Perhaps I've been diverting you on purpose :) So you'd forget and my secret would be safe!!! :) Good luck

CRAZY lot :D :rolleyes:

If I have to live up to a name, then so be it.

If SB-600 is a thought then go on ' bread and water ' to get the SB-800. I did the same, to not get the SB50-DX ( SB-600 equivalent ) but get SB-80DX ( SB800 equivalent ) and never regretted it. If I had gone with the lesser one I would in a short time have regretted decision. Foxy has both and I am sure he would agree.

Don

Snap!

I got the SB-600 after weighing up the SB-800 also, it seems on paper not much between the two but face to face there is a vast difference. Firstly the SB-600 has a seven segment LCD display and its quite quirky to set. SB-800 is a full matrix display so all functions are clearly displayed and easily set quickly. SB-800 comes free with a diffusion dome (stofen diffuser) whereas SB-600 does not and I payed £15 for one. SB-800 has a commander mode to slave other flashes and SB-600 can only be a slave. SB-800 can work with five batteries for faster recycling time and accept an external power source, SB-600 is powered from four batteries only. Finally from memory SB-600 can set set to 85mm whereas SB-800 can be as narrow as a 105mm field of view although our type of photography wide is best.

I am glad I went for a SB-800 in the end but wish I had taken it from the start. Take £15 off the SB-800 when compared with SB-600 and it becomes a nobrainer.

I've just been looking at the price of both these units,:( I think they'll come sometime after I get an half decent zoom lens (I think the lens has to come first don't you?)

Lello,

Now you are on for the next question, and one nearly as tricky as the last. What range of zoom. I think your current is 35-420mm equivalent. That is 12x. In the half decent range then the less the x factor generally the better the image quality.

Any ball park budget for the lens.

Don

But I like the X factor :)
No more than £350 at present (but again that will be in the new year)

I have just found this link on ITTL flash while working on something else but thought it worth posting.
http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS.../NIKONCLSA.HTM

Don

What a great link Don, I didn't realise that SB-800 could do all that, the video about Remote triggering really shows what it can do. As foxy said the SB-800 is worth the extra above the SB-600, I need to put it on my shopping list, I take it I will also need the SB-600 to get the remote triggering to work?

Lello,

Is that another question to divert my attention. :D

I would need to check as only Foxy is famililiar with ITTL system. I just fell over the link while doing a check on lenses, and yes that was another diversion but not one of yours. :rolleyes:

Don

Just keeping you busy Flash gorDon

Lello,

Here is a link to more info than you can handle at one sitting on all things Nikon. It is regularly updated so worth a bookmark.
http://www.nikonlinks.com/

Don

( Flash gorDON has only 14 hours to save the world according to the lyric :D )

Then I think you should go and save the world or help some others in need:)
Thanks again for link "Flash" I will have a look at it later (I'm trying to win an underwater housing on ebay for my wifes Olympus)
Lello

Got it!! Now I have sorted the underwater photography for Tina for next March (going to the Seychelles) I can concentrate on my new D80

Well done on that Lello,

Seychelles :) . You will fill the gallery with more tropical masterpieces in June then.

Don

Lello was going to give some suggestion for buying form olympus direct ebay site, but seems you got it. I put hand on few nice olympus items for very cheap and see these under water housings going for as low as $15, though usually higher only these are model specific so lucky those who have the right camera or may be it is cheaper to buy a housing first and then search for a good descent 1.3, larger format olympus.
Hope to see your housing with out leak and in action soon.

Sassan I think Olympus stopped making the housing that I've just acquired from ebay, They were going for about £120 when new and they became harder to find new. Luckily this one is still new in a box:) So I've got myself a bargain.
Don I probably won't be posting any underwater shots Unless I fall in the sea with the D80 (we will be living on a yacht for one of the two weeks) I will leave the underwater stuff for Tina.

Its been a few weeks so, Lello are you going to spill the beans on how you did the 'Champagne shot' ?

I'm thinking it has something to do with fizzy pop and "Mintoes", or some other sweet with a slightly dusty sugar coating, dropped into the bottle.

Hi guys, Sorry I'd forgotten about me telling you the secret.
As soon a Christmas is over I will post details and photos of how the Champagne shot was done, So Don has a few more day to work it out.
Me thinks he knows but is not telling :)

Duncan, You're very cold with that guess

Good luck with the compitition, it would have to be some shot to beet yours.

I have a suggestion that will surely work.
As a bonus, no Champagne or lemonade is waisted either.

1) Using a cotton tread soaked in oil or alcohol, then placed in a coin size circle fashion on the bottom of champagne bottle. Set the tread on fire, thenin a few second, dip the bottle into a ice water. The circle section will be broken clearly (Watch your finger no onward on the sharp parts).
2) Secure a water hose to the bottom of bottle, with the hose attached to the water pipe.
3) Set up the bottle so that the it is placed over the table with hole through which the hose is connected.
4) Turn your fountain on fully and take the pictures.
5) Pay good attention to fine prints and disclaimer: All the wet stuff, mess, cut and burned stuff are not my responsibilities. Do it at your own risk. You may die following these instruction:(, well anyway we all will die one day....

Not a bad try Sassan, But will the bottle break at the point you want or will it shatter in to thousands and thousands pieces only for you to spend a month or so re-gluing together? :D

I fully understand how the bottle is broken but champagne bottles are made using very thick glass particularly at the bottom. I suppose a hole could be put in the bottom of a champagne bottle using a drill bit suitable for ceramics and quite a lot of patience.

Well done Stephen you've got it :D, As I said I will post the the method in the next couple of days. I have got a stinking cold at the moment and I don't even have the energy to play with the D70. Not taken a a day off work sick in 2 years as soon as I'm off work and relax, I go down this this stinker :(

Talk about bad luck Lello. Best Wishes for a speedy recovery.

I notice no mention or guess's from Sassan or Foxy as to the flow of the lemonade yet. That was what really attracted my attention to the shot in the first place, and for me is the clever bit.

Don

OK, I had the bottom of the bottle at the back drilled about 2cm up,the hole was about 10mm diameter, (A Friend did this for me) I then went to homebase and bought some plastic tubing (car windscreen washer pipe) which I was going to poke into the hole bring it up through the neck wrap some tape round the pipe the draw it back so the tape acted as the seal, as it happens the pipe was a tight fit into the hole and it sealed itself because it was so tight in the hole, I then attached the rubber hose from a bicycle pump to the plastic hose, again very lucky here, the rubber hose just threaded itself onto the plastic pipe. I then did some experimenting in the kitchen sink with water, I found if I filled the bottle to the top it only needed one pump to force water out of the neck and got lots of different types of flow depending if it was a quick pump or a slow gradual pump. I then found that if I hollowed out the cork I could get some more lift rather than the cork just falling over as soon as the water came out. As you know I then used lemonade instead of water to try and get some froth to make it look like champagne. Again as you know my intention was to use burst mode outside on the patio, but because of the weather I had to move inside in to the bathroom, The bottle was sitting in the sink on top of a box to get some hight and all I could find for backdrop was my daughters (Liela) sheets, (Tina was out shopping at the time) so I had time to sneak into the airing cupboard to borrow the sheets. I then had to place the pump into my belly and pumped with one hand as I took the photo with wire remote, I spent more time on trying to get the lighting right (still not happy with that) than taking the shots, as the sheet got soaked every time I took the shot the finish shot was the first one with the second sheet. I will post here some photos of the first attempt with water. So Don I was not magic after all, Well done to Stephen (with help from Sassan) for guessing about the hole. :D

Lello,

The fact that you have to explain, as it was not at all obvious, means my comment on your gallery pic " This image earns you a first class entry to the magic circle." still stands.

Don

Thanks Don
I can't find the original water shots (I think I binned them) I have some more photos I took on the day but I can't get the photo's down to the required size to post here Help!

For anyone wanting to emulate this extremely good photo by Lello.

Making an hole in the bottle is very easy. A short piece of metal tube (I always preferred 1/4" copper tube) place this in a drill, then use carborundum paste and grind the hole into the bottle.

This method will enable you to "cut" an hole into glass and ceramics. I have in the past cut holes into light bulbs.

Harry

I suggest aiming for around 100k for images on the boards. This can be easilly achieved by resizing to 800 or 500px wide then applying moderate JPEG compression i.e. level 8/9 (photoshop)

Any problems, e-mail me the pics and i'll size and compress and place in any post for you.

I don't understand that one Lello. :confused: Editing prog playing up ??? You can e-mail them to me and I will resize and send back to you if you like.

Don

Crossed in the ether there Foxy :D :D

Don

(Filler)

:D :D

Here are two shots The first one showing the sink layout,(you can just see the hose in this one, And No2 was after about 3 attempts (you can see the state of the sheet) and the different flow:)
PS
We have 12 coming round for dinner in about an hour, so will catch up with you later

Nice ones Lello.

I have just taken pic of flash contacts from an early camera to show how robust the connection is for 250v trigger. I will post later. As you are OK with your pics now, time to go out and look for festive lights. Mist comming down to slow me up. :rolleyes:

Don

Lello,

As promised a pic of the flash contacts from a 60's mechanical camera.

Notice I did not open up one of my Nikkormats. :D :D

Don

Thats very interesting and explains sync speed, front and rear curtain ideas or at least their origins and why they exist today. It has provided reason for some of the ideas we have been using in the flash thread.

The large metal lump that is the flash trigger is required probably for reliability and physical strength as voltage requires next to nothing in terms of gauge to apply whereas electrical current needs conductor cross sectional area to transport without detrimental consequences.

Very interesting Don
Cameras seem to have a long way in the 30 odd years.I bet The new Cams flash's are not triggered by gears, Or are they?

OK, Now that one mystery is solved how about this one?
LINK