patham

@ Dangle Your photography must be taking priority over cycling at the moment, that pic of cassette & chain is waaay too clean I prefer my sneak portrait shots at the moment, but the subject is beoming more & more camera aware, so this phase won't last forever.

I am no expert, but I did a bit of research when I had my ZTR's built up with an XT hub. In general, if you take a bit of care, and are willing to do your own cup & cone bearing maintenance with them you should be ok. They are not an install and forget type hub with cartidge bearings, although it seems as though even those give trouble. So, if they all can give trouble, why not go with the cheaper option....

The real size variation / volume difference / method of measurement between various tyre manufacturers makes me think that this is nothing but a vague recommendation with no real science behind it. My Kenda's for example are far wider than the Maxxi's even though they have the same width on the packet, due to the way they measure the width (at tread or overall), and the Kendas do have more volume to them. I would try them out in your shoes. In my own case (ZTR355s on an Opus) I am limited to Kenda 2.1's at the back as I run out of clearance to the rear triangle, the slightest bit of mud will clog me up no end.

You are a lucky bast..rd just to see one, let alone take a pic of it. Pat yourself on the back.

My personal view on Sony is that they see camera's as a consumer product line that fills a niche market, and contributes maybe 0.0001 % of bottom line. They did not develop it, they bought out Pentax or Minolta(can't remember), and rebranded them. A pure commercial venture, and if it starts to lose money, they will close it down or sell. They have no senior management passion for them. Nikon, Canon, are far more vested in camera's and optics. More development money, more R&D, and if their business slows, its more important to them. Thats why they churn out new models as fast as they can... I was burned once with my film SLR, Sigma started selling great SLR's, far better features than the equiv price point Canon. Now its a dinosaur, even my lenses are useless as they went for a proprietry mount. Just like Sony did. Thats why when I went digital , I bought to stay in the game. In your shoes, I would keep the Sony for as long as you are happy with it, and still developing (punny, I know) as a photog, as soon as you get upgraditis, or covet other lenses, take the plunge and change systems.

Does that mean you got a 450D, or Nikon equivalent ? I see the 600D is out now, so I am 2 generations back. Having said that, my 500D is capable of far, far more than what I get out of it right now. Yep, set shutter priority setting on the dial and drop the shutter speed, the camera will adjust the aperture to compensate. However, I have found that the water / background contrast is often just too high, and its never a great set-up. You need to play with spot metering, average metering, centre weighted metering, Automatic Exposure Bracketing and just plain manual experimenting, to get the best exposure. And doing all of those combinations whilst wife and nipper are keen to move on just is not do-able for me right now. HDR may also be a nice option to get good waterfalls, but thats also beyond my processing skills. Still water is much easier for me to get right....

To illustrate your point, Walmart turnover in 2010 was $ 422 Billion. The whole of the SA economy , i.e. GDP, was only $ 277 Billion. Big scary numbers.

I find the waterfall effect is relatively easy to get right, but in the process the surrounds & the background have been messed up 'cos all your attention was on the water. And you only realise this when you are back behind your computer. I use a Canon 500D, with a one size fits all lens (18-200)

Back on the water effects theme, my own from last week, trying to get the magical veil effect. Image stabiliser working overtime with no tripod.

If that guy is a tiny runt, then you have out-done yourself. Chalk one up for your uber-macro skills. I also feel a bit lot braver looking at him now.

Man, you gotta give me warnings before putting spider pics like that on this thread. I insist on at least 4 feet of separation (1 standard broomstick) between me and rain/wolf spiders, and now one pops up on the monitor, larger than life, in glorious technicolour. Heebie-jeebies of note. Although, aren't all good pics meant to elicit reactions ??

Maybe I should have stated A/V setup, as I would be slated on the "other" forum for calling this a hi-fi... Onkyo Nr 609 Network Receiver Polk Audio Tsi-400 floorstanders Polk Audio Cs-10 Centre channel Polk Audio PSW 110 subwoofer Sony Blu-ray S370 as digital source Kept my Tannoy Mercury MX2 bookshelves as rear surrounds as they have aged beautifully over the years. Having said that its an AV set-up, I think I have it tweaked so that it gives really good sound for most of my music. Excellent staging - apart from Janis Joplin - man her recordings are 2 Dimensional. As an example, for Cat Stevens "Father & Son", I could hear all of the multi-tracks he laid down, before I could only make out two vocals. Just to contribute some awesomeness for everyone... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q29YR5-t3gg

Looking back on it TW, your ex-wife got off lightly as compared to the girl in the song. Funny enough I hauled that song out of my CD collection just last week to see what it sounds like on me new hi-fi, what a classic. I was never able to track down and buy a CD containing Summer Wine (no downloaded 172kbps rubbish for me). Less obvious sex appeal here, but another great, haunting song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXtr-iTqMEE&feature=related

Ta for the compliments. Heres a few pics (peacock and a macaw) where Mother Nature over-saturated her colours in Photo Shop.

@ Dangle - great motor pics. Over the w/e I was trying to get pics of a motor thats a lot less glamorous, a very rusted, decrepit, Lister stationary engine. The lack of contrasts and highlights just killed the attempt though. Those highlights come though great on your shots. Here are some tame wildlife taken at the same time though which I though were acceptable.

+1 on that model. I also looked long and hard at various shoe reviews to get a pair that have a bit of flex in the soles, and enough tread for rock hopping. I have seen enough race snakes slip & fall with the ultra rigid soles. I fall down enough when I am on the bike, no need to add to my woes when off it.

There's a reason why my pics of the full blown eclipse went straight to the recycle box, mine were dismal. There was so little light to play with, that getting a proper exposure without very high ISO levels (and hence noise)was impossible on my setup. Focussing was also nigh impossible. I think that some things you do need pro kit for...

I finally downloaded my eclipse pics, boy what a load of tripe they were. However, after a bit of playing around to get the edge of the penumbra shadow into a red spectrum, the end effect is interesting - but still far from publishing material. Anyone get any good pics & post processing work done on the eclipse?

I looked at it, liked it, but could not pin down "why" at first. After a few seconds I realised it was the curved waterline that gave it the extra pizzaz. I find it interesting that you can get two types of good pics. There is the type that dazzles you straight away, normally because its a striking subject. That photo of the leapard is a great example. You then get ones like the lakeshot from Dangle, which can grip you, but in far more subtle ways. Unfortunately, a lot of lay-people will look at this category of pic and never appreciate it fully, they only like the pics where the subject is easy to see, and thus no need for interpretation.

Swooning for the bride, or the creepy ghost in the background? Me mum tells me that I knew her & her family from her Bulawayo days, but that was too many years (and beers) ago.

I hear you, but theres always something new... Saturday morning, at 09.00, the spray from the freeze valve on my solar geyser had produced (b)icycles ..

But your beer o' clock runs on Australian time. But here is my contribution anyway.

Saw one of these critters on my Sunday ride past Leeukop, do these guys have charisma or what ?

A good photographer does his research..... That is a great moon pic. I like stuffing around trying to get the moon with partial cloud cover, however then my poor post processing skills let me down afterwards, this is my best attempt so far to get a nebula effect.

Yep, these are where I have put my 2c worth.