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Yeah, those are two interesting lenses. I'd love the 12-60, myself, which would become 16-90 on a 1.5x crop sensor. I'm thinking about bodies with CCD-shift IS these days, as I am not seeing enough constant aperture VR zooms of reasonable size and weight nor wider than normal primes from Nikon...

Hmm... well nothing has changed in my setup in the last 3 months, and certainly no change to my Linksys router/NAT firewall. Every other internet site works except SF.

You know Gilbo, that's a very good point. I was talking about this with someone on another board after he posted some fabulous pics that he took with the bazooka-like 200/2 VR in a cafe. I find that people don't really think twice if you have a tiny flip style camera phone and are not too...

Aww, that's nice. I wish I wasn't allergic to cats. Zelda is the type of cat that inspires people to want a cat! On another note, I find that one of the limitations I have now is finding willing subjects. Honestly, I find it tiring asking people if I can take their picture all the time. I'd...

Actually, I don't think it's a DNS problem now. Vista provides me with this useful bit of troubleshooting: Why do I have to have TCP port 80 open on my firewall? I don't for any other site.

True, it is not the same as reducing your emissions and consumption, but it is something, and IMO represents a decent option where none existed before. Also, providing an easy way to calculate your CO2 emissions for car, home, and plane is an important educational piece, because I had no idea...

Am I the only person to have countless problems connecting to SF the past few days? I seem to be able to access it at work now, but I am starting to think that the DNS that my ISP assigns me to at home does not have the entry for SF.

Has anyone used this before? I just purchased about 18,000 lbs worth of CO2 offsets for my car, home, and plane usage for this year. http://www.terrapass.com

BTW, beautiful kitty. Very nice, Handy.

Yep! ;) More or less. You have times when there are significant features that affect value and compatibility... like EF-S, IS, USM, etc, so that will come into play as the next big thing hits... full-frame vs DX crop, etc. And third party lenses generally don't retain their value as well as...

Congrats Handy! Between these two, the 85/1.2, and the 100/2, I don't think you could go wrong with any of these world class lenses from Canon. IMO, the 24-70 will be much more useful if you don't already have a top notch midrange zoom. The 85/1.2 and 100/2 would be more useful focal lengths...

Huh? Don't you already have the 18-55 lens? 18-55 is the single most universally useful focal length range in existence, IMO (esp if you can only have one range). Having said that, one might also say that it can also be the most "boring", a "compromise" range, and least useful for various common...

I used to think that fewer shots would result in sharper images because there would be less misalignment when overlaying images or less changes in the actual scene (e.g., cloud moved slightly, leaves/branches swayed/blowing in the wind slightly, minor camera vibration from the mirror/shutter...

Sure, if it's easy for you then why not? I was just generalizing.

Yes, I am sometimes torn because of that. I usually notice the impact on image quality with my Sigma 10-20 superwide outdoors in the sun (can you say "heavenly glow" flare?), and so I have taken to using that lens naked half the time, occasionally using a CPL. It actually has a bulbous front...

As SD mentioned, I am of the opinion that you only really need 3 pics for HDR: -2, 0, +2 EV, assuming you can configure your camera to hit those exposure intervals... otherwise, it's 5 shots at 1 EV intervals. Anything more, and its the law of diminishing returns. Try Photomatix for HDR. It's...

Depends on what your definition of real is. If there's no pretention behind the definition, lots of us use UV filters. If you mean it the way I think you mean, not too many pros use them these days.

LOL... I feel the same way about guys who pay $$$ for a new lens and body, yet refuse to spend $20-40 more for a good filter instead of going for the cheapest Tiffen (uncoated) or Hoya single-coat filter, or make the sales guy throw in a store brand special. "why should I pay double for a stupid...

1. US$1800 or C$1700 ;) 2. Canon users can use the Sigma 18-200/OS HSM as a close match. The Nikon is slightly superior in the mid range and is faster at the long end, but is slightly softer at the long end. The Sigma is soft in the corners at two specific focal lengths: 35 mm and 105 mm...

Wow, that was quick. Yeah, those unions are killing the US auto industry, and yes, I think they are a big reason why the Big Three are so far behind the rest of the world in competitiveness. It's like trying to play football with a ball and chain strapped to your leg. How can the other teams not...

The PostureFit adjustable lumbar feature is what makes the Aeron, IMO. It's one of the few ergo chairs that actually allow the lumbar support to be positioned low enough on the back (more like a lumbro-sacral support, really) to be anatomically useful. Most lumbar supports just fill in the...

It's actually not that big compared to other colour lasers. It's a little tall, but it's slanted so that it's smaller up top. Only the entry level Samsung is significantly smaller. You should see the Konica Minolta DL5xxx series. It's 80 lbs and is as big as an ottoman. Lexmark Cxxx series too.

Um yeah. I don't put much stock in most user reviews when it comes to these things. Sorry to sound conceited, but many wouldn't know what true photo quality is supposed to look like if it bit them in the ass. Did they run controlled tests against one of the better non-professional inkjets on...

Admittedly, the darker areas are not the greatest. Not sure if they print on glossy RC paper, although I think they do. I don't think paper makes that much of a difference on a laser. That's why plain paper prints looks so darn good! You would never dare do that on an inkjet. In any event, no...

Actually, I have reconsidered my earlier advice of going with a 50/1.4. Instead of relying solely on aperture / lens speed to allow you to use a higher shutter speed to prevent camera shake and motion blur, you can also go with a shorter focal length to boost your system's resistance to camera...

I think he's afraid of distracting / disrupting them or making them feel self-conscious. Personally, I'm nervous enough as it is just dancing; I don't need someone like dd taking pictures of me esp. with the flash distracting me from my count (123 567 123 567)

Yes, the trick is to apply NR selectively (more chroma than luma, more on expansive, monotonal, non-textured surfaces, and less on areas like hair and fur) without sharpening after the global adjustments. Likewise, selectively apply USM at the end to prevent enhancing noise detail. Yes, that...

Do you mean why would he set it at -1 EV exp comp? 2 reasons I would think: 1. Strategic underexposure. With the low light, I would do the same: knowing I don't have enough light, I know I would have to underexpose every shot to maintain shutter speed and then correct in PP. 2. Because -1 EV...

One thing I like about the Aeron is the mesh poly fabric bottom and seatback. While not ideal because the poly weave basically reflects moisture back at your skin, it is ventilated and will not trap heat the way a regular fabric + foam seat cushion will on most chairs.

Hope it works for you dd. I bought one for home to address my back pain, but it didn't help. I am still using it now because I haven't found anything that's noticeably better and I would lose a bunch of money if I wanted to sell it now. We have Steelcase Leap chairs at work which are high end...

Can also try waiting for when the sun is shining directly at or at the front/side obliquely (side-front lighting) at the statue you're trying to take a picture of if it's facing in the right direction, of course. There's also fill-flash (or, less conveniently, reflectors), but just be careful...

I think there's more to it than CRI, because I've been looking for and trying high CRI fluorescent products for a while now, because fluorescent lights deliver such unlovable output quality -- at least for home use. Unless you use the warm kitchen & bath "for natural, life-like rendering of skin...

Just wanted to pass on my satisfaction with the HP Color LaserJet 1600 and its ability to print photos. Printed out a bunch of 8x10 photos and compared them side-by-side with my calibrated BenQ 24" LCD and Epson Stylus Photo R1800 inkjet printouts. The HP used 24 lb plain paper and Auto Color...

Looks like the guy who took the pic with the D70s used the 18-70 kit lens too, not a prime lens or even a fast f/2.8 zoom. Yes, it can be challenging to get natural looking flash pics indoors. This was something I really hated about P&S cameras and was a big factor in my decision to buy a...

Noritsu? They manufacture half the world's photo lab film developers and printers. The QSS-32/33 is one of their recent printer models. The pro likely sent his pics to be printed at a lab with that printer. Depending on the lab, they could have butchered otherwise decent pics from the pro, or...

Another point in favour of the big guns (Canon, Nikon) is that many of their lenses come with optical image stabilization. Tamron didn't even have a single lens with OIS until now, and Sigma only released their second model recently (although their first "OS" lens -- the 80-400 -- came out way...

Nah, Tamron makes several excellent lenses at a significantly lower price than Canon and Nikon, but as a whole, they're still a 2nd tier / 3rd party lens maker. Lots of plastic and not that sturdy, no advanced AF motor system on any of their lenses, and QC and sample variation is not the...

Another good reason to take a look at the Tamron SP 90/2.8 Macro: Tamron is offering a $90 rebate on it until the end of the year. It normally sells for around $450-500. That's a great deal for a macro lens that has arguably achieved legendary status. Speaking of Tamron rebates, they are...

Non-Canon? You rarely get built-in lens AF motors like Canon's excellent USM except for Sigma's HSM, resale value is lower, and optical quality is not as high on average as Canon's better lens designs. Certainly, there are world class third party lenses, like Sigma's 70 and 150 macros, Tamron SP...

Hmm... I might suggest looking at the EF-S 60/2.8 Macro or the Sigma 70/2.8 Macro instead. Both of them are better optically than the EF 50/2.5 CM and are true macros (1:1), as opposed to the 1:2 pseudo-macro of the EF 50/2.5 CM. The 60/2.8 also has USM (not that it would be useful for macro...

If your retailer is not selling the D40 + 55-200/VR as a kit, you can purchase the D40 (body only) separately and purchase the 55-200/VR separately as well. However, the 18-55 kit lens is quite useful as well for minimal incremental $, so if it's possible to stretch the budget a bit, might as...

Yes, I was going to recommend you shoot at higher (smaller) apertures too. Somehow my reply got lost in the ether... I'd say 50/1.8 lens shooting at f/2.8 or 30/2 lens shooting at f/2 or f/2.8. Although some wouldn't agree with me, I find shorter focal lengths give you greater DOF for the same...

That's probably the biggest thing right there -- the long shutter lag mainly caused by AF that cannot achieve focus lock. As a category, P&S cameras are useless for sports photography. I would skip directly to a dSLR, do not pass go, do not collect $200. If nothing else, make sure that one...

I think a Nikon D40 with the 55-200/VR would be the best option for a budget sports photography kit under $800. Until recently, Nikon was the only mfr to offer a cheap VR tele zoom and a very good Auto ISO feature (somewhat unique to Nikon and great for preventing blur by temporarily upping the...

Now you'll have a use for all that storage space -- 5 fps multi-shot bursts at a time, several shooting escapades in RAW mode a day... that's a lot of bits & bytes ;)

But how can you have a balanced perspective if you've only really ever hosted your own pics? There are much better services available now. A very small minority actually want to put in all that time and effort to run their own site, and an even smaller number actually know how to do it. I...

Indeed, the camera is usually the bottleneck assuming you have a high-speed card. I think most of them are PIO mode 4 or 5 and limited to around 6-8 MB/s (40-50x). The new Nikons have UDMA controllers, though.

Silly me. I looked around in the settings area for Picasa and found that you can create a different "alias" username and assign it to your URL instead of your actual gmail & google account username.

Here is a link to one of my public picasa accounts & albums. Try out the auto resizing & sharpening by adjusting the size of your browser window: http://picasaweb.google.com/public6028/Public

What I mean by that is that Picasa will automatically scale the image to 75% full-screen in normal mode and full-screen in Slideshow mode. This is a superior alternative to other hosting services, which usually display your pics to other users at tiny standard resolutions, like 450x300 or...