Digital photography

Nice shot!
The 7D is still a pro body, its just designed to give more reach and to put as many pixels on the subject as possible while having a high-ish fps.
Higher resolution is higher resolution no matter how you measure it but a full frame will have larger pixels and thus better sharpness per pixel. A 7D would be better in every way compared with a 1D ii though.
Theres a lot of hype around larger sensors but honestly, the only real difference is high Iso noise levels compared with crop cameras of the same generation or two.

Buying used lenses from ebay etc. - too risky? what do we think? I'm after a canon 70-200 f4 L and they seem to be pretty good value new anyway but i have limited experience in buying lenses second hand. Cheers
Seeing as you're in Sheffield, keep an eye on the used stuff at Harrison's on London Road (if you're not already). Probably a bit pricier, but they do a 1 year warranty on all their used gear.

ps: Come play polo.

Chuck beer at it.

Waste of beer.

Your bladder provides a much better solution.

Nice shot!
The 7D is still a pro body, its just designed to give more reach and to put as many pixels on the subject as possible while having a high-ish fps.
Higher resolution is higher resolution no matter how you measure it but a full frame will have larger pixels and thus better sharpness per pixel. A 7D would be better in every way compared with a 1D ii though.
Theres a lot of hype around larger sensors but honestly, the only real difference is high Iso noise levels compared with crop cameras of the same generation or two.

Thats explained it perfectly, cheers!

Seeing as you're in Sheffield, keep an eye on the used stuff at Harrison's on London Road (if you're not already). Probably a bit pricier, but they do a 1 year warranty on all their used gear.

ps: Come play polo.

I'll check that out when I'm back up north. And maybe... only got mountain bikes up there because the peaks have converted me, something in the soil i reckon ;)

Took this today in delightful Croydon.

Whereabouts is that? I'm a Croydon lad but don't recognise it..

Its Fairfield gardens behind the theatre. Going to be working round here for a few weeks and have never been here before.

Oh right, by the college, I didn't know there were any gardens there either. Park Hill Park across the road with the water tower is nice

Anyone got the new Panasonic GM1?

Just ordered one after my old trusty GF1 made its last exposure.
Looks absolutely tiny, will be using it together with my old 20mm pancake to carry along on rides in TT Fuel/Saddlebag.

Great to have WIFI/NFC for some Raphaesque self portraits too.

Anyone got the new Panasonic GM1?

Just ordered one after my old trusty GF1 made its last exposure.
Looks absolutely tiny, will be using it together with my old 20mm pancake to carry along on rides in TT Fuel/Saddlebag.

Great to have WIFI/NFC for some Raphaesque self portraits too.

Exactlly why i'd like one, i'm glad that it works well for that purpose!

Wifi mean that you can use your mobile phone as an image editing device and upload it straight away without relying on laptop, big selling point (least to me).

Just reading up the difference between the GM1 and RX100, the noticeable difference is the larger sensor than the already reasonably big sensor in the RX100.

The only upside to the RX100 focal and aperture is pretty extensive (28-100mm, and F/1.8 at the widest) despite the fact the lens is not interchangeable.

Could sell the RX100 for a GM1 with pancake lens, big sensor and pocketability is the main motivation for touring, can the GM1 be charged directly like the RX100 without a battery charge?

Only just learnt of the 15mm Body Cap Lens, that look fun!

http://www.dxomark.com/var/ezwebin_site/storage/images/publications/dxomark-reviews/olympus-15mm-1-8.0-body-cap-a-tiny-prime-for-micro-four-thirds/76194-1-eng-US/Olympus-15mm-1-8.0-body-cap-A-tiny-prime-for-Micro-Four-Thirds.jpg

To clarify. Not received it yet, but from photos and videos it looks tiny! Should be with me tomorrow or next week.

Ed, Yeah. It's definitely a great feature. You can also use your phone as the viewfinder (for those lone wolf selfies). Real nifty for solo trips/rides. Don't think you can charge it directly. You'll need the external charger and cable. I would get a few spare batteries.

Odd question, I noticed the default Windows picture viewer (Photo Gallery, Vista) is jumping more than one pic when I click next, makes it awkward to review a batch of pics.

Is there a decent alternative?

Upgrade PC currently out of the question.

Picasa?

Online I use Flickr, been using Photo Gallery to preview pics slightly bigger than in explorer before I decide to drag 'n drop them to Flickr.

Or are you saying Picasa can be used offline as software?

(genuinely not clued up on this stuff I'm afraid, it hasn't mattered when taking low volumes of pics on Mobile Phone, but DSLR now means many more shots to wade through).

Irfanview

Yes, Picasa is an offline, installable Windows executable. It can be linked to online Picasa (similar to flickr) so you can quickly upload stuff to albums online but you don't need to. It also has editing stuff built in and can do batch jobs like resizing, etc. It preserves the originals too.

Ok cheers, and ^^ cheers also.

Theres a lot of hype around larger sensors but honestly, the only real difference is high Iso noise levels compared with crop cameras of the same generation or two.

Bollocks. Larger sensor = less light distortion, better (more real(?)) photo. Hence why medium format portraits always look better. And 5x4 is even better, and a 10x8 neg is a rare thing of beauty.

But for 99% of people, your point is valid.

50mm on medium format is magical.

excellent as ever will

50mm on medium format is magical.

I use a Phase One on a weekly basis but usually with 85mm or 125mm lenses. The detail is phenomenal. And the colours are fantastic