Ripley

It's a genuine advertisement, they are marketing the old 35mm film camera. It was on Ellen the other night, I found it amusing the way they were going about trying to sell them. Guess I have a weird sense of humour or it was a had to be there moment watching it on Ellen.

OMG, what marketing. Genius http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/09/16/vivitarcamera/

Got my answer re legalities.

edited (thought it looked like a solid colour fill layer and blend but don't think so now having had another look). She may have overexposed the image in camera to begin with?

Congratulations MTD! Wildlife captured in the wild is my favourite to photograph. (Unless someone is using a flash extender (popular on telephoto lenses in rainforests where the light is low or on sunny days) and that is what the judge meant in his comment re fill flash with your seabird with chick photo (looks like a tern to me but I'm not sure), I don't agree with using fill flash close to a wild seabird on the nest with chicks, you could frighten her off, away from her babies). Article on fill in flash and wildlife photography here if you are interested, MTD. http://www.dmcphoto.com/Articles/Flash/index.html

I used to have a 350D. I can't remember what I sold it for but I sold it when the 450D was the only model after it. There has been the 550 and 1000 since then I think. I check ebay to see what camera bodies go for. Here are some 350Ds on ebay (not in Autralia though) http://shop.ebay.com.au/?_from=R40&_tr...-All-Categories My husband just paid $950 for a brand new 50D body with warranty from an Australian company for me (I haven't used it yet, just had a play with the settings (I have a 30D but not selling it)). I think the 60D is out or about to be released? Do a search on ebay for prices for a 5D too. Not saying this is how to do a price comparison, but it will give you a gist on what stuff is going for. I agree re the 50mm. I got mine brand new for about $100 (and I hardly use the thing thankfully so glad it wasn't too much ). eta: Canon 5D body on ebay atm with a week to go on bidding. Add this to your watch list to see what it ends up selling for. It also depends on condition too of course. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/CANON-5D-BODY-BATTE...=item1c1576d43c

Kirislin: Canon 7D, 50mm 1.4, 100mm macro, 70-200mm 2.8. Bellatrix: Canon 5D Mark II, 50mm 1.4 (and the 1.8), 24-70mm 2.8L, 100mm 2.8 Macro, Speedlite 580EX II JS: Canon 1000D, kit 18mm-55mm & 55mm-250mm, 50mm 1.8, Speedlite 580EX II SchnuzaeryBoy: Nikon D80, Nikon D700, 50 1.8, 18-50 2.8, 28-80 3.5-4, 24-70 2.8, 70-200 2.8, SB-400, SB-900, 1.4x TC, 2x TC Becandcharch: Canon 40D, 50mm 1.4, Speedlite 580EX II and a kit lens I dont even know what it is as I never use it! persephone :point&shootonly here Fuji finepixS8000sfd and a sony cybershot DSCN1 Ellz: P&S only here too: Olympus SP600UZ and Sony Cybershot DSC-S650 MavericksMission: Canon 450D, 18-55mm & 55-250mm Evolving: Canon 500D, 50mm 1.8, 18-55mm & 55-250mm Mish13 : Sony A700, 16-80 F3.5,90mm F2.8,11-18mm F4.5,18-250mm F3.5, 75-300mm F4.5 (Bellatrix, you have my dream camera) CrazyCresties: Lumix TZ65 and my Canon (which is still in storage for another month!) 350D 18-55mm kit lens, 70-300mm and 500mm Tamron mirror lens (about 20yrs old from my old Minolta but works with an adaptor!) Belgian.blue: Canon 550D 18-55mm & 55-250mm .. very soon a 50mm 1.8 and a Sony Cybershot P&S Fattima: Nikon D90, kit 18-55mm & 55-200mm Clover: Nikon D40x, kit 18 - 55mm, 55 - 200mm & nikkor 70 - 300mm. MTD : Sony A350 , 55-200mm, 18mm-70mm , 50mm 1.8 SammieS: Canon 7D, 18-200mm but I think I also want a 50mm soon! DMA: Olympus E-30, Olympus E-420, Zuiko: 14-42mm, 12-60mm SWD, 18-180mm, 70-300mm; Sigma: 24mm, 30mm, Olympus EX-25; Canon PowerShoot A590; Canon AE-1, 28-70mm, 85-200mm Ripley: Canon 50D (I've not even used it yet! Was a present from my husband 2 weeks ago); Canon 30D, Canon 300mm f/4 L (I'm in love with this lens) and an L 1.4x teleconverter (don't tend to use it though), Canon 50mm 1.8 (I hardly use this lens), Sigma 17-70, Sigma 10-20, 2 ND grad filters, a newish Fuji pocket digital + underwater housing which I am going to sell soon eta: Husband has an Olympus DSLR E500 with kit lens if anyone wants to buy it, not many shutter clicks on it at all

Was it a surprise?? What a wonderful hubby, that should earn him lots and lots of man credits. ;) Happy Birthday to you too. Aw, thanks kirislin. I'm doing bugger all today at work because nobody is here today and well, I have bugger all to do. Battery is on charge and then I'll play around with it. It was kind of a surprise. I was considering a second hand 1D Mark II but it would have been way too heavy with the telephoto lens attached for me to hand hold (I hate using tripods unless I have to), so asked hubby for the 50D instead. He got it for a good price I think, from Cameras Direct.

Recently, I was very moved by the work of Tommaso Ausili who won a category in this year's 'Sony World Photographer of the Year' comp for the Photojournalism and Documentary category. He has taken very confronting images of animals in an abbatoir awaiting slaughter. I sent his photos to a few people and one of my friends said the abbatoir is in Umbria, Italy, she was so moved to tears by his photos (she's vegetarian). Don't click on this link if you are squeamish. I like photos that affect me emotionally, whether they make me upset (like these did) or happy. Sony World Photography gallery - Tommaso Ausili's The Hidden Death. (there are other winners of categories in this link as well) http://www.ipernity.com/doc/wpa/7474208?fr...p;at=1267624652 more from Tommaso Ausili with that category here: http://www.worldpressphoto.org/index.php?o...;bandwidth=high I love this photographer's wildlife images, he won a category in last year's World Wildlife Photographer of the Year. PossumCorner, you may be interested in his images, I love his Arctic series. Jan Vermeer http://www.janvermeer.nl/cms/index.php/en_US/portfolio Love Nick Brandt's wildlife images of African wildlife too

In the mail tray at work this morning was a box. I opened it and found ... a Canon 50D body. My lovely husband bought it for me for my birthday. I'm going to keep the 30D as a back up but am looking forward to trying the 50D's AF out on flying bird shots. Woo-hoo!

My husband has the same model as you I think. He uses it for work. I haven't used it though, he just brings it to me to program in the settings he needs. To be honest he hardly uses it and I won't use it as none of my lenses will fit it (I'm a Canon user).

Cyclist is nice and sharp. I had one go at panning just over 2 years ago. I didn't know much about taking photos then but I was happy enough with the result. I used a DOLer and her lovely dobe as a model. Experiment with shutter speeds and see what you come up with and like. I would like to have another go at it one day now I know a bit more about photography, but at the time I was happy with these. mainly because of the eye contact of my model who was looking at her dobe in this one. Pity about the ugly cyclone fence in the background but at a dog show you can't be lucky with backgrounds. Warning: This may hurt eyes as well. I took some sharp shots of these seabirds and then slowed down the shutter speed as there were birdies coming from everywhere and I wanted to try for an impressionist look. Taken off the back of a boat out on the open ocean. These are shearwaters (boat captain was chumming the water)

The AF is what I desire. Got a second hand 40D on 'watch' on ebay atm. Debating on whether to make a bid. I need another camera before mid August hopefully. thanks kja and rubiton for the helpful advice.

Something I'm just chewing over depending on how much tax refund I get (have to put in 2 years' worth). I need a back up camera as changing lenses in dust/sand gets the sensor dirty and I've had to clone out blobs in my last batch of pics. I have a 30D and a very good lens for wildlife photography (300mm f/4 L prime and a L 1.4 teleconverter (which I rarely need)). I have looked at another photo site and opinions are varied on this. Which would you buy - a second hand 1D Mark II N (note the N version, not just the Mark II) or a brand new 50D? AF on the 1D is supposed to be ideal for tracking moving wildlife but the reach I'd get with my lens on a smaller sensor on the 50D .. I can't decide. I could just crop later. I've been watching the prices on second hand 1D Mark II N's on ebay and they are going for about $950-$970 on ebay. I don't take portrait or dog photos, just birds, wildlife and scenics. I've missed a few shots with the 30D because AF can't keep up, but that's with the teleconverter attached, which slows it down a lot. I like my 30D, is it worth upgrading to a 50D, is there much difference? I know the 1D would be heavy and I'm only a slight build. I'm leaning towards the 50D atm. Not sure if I'll get any replies here because of what I take pics of, but it can't help to ask. Thanks for any opinions. eta: title keeps changing my Capital lettering!

Lovely CM. Something about Autumn leaves and dogs that make a great photo. Looks like you had a great break.

I can't remember the name of the puppy farm where my mother's KCC came from. It was up on the NSW/Qld border area and was raided by the rspca. All mum was told she was found in a garage/shed type situation in a cage in the dark and had a couple of puppies with her. There was cannibalisation at that place and owner has been fined and the episode was on RSPCA tv series last year (mum's KCC was the one being loaded into the boot in that episode). Charlotte is still very wary of people and won't go near men at all. She fear wees if a stranger picks her up. She has a beautiful nature though, it's such a shame she spent the first 3 years of her life in squalor.

I couldn't care less. My dog was rescued straight from the pound by me, I chose her, chose to keep her and chose to rehome a few pure breds I fostered who came after her. I was at some markets near where a dog show was on once and a breeder of Italian greyhounds there came up to us and exclaimed, "Oh what a dear little cross!" I laughed as she is a dear little cross, the woman was right. Millie is I don't know what, there is tibbie in there but not sure how much. People thinks she's a puppy but she's 10. However, my cat is pure bred (Lilac Burmese) and I refer to other cats that aren't as ferals. Not to anyone's face though.

Yep, I know. It's tragic. However the whale shark that was in the Dubai aquarium was released this year. Conservation gorups had been pressuring the aquarium since her capture. She is now free but rumours were that she wasn't doing too well in the tank so that is why they released her. I admit I'm surprised the US still has one in captivity as it's wild caught too. It's inhumane to take such a huge gentle creature from the ocean and put it in captivity. :p ** Update on the whale shark in Dubai: "DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—For 18 months it swam circuitously in silent frustration at an aquarium in Dubai’s most famous five star hotel. Named Sammy by local media, the gentle whale shark was the star attraction at the Atlantis Hotel on Dubai’s man-made Palm Island. However, the whale shark soon became a cause célèbre for local environmentalists and even former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson because of the circumstances of how it arrived at the newly opened hotel. The infant shark, which is an endangered species, was caught off the coast of Dubai and taken to the ‘lost city’ attraction at the hotel soon after the US$1.5 billion resort opened in 2008. Hotel officials said that the fish was in distress in UAE waters and it had been rescued, but environmentalists rejected the suggestion. “Holding a whale shark in a constraining artificial environment where it is unable to feed and has a limited area to move, can have fatal consequences,” a group of activists wrote to the hotel in a letter that was published by local media. They said that the shark, which was 13 feet when caught, can grow up to 46 feet in length. Pamela Anderson, an ardent animal activist called the captivity of the whale shark “heartbreaking.” Despite pressure on the hotel, and massive negative publicity, Atlantis refused for 18 months to release the shark. Then suddenly, in a move that raised suspicion among environmental activists, Sammy was released back into the waters of the Persian Gulf on March 18. Some speculated that the animal may have been close to death and the release was timed to avoid negative publicity. London-based World Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA) raised concerns over the lack of rehabilitation of the whale shark prior to its release. “WSPA is concerned that Sammy’s chances of survival are slim”. “This was a wild animal caught and put into an unnatural environment—purely to amuse hotel guests—who has been unceremoniously dumped back into the ocean.” Tracking Sammy Working with the Florida-based Mote Marine Laboratory, Atlantis staff tagged the animal before its release. The results of that experiment were released on Tuesday, almost three months after the whale shark was freed. It shows an astonishing pattern where the animal traveled 216 miles in a month before disappearing from the radar in the seas around Qatar. However, the tag attached to the animal detached prematurely, after only 33 days. The device was originally intended to stay attached for 100 days. Steve Kaiser, vice president of Marine Science and Engineering at Atlantis, said that the early detachment was not unusual. "The early release of tags has been reported by other researchers of whale sharks in other locations,” he said. “Researchers can only guess as to why they detach prematurely." Dr. Robert Hueter, director of Mote's Center for Shark Research and leader of the tracking project, said that the team was able to put together a detailed account of the animal’s movements despite the tag detaching early. "After Atlantis staff tagged and released her off Dubai, the whale shark took a mostly westward path through the Arabian Gulf, traveling south of Iran and then curving southward to waters off the coast of Qatar, ending up about 348 km [216 miles] west of her starting point," he said. Local environmentalists are pleased with Sammy’s success and have invited Atlantis and Mote to give a presentation on the data at a workshop in December. The gesture was unthinkable just six months ago when the hotel was considered to be the last word in the exploitation of endangered species. Dubai-based whale shark activist Jonathan Ali Khan told local daily Khaleej Times that Atlantis has scored a major PR victory. “I think they’ve redeemed themselves,” he said." Oh and beautiful photos as usual, kja. I'm going to browse your blog over my lunchbreak. I'm off to (hopefully) dive with manta rays next month and can't wait!

Just had my guess confirmed by a bird expert. Your visitor is a Restless Flycatcher. Here's a bit about them. http://birdsinbackyards.net/species/Myiagra-inquieta

Not an expert but could be a restless flycatcher?

I was standing near a guy taking some night pics of that Vivid thing in Sydney the other week, freezing my butt off and trying to get it over with quickly. He wanted a chat. He went on about his camera, blah blah and I nodded. Told me it was a 5D and all. I had a cable release and he asked about that so I was polite. He asked my settings, I told him. I asked him what he was using and he said, "Dunno, don't take it off Auto". I'm not into the whole gear junkie thing but sometimes it is hard not to be wowed and yes, envious. So yes I was envious he had a 5D, I could never, ever afford one. To be honest, I only take pics as I like to photograph nature (landscapes etc), wildlife and record some memories of beautiful places and I like seeking those out. It's kind of a form of meditation for me, wandering around wild places with just my camera and not knowing what I'll find. If I take some shots I'm happy with, then I'm happy but I'm pretty tough on myself and bin a lot. My 30D is pretty good though and will do me for the time being.

Wonderful photo. I envy you being able to swim with these gentle giants. What an amazing image of one of earth's most endangered creatures. The oceans they cover are pretty vast - from Australia to Asia to India and beyond. They now have protection in the Philippines and India which is wonderful so they aren't allowed to be finned there. At work we used to sponsor a trip each year for an employee to swim with the whale sharks and assist with data research (with Earthwatch) but we don't do it anymore. It's sad that the Japanese have 2 of them in a tank that they caught from the wild, considering the kilometres they cover in the wild. I don't know how long the poor things are going to live confined like that, they are the size of a bus. eta: Are Earthwatch still doing the research for whale sharks out of Exemouth?

I haven't had the camera out for a couple of months, but took some pics recently. During late May to last weekend there was the Vivid Sydney Light Festival. The Opera House sails had a laser light show set designed by Brian Eno (I think) and changed colour and design throughout the evening (sometimes during the exposure which made for some lurid colours). It started at 6pm each evening and it was already pitch dark then. Other buildings along Macquarie Street were also lit up. I dragged husband out and we went to The Rocks night markets and then he had to put up with me taking pics of the Opera House. I also went up to Macquarie Street after work one evening alone to take a photo of the blue arch and Cathedral. Night photography is something I've only done once or twice before (when I arrived at a location too late). Here are few shots of Vivid Sydney anyway.

Oh wow, look at Flute all grown up. I remember taking a pic of her as a puppy over a year ago - remember when Rugerfly and I popped along to the show? What beautiful GSHPs you have.

Lovely pics, CM!