Recent content by alexcarnes

It's semi returned to life - it doesn't quite recognise my account, including Pro setting. It's a bit ropey isn't it, for what it costs.

Speaking of dead Flickr, is anyone else having trouble with the Android app? I'm getting a total blank, completely dead. I've tried all the obvious things - reboot the phone, sign out - sign in, uninstall - reinstall, and nothing. Dead as a dodo! Alex

Shame about Nikon UK. In 2014, I had cause to send a D7000 off for AF calibration - I don't think it was even Nikon's fault it was out of whack, I think I actually dropped it - camera returned in about a week, perfectly repaired and cleaned, invoice for £0.00. Sent a brand new D850 back a few...

Have you something to recommend? I'm going to be in the market for a new laptop soon.

Barrelling as in barrel distortion? I guess you're using an open source RAW converter that doesn't read the lens profile, if you use Lightroom for e.g. then it'll correct it to perfectly rectilinear automatically. There's nothing wrong with open source RAW converters by the way, I'm just...

I'm a nifty-fifty man through and through. I wouldn't be without a 28 (or equivalent), but most of my photos are at 50mm. The 20-60 came with one of my cameras and it's really good! If you're a landscape shooter then honestly it's the only lens you need. If you're sensible, which obviously I'm...

Zoom lenses are against my religion, but I am nonetheless tempted to grab a copy of the 24-105. If I buy another 50 people are going to think I've got issues! Although that new Sigma 50/1.4 is calling to me...

The 105/2.8 is really good, although I preferred the earlier 70/2.8 that's basically an adapted SLR lens. It's cheaper and I prefer the wider angle of view for a bit more context. It depends what you shoot. If you're into insects then obviously the 105mm is the better choice, but I personally...

To be honest, 12MP is all most people need. The trouble is, people rarely print these days, and tend to view their photos at pixel level, at close range, on large computer screens. I think they forget just what an insane amount of magnification they're looking at! Printed at the same size and...

It's good to experiment, although some of these multishot methods can be very time consuming and really only work for perfectly still subjects. The image quality can be incredible but I honestly don't bother with it much. The S5s produce excellent image quality in standard single shot mode and I...

Twenty-four megapixels is all you really need for anything. And you tend to stop down well into diffraction territory for macro so you just record more blur. The only reason for going above 24MP is if you make a habit of cropping heavily, but you shouldn't make a habit of cropping heavily...

Yeah it's manual focus (distance), I had to Google it! That's the clincher though really, there's no way you'd get such shallow DOF with a 5mm lens or whatever it is. Everything would be in focus whether you like it or not!

It's really annoying because it doesn't always seem to place the DOF like a real camera, it makes choices about what subject matter should be sharp and which blurred. No one else seems to be complaining though so obviously I'm extremely fussy or just weird!

I'm a 50mm shooter through and through, but I can get along with 40. Just! I think you can find dust on pretty much any sensor if you go looking for it. Stop down to f/16 or f/22 whatever it'll close down to and take a picture of a clear blue sky. You'll find dust!

This is the concern. I mean, you have to know when to stop worrying - dust is a fact of life and photography doesn't even particularly benefit from excessive hygiene! A little dust and grain sometimes helps keep it real. Within sensible limits. The trouble is when you get a large bogey or a hair...