Focus on Imaging - good to see you!

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Colin
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I'm not long back from a great day out at Focus. Managed to meet up with the rest of the TP reprobates in Wetherspoons and have a natter although it was interesting trying to put faces to usernames (and avatars :D).

For me there were a few highlights to the show, I went there with the specific intention of sourcing album and digital art books for my fledgling wedding photography business, some were very good and others surprised me at how poor their products were and how the 'salesmen' couldn't be bothered to deal with you - all this within three hours of the show opening on the first day. I've manged to whittle down the potential suppliers to about four companies and will research them more.

Obviously I visited the Nikon stand and lovingly fondled the 300mm f/2.8 VR, oh my what a beast, be still my beating heart! :love: :love: I wouldn't want to carry it round all day without a monopod though! I had a look at a stand selling second hand lenses and they had very well worn 300mm f/2.8 AF-S II, a great lens in its own right but this one was well battered and worn with a lot of brassing - slightly overpriced at £1800. :eek:

Bargain of the day? I managed to sneak in about a half hour early and was rewarded by picking up an Arca-Swiss compatible ballhead for £20. It was one of only a dozen that had been bought as bankrupt stock and at that price they were sure to move quickly. The one I have at the moment is too big for travel and this cheapie is ideal for travelling light. That reminds me, I went to but an Arca-Swiss type plate for my 70-200mm lens and this stand wanted £53 - for a lens plate!!

That's enough from me - let's hear your Focus reports.
 
:wave:

was nice to meet you mate even if it was only for a second..

:thumbs:


md:thumbs:

ill post some shots of the day soon...:naughty:
 
Hacker said:
That's enough from me - let's hear your Focus reports.
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Well I was up at 7.30am, way-HAY too early for a Sunday :D Made it to the NEC in once piece and was queuing up by 9.30am, and it paid off, was lovely and quiet until 12pm when I went to meet the fellow TP'ers.

Didnt spend anything as its my birthday in a fortnight and Ive been forbidden incase I buy duplicate gifts :D Did come away with a new bag though for subscribing to a mag :)

All in all, a good day :thumbs:
 
Aww! I cant believe I missed you guys! :(
I got stuck in the lunchtime traffic frenzy, which meant it took me an hour to travel 2 miles to site & I didnt get there until 12.45pm!
Nice to see some of the other faces though that were still there though ... Hi Betty.:wave:

Carole looking forward to the pics from that 40D!

Mr Limone ... cant wait to see some of those candids!


Colin, did you check out the books on the Photo-me stand? they looked very nice.:)
 
I'm going tomorrow and can't wait.

Any things I should look out for?

And should I take my camera?
 
:wave: Glo ;)

Did you come away with any freebies then? :D
 
Yes Betty .... Marcel, DF, Mr Lemon, Glen & I, all raided the boxes on the Olympus stand and got ourselves a couple of reflectors each
... oh and I managed to put my hands on the last lens cloth! :D

Also came away with a subscription to EOS magazine & got a free wrist strap.
 
It was good to meet you all at the show & put a few faces to names (avatars)....:thumbs:

I had a great time seeing as it was my 1st visit, but I have to say it began to get rather crowded in there after the pub meet...:eek: :gag:

I was looking for a monopod & I was a bit disappointed I could not find one :'(, but if the truth is known I gave up looking because of the masses....:bang:

All in all a grand day...:woot: :woot:
 
Sounds like, if it was that busy, perhaps I should leave my camera at home?
 
Hacker said:
......although it was interesting trying to put faces to usernames (and avatars :D).
......
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Unlike you Mr Hacker, I'm not instantly recognisable from my Avatar (especially when I've shaved).

Good to meet several of you but a few too many new faces for me to remember in one go.

Bob
 
My visit was more than a little hectic, after trekking all the way to the hall and waiting for ages, gaining my pass I then proceeded to walk ALL the way back to the WRONG BLOODY Weatherspoons! Dumbass.....

Got there in the end though, only a very brief visit with all the TP`s, time really wasn`t on my side today.

The organisation for Focus needs sorting out, that`s for sure.

Ended up with a 40D.

Which was nice.
 
Sorry I missed you folks today, was at the show today but didn't exchange any numbers beforehand. Had a wander into Wetherspoons around 12:30, but couldn't see anyone I recognised or obvious TP gear.

It was pretty busy today at the show, didn't really try and hunt down any bargains. Those of you that managed to get a reflector free did very well (I could do with one of those!). Can't say I picked up any great freebies, but was only at the show for a couple of hours.

Main objective was to go to the Nikon stand and try a couple of lenses I was after and also to get the Lee Filters stand. Must say, the Canon stand was impressive, much easier to try their gear than at Nikon and lots of knowledgeable people around too.
 
I was going to post a thank you thread, but I won't now. :)

It was fantastic to see so many members turn out :thumbs:
I'm sorry if I didn't manage to get round to speaking to you all, there were just too many faces for the time available......so maybe next time :)

I got delayed on the M6 coming home by a vehicle fire, but I'm home now.
 
yup. we( me n her) missed everyoneone at witherspoons cos of wifeys temporary hobling on a crutch.
but bumped into inaglo,marcel and some others. my god that marcel is gorgeous.:D. how does inaglo shoot with those nails?:eek:
spent ridiculous amounts of dosh on the company card, but made some MAJOR savings on the kit we bought.all planned purchases , honest.well, mostly.
home skint and knackered, but had a good day.
why is it everytime i go to the NEC , i come out a different way?
and we left so late that the carpark guys had gone home, so we didnt pay £8 for our parking .:D:D:D
even bought a lens cloth for £2.
 
Betty, PM'd you re the reflectors...

Lovely to meet everyone, Marcel, your 365 thread stood you in good stead!! he he Its nice to be able to put faces to names - and make some new friends too...

We picked up a couple of freebees from the Olympus stand, reflector, bean bag etc..I subscribed to the EOS magazine too so got a free strap, i also signed up to another mag and go a Lowepro compu daypac bag worth about £80 - I was looking for a bag to take on my travels this year and that fits the bill nicely....

I also bought a crumpler pretty box maxi on special offer....oh and a book!

All in all a great day out - shame about the traffic - Glo, i'm pleased to have bumped into you outside the hall.

I'm looking forward to the next meet x x x
 
I'm going tomorrow, is it worth taking my DSLR along ?
 
Oh well i was going on wifes Virago 535 tomorrow but looks like the tin can.
My first time in a good while to any NEC event as always got so peeved at crowds but that was always at a weekend.
 
inaneredstripe said:
glitter, i hope you feel guilty.:D.
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:naughty: hmmmm me feel guilty..... nope!!
Apologies to all of you who had to pay the £8 parking fee.

James, if you go on your bike, where will you store all of your purchases???:shrug:
 
my wife says shes wrong. i do have friends.
wondered why i spent hours on the pc of an evening.
sounds a bit like the pot calling the kettle black tho.
during wedding season, she spends most of her time with someone called photoshop adobe. i think shes african.
 
I was quite supprised at how many tp'ers met up.. very imoressive.. although cos i didnt really know who was who i didnt get to speak to many... the ones i did speak to were very nice... still dont know who they were!! lol.. couldnt bring myself to say 'Whats ur handle good buddy...' lol..

Anyway, i came away empty handed but it was good to see and feel whats on offer!! :lol:

Had good company for the drive up with FranchiseJuan...

Must go on some more meets with my chatty head on... :thumbs:
 
Mart61 said:
Sounds like, if it was that busy, perhaps I should leave my camera at home?
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Jase said:
I'm going tomorrow, is it worth taking my DSLR along ?
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I took mine and got some ok shots :) I didnt think it was very busy to be honest! I have been to busier places with my camera :p

Tips would be to take a CF card with you if you want to play with the Canon cameras, they let you stick your card in any of the cameras and play about (just remember to check the settings on the cameras, I have all sorts of numbers jpegs and raws all over the shop) - You can also play with some VERY nice long L glass too :D

Also take some pics on a usb memory stick of some sort and hang around the Epson stand, saw lots of people getting free prints, even nice A3 ones :)


Was good to meet so many people, not sure who half of you were, but I think I have done better than most meets, must be at least 6 people I can put a name to the face now :D
 
LOL Myself and Jimmy_Lemon were walking past the Jacobs stand and I heard someone say "talkphotography......dot co dot uk", and I turned round to look at JL with a "Did you hear it too?" Look, he nodded and said "Twice"...lol

So I told Glo and she said "Go on, I'll go ask him if thats what he said", and it turned out to be inaneredstripe :D
Small world, hehe.

It certainly was lovely to meet all of you, and thanks soooo much for the lovely turnout at Wetherspoons...lots of people turned up, we took up that whole corner :D
My apologies for those that were there that I didn't get to introduce myself too, I'll be posting a pic up I took of everyone, so you can put your name to the face :D
Was lovely to meet all of you, even you Hacker, you pretty thing, you. :D

I got some good shots, and got a cracking 365 for today :D (Going to process it and post it in a minute).

All in all a lovely day. Walked away with a subscription to EOS mag, and a hand strap which I dont need (might sell it :p), and a few goodies.
Shame I missed that beanbag though! I could do with one of those..:p And Glo got the only lens cloth in the Olympus box :D

I got a couple of reflectors though, which is nice :D
 
I was hoping I might catch you guys at wetherspoons but a hangover from a few beers with old friends in my old hangouts in Moseley combined with the traffic meant I didn't get in until gone 1pm.

I came away without spending a single penny *hurrah* but did gain a lot from research into albums. I had a play with the 5D on the Canon stand and the size of the viewfinder alone made me start reaching for the old credit card. Having said that it felt less responsive than my 30D strangely. Maybe from overuse on the stand but I didn't expect that.
 
Yup I was there too with a friend but didnt see any recognisable faces or neck straps, didn't get any freebies but didnt spend anything either.

Best bit was spending half an hour at the hasselblad stand, watching some Iranian pro handling their 31mp Medium format. The quality was stunning, also got a couple of tips on studio work which was nice.

We did have to travel about 350 mile round trip just to get to focus on imaging!
 
Anyone spot any good 5D prices? Going tomorrow....woo!

Cheers,
James
 
I made a last minute decision to go to the show and enjoyed it. Sadly I got there after midday and didn't get to meet anyone, but I went with a few purchases in mind and was happy I did my research.

Invested in some Lee Filters. I've been interested in doing this for a while, but hadn't seen them up close. I had a detailed chat with the guys on the stand and got to understand everything I needed to know. I saved a little over the web prices and got a Lee Filters book throw in free. :)

Also signed up to the Eos Mag. Glad I got the hand strap as I was about to pay £8 at the Jacobs stand.

I finally got to see the Epson and Canon printers working. In the shops they never have them working.. just on display. I still can't decide between the Canon 9500 or Epson 2400. Seriously contemplating making a detour on Wednesday to pick one up.. but then, the savings on those (at the current show price) aren't that much different from the net prices.

Overall.. worth a trip, but I think I need to get there at the start of the show next time :)
 
Phew! I am cream-crackered. It was good to meet up with fellow peeps. God Marcel you are soooooo tall! Missed saying hi to a couple of you before we went our separate ways. Glad you made it Glo and I have to know how you manage to press the shutter with those nails.

Colin, your ears weren't half as big as I expected :lol:

I bought a Manfrotto 680B Monopod with 234RC head half price :woot: .....and I have finally chosen a bag - A Think Tank Airport International (Roller) - Purrrrfek! Have to order it though.

Colin - let me know the companies you have shortlisted for digital albums as I am trying to do the same. I agree, that some were pretty poor as well.

Fraggle - hope you and FranchiseJuan got back to London okay. Until the next meet then......:wave:
 
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