chezzyr

I think you would be pleasantly surprised with the 50mm/1.8, its pretty cheap as far as nice lenses go. That is a nice sample shot of Divani (I am guessing it is Divani!). I have one but its mainly been used for still life images. Ruthless: what lenses do you have already?

Kirislin: what lens did you take that first shot with? It appears to me you took it completely zoomed to 300mm. This may or may not help but I have noticed with some consumer lenses they are a bit dodgy at the extreme end. If I was you I would do some testing and see how it goes at about 290mm. Also I would test it with some non moving subjects as well as trying some with manual focus. sort of an elimination process...

Ripley: my OH is even worse, he just picks up a camera I have been using and starts shooting without checking what settings I have had it on :D (you can visualise M, AV etc etc) :D

I say this to my friends when they want to buy a new u-beaut camera: "Rome wasn't built in a day" Some of them seem to think they are going to get perfect shots straight out of the box. There are numerous variables - as is being pointed out here and elsewhere. Some of them still struggle months on, but haven't read the manual or anything :D Good to hear you are out practicing, its a great day here for it.

We have a raised green bed for outside that looks similar to the Snooza Flea-Free Dog Bed but was a fraction of the price (not sure where it came from). Sometimes I plonk the Snooza Futon on it. Love that the covers are easily washable. The futon gets used indoors, outdoors, in the car, for camping etc.

You can have all the megapixels in the world but I think image quality is going to be effected by numerous things - quality of the lens, camera movement, iso/grain/noise and using digital zoom versus optical etc. Not all images are going to look tack sharp at 100% view on the computer (though wouldnt it be nice). p.s I know there are some dolers who use Finepix cameras, but I am not sure what models sorry.

Did you take any without flash to compare eg outdoors in natural light? Personally Id be trying different subject matter and various lighting situations before writing something off. I would even take a non moving object and set the camera up on a table or tripod and take a few test shots at varying zoom lengths.

Is the whole image in focus or are you perhaps looking at areas of the image that arent in focus? Also I take it you are looking at the image at 100% view on the computer screen versus 100% digital zoom on the camera while you are using it? eta: by 'on the camera' I am thinking about digital zoom versus optical zoom. And the resulting quality from either.

Ripley: that is slack Get out there and try it out. You should have gone on the pelagic out of Sydney. They saw numerous Albatrosses!! Sounds like they had close views also.

Can anyone recommend any vets in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne that does titer testing? I have just received my THIRD reminder card for Rosie to get her C5 done which was due end of May and I have let it lapse as we arent involved with clubs or boarding kennels at this time. Also if anyone has some info I can print out and send to my vet I am going to send the reminder cards back to him with the info

Hi guys Just after some advice. I was bagging up some off cuts for the freezer and jabbed myself with a sliver of bone. We are encouraged to feed bones yet I got a bit of a fright at how sharp this bone was. These are 'lamb off cuts' and from what I can tell mainly from the ribs area. I used to feed chicken necks but they virtually go straight down, the teeth don't get a workout. So in more recently months I have mainly fed the lamb flaps/lamb off cuts. Though she seems to have gone off them - is preferring to bury her bones rather than eat them. Wondering what other people feed, what bones/raw meat they find are the safest. I am thinking I might give the lamb off cuts a rest for a while. Just not sure how I am feeling about these sharp bones right now

Ripley, what kind of Lowepro bag have you got? Do you have to pack all the gear, including the Olympus in the one bag? What lens/es will be used with the Olympus?

Hey, I sometimes use my Moshi neck roll when I am birding from the car

I reckon you should just get out there and practice hand holding that lens. The more you use something the better your technique gets - I reckon. Your monopod might end up a paperweight like mine (and believe me these days I don't buy things unless I am convinced I will use them on a regular basis, twice a year isnt good enough for me). Feel free to ignore my comments

I saw the name Spike and didn't want to open this thread. I am so sorry, Elsa. Thinking of you and your Mum at this time. :rolleyes: RIP Spike ~~ RIP Rascall

My method: Copy of images to main drive, a little culling, then copy over to external drive/s also, followed by burn to dvd. Very last step is deleting from the cards. So Id have copies of images in 3 places before wiping the cards. I would view copious amounts of unsorted/unculled images like a huge pile of newspapers in the house - where one doesnt have the time or 'discipline' to go through them and cut out just the articles they want to keep :rolleyes:

What sort of budget and subject matter?

Didn't know that, thanks, will do. Haven't heard anything back yet but I know he is a busy vet :D

Given that I drag my equipment through the scrub its a worthwhile investment for me :D I think they are quite cheap anyway.

Thankyou , I wish I had known all this 3 years ago. Anyway, I have just shot an email off to my vet so I will see what he says

The vet I go to is not "pushy" but I just received the annual reminder card. Wish I had asked when I was in there recently about her foot, darn it (by the way her foot is coming good, thanks to the anti-bs). Thanks for the responses, atleast I feel better about 'stalling' if I want to Do all vets do this titer testing thing? (and how do I pronounce it: is it teeter as in teeter totter or tighter?)

My girl is due for her C5 at the end of May. I am not particularly keen to rush her off for another one. The reason I got the annual ones done was to allow involvement in clubs (obedience) and boarding kennels. Well we currently arent involved in club activities and havent had any need for boarding kennels yet. So just wondering what to do. Suggestions? Thanks.

Yes, I use screen protectors on my cameras. They are like clear self-adhesive stickers. I can't remember where we got them from now, sorry. But if you are worried about marking or scratching the screen I would recommend them. I am not sure what type Ripley is talking about :D

Lucknow, is woundgard a similar product to Stop Chew (denatonium benzoate)?

Going through a similar thing with my girl at the moment - we think she grazed her toe on concrete. Bathed it in salty water and let the air get to it but then she decided she wanted to lick it. We tried bandages and putting a dog boot on her, alternating them. She licked/chewed both! Bought some "Stop Chew" which I tried and is revolting, really bitter. She didn't like that to begin with but then decided she could cope with it. Back to licking. The sore got infected (from the licking and getting dirt in it) and she is on anti biotics. We also have a Buster collar (bucket) for her. So at the moment we are alternating the bucket, boot and bandage. I am also keeping up the salt water baths and vet said I was doing the right things with her.