Luke GSP

Not half as many as the amount of children I am going to have to sell to pay for my new I-mac when the credit card bill comes in. The new cameras file sizes were killing my old laptop so I have taken the plunge and mac'ed up. As an aside the dogs will now be living on old socks for food as I have no money left.

Sadly no. They were taken with my new 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM which cost a kidney and one of my kids is currently on ebay for $100 to go towards paying for it. I have to say that I am very proud of the pics as until 10 days ago I had not even held an SLR. congratulations on your Nikon purchase I am sure you will not be dissapointed!

The thing is that in honesty I am a bit over PC's as I work on one pretty much all day and all though it sound ridiculous I thought that an I-mac at home might be the change that is as good as a rest? Has anyone here tried/got an i-mac for some feedback?

Ripley, Dumb question I know but, when you say you lose 2 steps would that make a 2.8 a 4.8 or a 2.8 a 3.0, or am I barking up completely the wrong tree?

Heres a couple of Molly, just so she doesn't feel left out! I think she was asleep in this one? To short a shutter and to wide an aperture in this one but still love the face

Counting sheep, You are more than welcome to borrow my old Nikon 995 in the meantime if you like? I could send it to my companies Melbourne office for you so you could have it by Tues/wed probably?Saying that I could probably send it direct if it's easier? Luke

Great pic Rugerfly, Here is one that I took of Monte today, I have to say that I lov,luv,luv my new camera and lens. Still early days so pics aren't tops but that's ok it's all a learning experience I know this is but I have a Sony VAIO that is about 7-8 years old and it is struggling with the file size etc from my new 40D. I think it is time for a new computer. I have photoshop for PC but have been considering going to an imac? the downer is that I would have to buy a new photoshop $$$ unless the apple software was cool? Any advice or opinions?

how very very dare you!

We are still talking about cameras, aren't we.

What were the settings for the second head shot Shutter speed, ISO, Aperture? I can't get the histogram from the picture for some reason? I shot it in AV mode as I was in a hurry so: f/4 at 1/125 seconds. Hmm, seems I have steadier hands than I thought. ISO 250. Cool,I am new to DSLR cameras and also to Canon as my previous camera was a Nikon cool pix 995 which had a built in lens and was overwhelmingly disapointing. I have just got an EOS 40D with the 17-85 "enthusiasts lens for everyday stuff but have made the investment in to the 70-200 f/2.8 IS USM zoom to get better close up images of the dogs etc. Got it yesterday and it has rained ever since typical! If you don't mind me asking what made you go for the 1.4X extender? As an idiot that knows nothing about cameras I would have thought that everyone would go for the 2X so was wondering what the methodology was behind the two being available.

What were the settings for the second head shot Shutter speed, ISO, Aperture? I can't get the histogram from the picture for some reason?

Try it on shutter priority, clover. I used TV mode for this shot of monelite and choc dobe, Divani - first try at something called panning. Some shots with my new Canon 70-200 lens I got in May. (have only used it twice :p ). It helps if you are photographing one so handsome Just a wild lorikeet I feed in the backyard, light wasn't great. Love my new lens and can't wait to try it out on holidays next month, haven't tried it on landscapes yet. Ripley, were all these shots with your 70-200? I hope so as I have just brought one, is yours the f//4L or the f/2.8? Love the pics. Luke

Noice! Well I have just been to pick mine up and took some peoples advice and tried holding the cameras to see if there was a big dfference and OMG it was night and day. I am so glad that I did it the 450D which is what I was going to get was seriously uncomfortable due to its relative compact body and with my massive meat hook hands that was never gonna work. I ended up with the EOS40D which is a bit bigger (Comfy) and is a full Magnesium body (durable but a bit heavier) and I have to say, I AM IN LUVVVVVV

Rugerfly, Which Nikon did you buy? Which lens do you find you use the most?

Thanks for the tip, I will certainly do that. I am getting the camera duty free (parents are travelling) which is why they are cheaper at the camera warehouse. I can't believe this post is up as I am going through the exact same decision myself. I have ended up going for the canon EOS 450D with the enthusiast lens kit. Everybody I know that is a photo busff told me that any body $1000+ will be good as long as it is comfortable it is the lens that makes the differance. The enthusiast kit is supposed to $1999 but dig camera warehousr do it for just over $1600 with a 3 year canon warranty which you won't get if you import or buy a grey import. Goldielover, will PM you now. Luke, I am really leaning towards a Nikon...also from the digi camera warehouse in Melbourne!! Their prices are fantastic As I said it's all down to personal taste. My first digital camera was a Nikon but, my brother in law has a canon and is a camera nut with about 7 very expensive lenses that he has offered to lend me if I need something out of the norm, so it made more sense for me to go for the canon this time. Just focus (if you can pardon the pun) on getting the best lens you can afford, you will not be dosapointed. If you have to, go down a model in the camera body to spend the extra on a better lens. Is the advice I got from everyone I asked.

Thanks for the tip, I will certainly do that. I am getting the camera duty free (parents are travelling) which is why they are cheaper at the camera warehouse. I can't believe this post is up as I am going through the exact same decision myself. I have ended up going for the canon EOS 450D with the enthusiast lens kit. Everybody I know that is a photo busff told me that any body $1000+ will be good as long as it is comfortable it is the lens that makes the differance. The enthusiast kit is supposed to $1999 but dig camera warehousr do it for just over $1600 with a 3 year canon warranty which you won't get if you import or buy a grey import.

Thanks

There are different ways of using the e-collar, Tilly. It is not about waiting for the dog to be in attack mode when the collar is used, and not about high stims. This is why I mentioned "methodology" above. But again - as to what, where, when and the likely results for any one individual dog ..... a professional consult would be needed and the owner would need the tuition as well. I agree with Erny 100%. I believe that you cannot answer this question over the internet, you need to see a specialist who can read the dog/owner/environment in question and then formulate an appropriate regime for both the dog and the owner. It's quite possible that it may not be the dog with the problem. A specialist should be able to see the issue and help you and your friend deal with it.

iltby, I am not trying to satisfy/burn their drive but rather train them "in" drive with the aim of utilising their memory of action to really cement the training. I have considered flyball as a fun thing to do with them but emailed my local club and heard nothing back so we have not persued it.

I use a ball on a small string as supplied from K9 force for drive training currently and it works but, I made an observation when using a torch near my dogs and wondered if it was possible to harness the light/laser pointer as a training tool.

I know. It is so frustrating because it is such an incredible drive stimulus that it is a shame that there are so many negatives (all justified) if only you could harness the focus without it becomeing an out of control osession and also satisfy the drive. Either way, Obviously this was a bad idea but I will continue on my search for a stimuli that I can harness. Thanks for all opinions.

As long as the kennel would accept that the dog was DA and PA and deal with it appropraitely during it's stay that would be fine. They are flying out of brissy anyway so drop off may not be an issue, it is more about whether or not they would accept the dog?

The place she is in is actually called Agnes Water(s) if that helps with the geography at all?

A friend of mines sister has a very aggressive boxer PA and DA by the sounds of it. She wants to sort it out by xmas so that someone else could feed it so she can have a holiday. If she was down here I would have sent her to K9 force but she is like 1 hour north of bundy so geography is an issue. She was also wondering if their were kennels that way that may be equipped to deal with such a case as a border? Any suggestions as to someone who could help her?

The problem that I had with the vaibrate function on my collars was the reaction that it got versus a low level stim. A stim would be very small indications but if I paged either dog they freaked out and could not focus on me or any command that was being issued as they were trying to get away from or at least find out what that thing was that was vibrating on their neck. That is why I get so fired up when people claim e-collars are evil as in truth a stim gets a much more pleasent reaction from my dogs than if they were paged but, if you asked most people thay would assume the opposite.