Digital photography

(or can recommend something similar at the same price range)

not for sale, but i got a Sigma EX 30mm f1.4 from someone on here a few months ago, really like it, plus it stops down those extra two places to 1.4 - may be worth a look on the bay?

looks interesting, though Ken Rockwell* tells me to go with the canon instead. Thanks for the tip, will read up properly on it

*always listen to Ken Rockwell**

**don't

That 30 f/1.4 is lush. I had one in k-mount some years ago.

Need some adjusting advice - complete lack of photoshop skills.

I need to enhance the written message in the speech bubble. I can select the whole speech bubble and put it in a new layer but how do I make the written bit darker?

I've been playing with levels and cutting out the text but it's a right faff. What would be the recomended method for achieving this? Or is it actually quite tricky? I'm using quite an old version of PS (on my uni's remote cluster) so don't have the fancy things that are suggested by googling my dilema.

Cheers

use a curve. you shouldn't need to cut out the text. levels will also work.
while you are at it use the clone stamp in darken mode to get rid of the highlight from the flash.

i'll do it for £50

I'll undercut Smyth.

Sorry, just noticed a mistake. Try now:

I would.

1. duplicate the layer
   
2. play with curves on the top layer, get the writing on the speach bubble readable, don't worry about how the adjustment affects the rest of the image
   
3. mask all of the top layer except the bubble
   
   

:)

Ah cheers, need to do about 20 - 30 of them so your fee seems rather steep! The flash reflection is pretty bad in some of the others so I'll see what I can do.

Sorry, just noticed a mistake. Try now:

One done now, thanks!!

must spread rep....

grumble grumble grumble

ffs more camera repairs. The mount has fallen off my 50mm 1:1.8 and is stuck on my 350D. It's going to cost £70 to remove the lens or £118 to repair it.
Given that the lens costs £70 and I can get a 400D for £150, I guess this is a write off.
Anyone any good at getting broken lenses off?

so what's stuck in the camera? Just the mount?

remove it carefully with pliers?

The lens. I'm passing it over to someone knowledgeable to see if they can get it off.
£70 ffs.

anyone got a Canon EF 28mm f1.8 they want to sell?

anyone? About to pull the trigger on one so just checking before I do so

I have a boxed Nikon F2.8 35-70mm Marco lens for sale. Good condition. Comes with a decent UV filter. Looking for £190 ish for it? Anyone interested? I'll put some photos up tonight, but it looks like this:

I might be interested, I'm thinking of getting something new around that price on payday, it would be a toss up between that and the 50mm 1.8/G

Well it's a great "catch-all" lens, wide enough to do landscapes, and on the other end is good for portraits, plus the marco function is great for food, flowers and insects. Really good glass too. When you only need one lens, this is it. Well if you can't afford the new 24-70 they've released. Which is amazing, but fucking expensive. The reason I'm selling this I have separate lens for all the things I mentioned above. One day I'll buy the 24-70, but it's low on my shopping list at the moment.

Not to do myself out of a sale, but from your photo above seems like you've got yourself a fair few zoom lenses and three bodies - if that's your full selection get your self the prime. They are great, and apparently the new one is sharp as fuck.

And a tip - to everyone really thinking about a new camera - spend your money on lenses rather than bodies. Bodies get replaced very quickly with 'the latest thing' and lose their value quickly. (e.g. I bought the above lens for £300 in 2002 and now it's worth about £190, at the same time I bought a D100 for £1700, these now fetch £150). But more importantly a good lens will make more of an impact on your photography that the lastest body. Nobody needs anymore than 6mp. Photos from my D100 were fantastic at up to 1600 ISO and would blow up great to A3 size.

Mind you, if all your zooms are the kit lenses that come with the camera you should buy my one ;-)

just won a second super-takumar 50mm 1.4 on an ebay whim. It was quite cheap due to some minor fungus but should clean up nice. The one I currently have doesn't close beyond f/8 which isn't a disaster because I mostly use it at 1.4 but still... This new one will be the one I practice servicing before I go and ruin the other one.

Don't keep it with your other lenses!

Yeah, I know... Spores can spread. Thing is, the cement used in lens groups is made of a natural compound found in trees and tends to contain spores. Mix-in some humidity and you have fungus. It shouldn't matter too much if you have a moldy lens next to a good one, as long as its in a dry place.

Very true. I keep a few of those silicon sachet things around in by camera drawer*

*this may or may not be a good idea.