack of flipping screen, software etc I came to the conclusion that what would really be advantageous would be much more recent technology in camera. That, unfortunately, would be  far too expensive for me to justify given that I , an amateur, rarely print larger than A3, don't do indoor or after dusk photos. Also the weight of FF lenses would feel heavy 3 hurst's into hiking in the hills. So when photo workshops, tours etc resume I will continue to be patronised or ignored by the FF brigade.

On the other hand do what a friend of mine has done - buy Sony A7 mk2 (But now planning mk 3 for battery life ) a few moths ago plus 24-105 and 70-200 lenses for posting on Flickr or camera club comps at 1600 x 1200  and no prints ever.

Perhaps it is a case of former airfields being classed as brownfield sites. If so I can understand why the pressure of population growth in the South of England  would  force planners to accept a very large development scheme on such land. But sympathy for the inevitable uncertainty then disruption.

A great number of people in full time work are getting worse off for money after years of 1% pay rises.

Where has all the money gone ?

Offshore into opaque wealth funds ?    To the well off  and doing very nicely thank you, who want us all to stay as we are so they can  continue  to pass money and privilege down the generations ?

Anyhow the money does not seem to be spread around reasonably evenly or fairly.

I guess the next prime minister will do nothing to even out wealth distribution  the as he grovels to Trump and tries to emulate Trumpian politics.

And that's my rant over.

Ridiculous thing to do. Who says there are no trains that day ? There are trains that are not advertised such as engineers trains or positioning moves. And giving a child the idea that  it is OK to trespass on the railway and sit on the track is potentially a life threatening  thing to do.

On 05/06/2019 at 20:14, Ryewolf said:

Apparently Now TV allows you to watch various Sky channels, you can get a free 7 day trail, which afterwards reverts to a monthly contract of £7.99.....

Thanks for info.  But £8 pm - I'll pass on that.

Anyway of seeing the programme given I do not have Sky ?

37 minutes ago, Hatter said:

No.  The Classic version of Lightroom works exactly the same as the one you have - it would continue to use your existing library on your hard drive.
The "new" version - that you get in addition to the "classic" version stores its files in a new library - both locally on your computer and synced to a Cloud version that you can access on your phone/tablet.  I only use the Classic version.

I don't think there's a great deal of difference.  The new version is faster and has colour range masking.

The Creative Cloud package includes the full version of Photoshop.  I've also got Affinity but I generally just use Lightroom & Photoshop with a few Nik and Skylum plug-ins.

 

Thanks very much for useful info.

Jeff

On 26/03/2019 at 23:44, Hatter said:

Hi Paul,
I'm on the "tenner a month" plan that gives you Photoshop and both versions of Lightroom.
I had a look at the new version of Lightroom... then went back to the Classic version.
The new version is good if you want to store your photos on-line to access from different devices, but I prefer to keep all my photos on an external hard drive.
As you say - plug-ins like Nik don't work on Lightroom CC, which is another reason to stick with the Classic version.

I'll resurrect this thread rather than start another.

Are you saying that I would not be able to access  my LR 6 catalogue which is kept on an external hard drive  ( as are. Backups) and I would have to use cloud storage ? That would very inconvenient for me given that my photo PC has limited internet access and it isusually not connected to internet by choice.

Also what benefits for landscape photos does the latest LR have   compared to LR6 ?

I have got Affinity but find it difficult to learn although the HDR and focus merge are easy enough and LR6 does not have focus merge. And yes I know I could use layers in Elements 11 but find even them difficult although the  theory is not difficult.

Jeff

4 hours ago, Clicker said:

There  seems to be a Youtube  video on just about everything you could think of .. It has now  become one of the first places I look  when i want to know how to do something !

But not necessarily  sensible content.

Have just watched a test between an M4/3 Oly EM1 and Canon 5D mk4 which concluded it was not possible to differentiate one metre long prints of the same subject  taken by those cameras. Can that really be true ?

Jeff

4 hours ago, FUJI said:

They could be ok....but, read the listing very carefully....many are fully manual, having no auto focus....I have a couple...they work well.....the other solution is to see if Youtube has a video or two featuring them.

FUJI

Which is why I referred to  a simple lens with little to go wrong.

I had not thought of the fantastic resource that is You Tube. I shall check.

Cheers

Jeff

Since my pancake 14-42 lens died I need another small lens as a walk round combo with my Oly EPL6.

looking on EBay I came across a new lens as in the heading. Has anyone any experience of this or similar unbranded M4/3 lenses please and if so what are your comments. I like the idea of a simple lens with little to go wrong.

Cheers

 Jeff

Amazingly the lens has sold for£20 + P&P.

Thanks again for advice to list on EBay  -  even though I generally dislike selling on EBay

Jeff

The above lens is usually attached to my E-PL6 for snapshots when out and about walking etc.

This morning I found a problem with the lens. It has ceased to AF or MF ( by wire ) at the long end of the zoom but maybe D of F is making it look OK at shorter zooms.

My 12-40 lens works properly on theE-PL6. The 14-42 has the same problems on my EM10  as the E-PL6.

I have cleaned the contacts on the 14-42 lens. I can see nothing amiss on the exterior of the lens.

I guess the lens is scrap because it is not worth paying a professional repairer to repair it.

But as a last resort has anyone any suggestions about how to bring it back to life please ?

Jeff

Peover in Cheshire

The cat will not starve. Just offer some decent food. The cat will give in if you do not weaken !You are he boss - right ?

1 hour ago, FUJI said:

 

Did the same last year. Sony A580, A58 and heavy lenses cashed in for Olympus EM10 and now four lenses.

A great relief, as an old geezer, not to carry the Sony weight plus flask, waterproof, food etc when tramping the Moors.

I made a good decision,

Happy shooting.

jeff

On 21/12/2016 at 14:49, Phil said:

As FUJI says, tracked, signed for, insured, it's the only way to go with eBay, you just never know.

Hope your current issue is sorted swiftly.

A postscript.

Royal Mail tried to deliver but the buyer refused to accept delivery, then proceeded to lie that he had not received the item.

Tracking information confirms the above.

Apologies to Royal Mail.

The cheating buyer still has his 100% positive rating despite my complaint to EBay. It seems EBay are not interested in weeding out bad buyers and reducing their fees.

And I am still waiting for my Sony A58 to be returned grrrrrrr.

Jeff

On 31/12/2016 at 09:14, FUJI said:

Just prior to Christmas I began to have serious thoughts about upgrading my camera from the Panasonic GX7 to the current GX8, I have all the lenses I like for this format, plus my vintage collection...... To upgrade would cost circa £860.

But as December progressed and I began to rationalise and ponder, plus careful browsing of my bank statements, I decided instead to spend a fraction of that amount on brushes and pigments for my watercolour painting instead......

Both of these very serious hobbies are surprisingly similar, and initial outlay can be comparable, both satisfy creative urges, and both result in work that can be enjoyed by many......

But, I haven't discovered a watercolourists forum (Yet) 

Soo, yesterday and today saw the delivery of 9 tubes of watercolour pigment costing £100 plus, a stock of special paper and a few more brushes added to this total.....still way, way below the cost of a camera upgrade, so I'm hoping that I've done the right thing.

 

QUESTION:

Have any of you been through a similar financial/commitment tussles regarding hobbies and interests?

Now! If I win the lottery soon, that camera upgrade will go ahead ?

On 31/12/2016 at 09:14, FUJI said:

Just prior to Christmas I began to have serious thoughts about upgrading my camera from the Panasonic GX7 to the current GX8, I have all the lenses I like for this format, plus my vintage collection...... To upgrade would cost circa £860.

But as December progressed and I began to rationalise and ponder, plus careful browsing of my bank statements, I decided instead to spend a fraction of that amount on brushes and pigments for my watercolour painting instead......

Both of these very serious hobbies are surprisingly similar, and initial outlay can be comparable, both satisfy creative urges, and both result in work that can be enjoyed by many......

But, I haven't discovered a watercolourists forum (Yet) 

Soo, yesterday and today saw the delivery of 9 tubes of watercolour pigment costing £100 plus, a stock of special paper and a few more brushes added to this total.....still way, way below the cost of a camera upgrade, so I'm hoping that I've done the right thing.

 

QUESTION:

Have any of you been through a similar financial/commitment tussles regarding hobbies and interests?

Now! If I win the lottery soon, that camera upgrade will go ahead ?

I have been through similar. In my case oil painting. One reason for painting is that there is more freedom to do my own thing rather than have to deal with the photo club experts obsessed with technicalities and "correct" composition. It is also a physical craft exercise as well as an artistic effort as film photography and darkroom work was in my past.

Dilema is whether to spend money on art courses or photo courses ( why do photo courses run by ok but not particularly good photographers or teachers cost so much more than art courses run by good teachers and artists ) I don't have an easy answer but it is something that exercises my mind.

Also I ask whether I should concentrate on one aspect of art rather than faffing around with alternatives.

One interesting, albeit very generalised,  difference between photo clubs and art clubs, in my experience, is that artists put their work up for display and sale in public venues whereas photographers show each other their work with the only public interaction at an annual exhibition, where nothing is for sale. ie artists look to the public for approval and sales whereas photographers seek approval from other photographers with the inevitable circular movement of "approved" photography styles.

However I rather argue against myself by saying  I do not try to sell paintings ( quality is lacking ) but do sell prints at various venues. eg I sold a couple of prints at an exhibition in December where all the other exhibits were paintings !!! And I do not do well in photoclub comps.

Jeff

 

 

One

1 hour ago, ChrisLumix said:

Unfortunately, eBay are totally on the side of buyers, not sellers. I would always send Tracked/Signed For so there can't be any dispute. However, best of luck trying to get it resolved, hopefully it isn't  someone "trying it on", and it's just Xmas rush.

Seems from replies that EBay is the preferred option.

I am away from home for two weeks and did not bring my tracker ref.

I have refunded the payment and will pursue the matter in the New Year and anyhow my understanding is that the Post Office will do nothing until 15 days after posting.

And my understanding is that EBay will always support buyers rather than sellers so I can expect no support from them.

My intention was to get an alternative to EBay but there seems to be no real alternative.

Thanks everyone for replies

Jeff

I'm having to deal with an EBay item (Sony A58 body ) sold 9 days ago. It was posted 1st class. The buyer says it has not arrived. I am away from home until New Year so cannot use tracking. The other two items posted at the same time have arrived at the buyers' houses. 

Has anyone had similar issues ? Are anecdotal stories of items posted being recycled at car boot sales based on known facts.? Is it now realistic to accept that the parcel has disappeared for good ?

I have another Sony body, an A580, and a  Zeiss  Vario 16-80 lens to sell and because camera shops offer poor pix prices I am likely to do better on an auction site. Can anyone advise a good alternative to EBay and the most reliable way to send the items to buyers?

Jeff

On 22/11/2016 at 15:47, JHFoto said:

Jessops advertise next day delivery, don't believe it its a lie.

Jessops did next day delivery for me. Olympus 9-18 at low price with £75 cashback from. Olympus received within a week of claim submission.

1 hour ago, Black Pearl said:

When I worked at Jessops we had a Canon A0 capable wide-format printer (can't recall the exact model) which used 12 LUCIA inks and we printed on canvas pretty much every day. 

We started off with Canon's own 340gsm Water Resistant Art Canvas but switched to Fuji's Fine Art Satin Canvas 350gsm as they were our main supplier for all our Frontier Mini-Lab consumables. Both types produced excellent results, they were both fairly resistant to surface damage - useful when you are pulling it over stretcher bars and both had good resistance to fading - I have two on the walls at home that have been up for around five years now without any noticeable deterioration. 

Whichever type you buy make sure the manufacturer can supply a dedicated profile for your printer/ink combination. That said canvas reacts differently to papers and you will likely end up creating a new output workflow to suit with entirely different sharpening levels and highlight/shadow roll-offs. 
If you are considering producing stretched canvas wall art then I would highly recommend Wunderbars as their spring-loaded systems are absolutely superb and are very easy to use. 

Thanks for info.

Permajet provide a free profiling service which works fine with their photo papers I use.

At first reading I misread Wunderbars and Transposed an a and an r. But I have calmed down now.

Well folks. I have found that Permajet sell canvas for photo printing. It is now on the Xmas pressie list.

1 hour ago, colinb said:

Well I'm really glad I took the time to answer (twice)  - not.

Sorry. Didn't mean to be difficult.

17 hours ago, Clicker said:

Sorry Jeff ... I dont think there's many of us that  print on canvas ourselves ... To be honest  it's not something   I have any experience in and all my canvas prints are outsourced to a local  printer . Do you normally print your own prints anyway ?

Yes. I love to do my own prints. I have a Canon 9000 and use Canon ink on Permajet Museum and Oyster papers. An expensive option but very satisfying when it all goes right. Monitor and paper profiling make the job much easier. 

I have printed on uncoated watercolour paper which produced its own look but I want a photographic appearance on fine canvas.