PHIL - We need an Advanced/Pro E (.) FORUM..........

Kyle Jones said:

Some of you have been
on the net long enough to remember USENET and killfiles.

Click to expand...

As a point of nitpicking interest, the news of Usenet's demise are greatly exaggerated. Yes, it's a lowly text-only mode of communication but that's also what makes it so long-lived.

JiminDenver said:

Any suggestions would be appreaciated

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Well, Benro tripods appear to have quite a good reputation. Like this 228 for $97:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Benro-Aluminum-Tripod-A228-A258_W0QQitemZ160077924230QQihZ006QQcategoryZ30094QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

It's 1.88 kilos and the max supported weight of 8 kilos. Benro also has ball heads for less than $100. So it (unfortunately) all comes to about $200 plus shipping and about 2.5 kilos. A carbon tripod would weigh less but cost two times more.

But they advertise their tripods with people hanging from them. And they have hooks for ballast bags.

Or if you can get it from Europe, this one would be pretty much okay:

http://cgi.ebay.de/Semi-Pro-Stativ-walimex-WT666-incl-Pro-3D-Neiger-1-75m_W0QQitemZ330081841903QQihZ014QQcategoryZ40555QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I've got it, as I said in the other thread. I used it with E-300 and 40-150 or 50-200 without any adverse effects. 5 kilos max supported weight. But it's quite heavy - 4.3 kilos with the head.

yep, very good idea.

now,

How is entry to this "club" going to be judged?

should it be for "true" professionals only, i.e. those who make a living out of their cameras and are members of an officially recognised trade society or body?

should it be for those who can afford the entry ticket and have bought what qualifies as a "pro" camera

should those who have many years of experience in film and slide photography be allowed access even if they have just recently switched to a digital SLR?

Maybe we should have a "PRO forum", a "semi pro" forum, an "advanced amateur" forum, an "I've got more gear than you so I must be a better photographer" forum, a "you upset my friend so I'm not speaking to you" forum and not forgetting an "I've been here longer than you so I can say what I like because my mates will back me up and call anyone that dares to criticise me a troll" forum.

Or.........

We could all try getting along and helping each other and remember a couple of very important facts

1, at one stage we were all new to the hobby and relied on information gleaned from others to improve

2, the only stupid question is the one you don't ask

Andy

Right on! Some folks need to go out and get a life. Or have a libation. Or take a lot of tranquilizers until PMA. And write short and clear narratives.

andy_k said:

yep, very good idea.

now,

How is entry to this "club" going to be judged?

should it be for "true" professionals only, i.e. those who make a
living out of their cameras and are members of an officially
recognised trade society or body?

should it be for those who can afford the entry ticket and have
bought what qualifies as a "pro" camera

should those who have many years of experience in film and slide
photography be allowed access even if they have just recently
switched to a digital SLR?

Maybe we should have a "PRO forum", a "semi pro" forum, an
"advanced amateur" forum, an "I've got more gear than you so I must
be a better photographer" forum, a "you upset my friend so I'm not
speaking to you" forum and not forgetting an "I've been here longer
than you so I can say what I like because my mates will back me up
and call anyone that dares to criticise me a troll" forum.

Or.........

We could all try getting along and helping each other and remember
a couple of very important facts

1, at one stage we were all new to the hobby and relied on
information gleaned from others to improve

2, the only stupid question is the one you don't ask

Andy

Click to expand...

Very well put Andy! And you've managed to do it in a humorous way, Notwithstanding, your comments are right on target. Again, this shouldn't be an issue among adults in a hobby forum like photography, but I guess for some reason, it just has to be.

As I mentioned earlier, in the few months I've been here there is most definitely a small clique here of very rude, immature, unprofessional, self-important, elitist snobs who do indeed think they have a right to insult people at their whim. And what's even more pathetic is the few friends they have of the same ilk here on this forum site will join in and pile on their poor unsuspecting victim, relentlessly.

I find that to be such a turn off. I've taken note of who these people are and I avoid having anything at all to do with them. Nor do I pay any mind to any of their so-called "pearls of wisdom" that they feel is of such vital, important information to the rest of us. I have absolutely no respect whatsoever for these members, no matter how long they've been here.

Unless it's clear that someone is here to deliberately cause some kind of trouble, there is never any valid excuse for some of the nasty behavior I've seen here by people who seem to think they have "paid their dues" in photography that allows them the right to verbally abuse and insult otners.

I'm all for learning and helping others and I appreciate and value the experience and wisdom of people who are adult enough to be able to gladly and happily share their experience with others.

Same way Canon do:

E-x forum
E-xxx forum.

It isn't a question of buying your way in, only people interested in the relevant camera would be there.

However it is STILL a daft idea because

1) The E1 was flogged of for about 50p at the end, so loads of newbies have one.

2) Compared to Canon pro model sales Oly pro model sales are tiny, so you'll get what I've seen time and time again on the internet, a tiny bunch of disaffected people agreeing amongst themselves how wonderful it is to have got rid of the others, and after a week there is no traffic and everyone slowly creeps back to the other place.

I moderate a bikers conf on a private (but very well established) system. I've been there twenty years come May. Every couple of years, some pillock appears and annoys everyone without actually breaking any rules, I get a mail saying "we've started a private conf, come and join." I always do, because I quite enjoy the private week of slagging people off, and after that week the w*nker has generally calmed down, gone away, or broken a rule so we can bar him, and the new conf has anyway ground to a halt, as above.

Oly will need a lot more dSLR sales before there is any question of an Oly pro forum - in my opinion anyway.

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/acam
http://www.pbase.com/acam/

Are we limited to just one???
--
Theresa K
http://theresak.smugmug.com/

Thank you Theresa for the suggestion, I'll check that out.

I don't think a few hundred is that bad and wish I had known that the Quantum wasn't up to the job, now a decent setup is 300 instead of 200. It should still be usable for the lighter lenses.

I didn't have the big mirror lenses when I bought it but now know I want to be able to mount it in the store to check out the stabillity of any tripod I get.
JimB

Theresa K said:

I don't know what your budget is, but for under $200 you can get a
Bogen with a pan head. My pan head is a bit different than this
but you get the idea. This setup is actually a little better than
mine, it comes with a case, too:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=Search&A=details&Q=&sku=443891&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

I have the 3030 head and it looks like this is a slight improvement
over mine.
--
Theresa K
http://theresak.smugmug.com/

Click to expand...

--
It all started long ago and far away with a lowly OM-G

The OM of Getto cams

Thank you vlatko, I check these out.

Whatever I get will have to be rock solid. Shooting at 1-2000mm means no shakes allowed. The lens is soft compared to the zd lenses to start with. The 330's live veiw helps with the best focus but a fixed aperture of f-10 means slow shutter speeds even in daylight. A 4 sec anti shake is my norm.
JimB

vlatko said:

JiminDenver said:

Any suggestions would be appreaciated

Click to expand...

Well, Benro tripods appear to have quite a good reputation. Like
this 228 for $97:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Benro-Aluminum-Tripod-A228-A258_W0QQitemZ160077924230QQihZ006QQcategoryZ30094QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

It's 1.88 kilos and the max supported weight of 8 kilos. Benro also
has ball heads for less than $100. So it (unfortunately) all comes
to about $200 plus shipping and about 2.5 kilos. A carbon tripod
would weigh less but cost two times more.

But they advertise their tripods with people hanging from them. And
they have hooks for ballast bags.

Or if you can get it from Europe, this one would be pretty much okay:

http://cgi.ebay.de/Semi-Pro-Stativ-walimex-WT666-incl-Pro-3D-Neiger-1-75m_W0QQitemZ330081841903QQihZ014QQcategoryZ40555QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I've got it, as I said in the other thread. I used it with E-300
and 40-150 or 50-200 without any adverse effects. 5 kilos max
supported weight. But it's quite heavy - 4.3 kilos with the head.

Click to expand...

--
It all started long ago and far away with a lowly OM-G

The OM of Getto cams

andy_k said:

We could all try getting along and helping each other and remember
a couple of very important facts

1, at one stage we were all new to the hobby and relied on
information gleaned from others to improve

2, the only stupid question is the one you don't ask

Click to expand...

Count me in!
mike

of why there will never be a new Olympus Pro forum...

Who would be daft enough to join it?
--
http://www.efrench.members.winisp.net/

Should have at least one....that is a life.

like I said............ if the shoe fits........... beat me.
--

'The greatest joy there is in life is creating. Splurge on it!' LRH

subject has come up. Funny how much more emotion it stirs the longer in the tooth this forum goes..........

I'm really not responding with any more than fleeting thought to any of this .................... just don't have the energy....... but please...... spit and moan away................. its kind of interesting at least.
--

'The greatest joy there is in life is creating. Splurge on it!' LRH

Really good comments. These forums get like ole boys clubs; I've seen the same thing in many usenet groups. People with considerable expertise (which presumably they have not had all their lives), go from debating each other on somewhat obscure issues to pontificating about everything from how to charge a battery to how stupid Olympus is -- or how dumb somebody is for saying they use this piece of equipment rather than that or a setting that they don't agree with. Or asking a perfectly logical question. The sort of thing that would get them thrown out of camera clubs that contain live people actually trying to learn from each other. Sometimes it is enjoyable to try and dig pearls of wisdom out of this kind of discourse, but it sometimes it is a reminder that some folks just don't seem to have social skills equal to the ones they think they have when they snap a shutter. If they are really uncomfy with riff-raff they should go off and start a moderated group where they can blackball the unwashed questions.

No Text

/**/

there are other forums.

phil is interested in heavy traffic.

and censoring the most important voices in here.

thats why i hardly show up anymore.

dont limit your online-forum to your equipment.

there are great places out there. if the art of photography is more important to you than being glued to the screen and analyzing the microbes of minicule megapixels, then photo.net is most certainly worth a shot.

--
http://cyberholz.blog.com

or photos only @

http://www.pbase.com/cyberholz

Theresa K said:

I'm just bracing for what will happen when a new pro camera will be
released. You KNOW it's gonna get ugly.

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Not for me it won't. Trolls come in two forms, intelligent, rational ones, with whom debate is a pleasure, and knuckle dragging gits with rattles who can't debate for toffee and whom it is a pleasure to publicly humiliate.

I have more trouble with the fanboys who actually have no idea why 4/3rds is a good idea and make "rah-rah Oly" type comments while secretly wanting a heavy, low noise camera (ie a Canon 35mm).

Theresa K said:

As for the mess that happened yesterday, for me it's a little sad
because I knew Effe from the Panny forums. He was really different
over there. I don't know what his issues are over here but I don't
understand where his hostility is coming from.

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All a bit unfortunate - probably a lovely chap, but not very good at retiring gracefully when people point out an error.

Theresa K said:

--
Theresa K
http://theresak.smugmug.com/

Click to expand...

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/acam
http://www.pbase.com/acam/

efrench said:

Do you really think Phil will create a forum for a non-existent
camera when he wouldn't even review the e400?

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...under the premise that it wouldn't be available in the US, but then never did one on the other newest 4/3rd's entry either, the Panasonic L1, which is available everywhere. I have not fully searched every makers list, but these two could well be the only digital SLR's that have not rated a full review from this site's staff. Sould tell you something, although what that would be I'm not sure.