May 27th, 2009
Most cameras are either good looking or at least OK, IMVHO, but every now and then there’s something hideous launched. So here’s my top 3 of ugly bugs.
1. Leica R8/9 - a very nasty looking piece of kit indeed, and a real shame given how handsome earlier R SLRs were. A bit like a Kiev 10 without the charm.
2. Nikon F4. Looks like an explosion in a camera parts factory. A camera undoubtedly designed by a very large committee, each member of which felt obliged to tack a bit on. Ghastly.
3. Sony Alpha A900. Yuck. ‘Nuff said.
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January 26th, 2009
There’ll be a 1Ds Mk IV at PMA…
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December 30th, 2008
I’ve decided not to comment on this one yet. Somebody had to!
Posted in Gear talk, General | No Comments »
December 1st, 2008
…and it’s expensive. But what do people expect? Already there are those criticising it for the price, for having too many pixels…
The answer’s simple - if you don’t want one, don’t buy one - leave it to those who do. Which isn’t me, of course!
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November 26th, 2008
This week, my target is those who don’t have a clue, but always have an opinion. Whatever the subject, they have some sort of rumbustious opinion based on prejudice and ignorance, never on facts and understanding. You can’t reason with them, because they’re so stuck in their prejudices; it would be nice to ignore them, but that’s not always possible. Goes without saying that they’re as thick as pigshit. Spare us from such people…
Posted in Wally of the Week | No Comments »
November 11th, 2008
My laptop is broken. The video card has failed, and it’s certainly not worth having it fixed. So that means it’s new laptop time - or at least it will be when I can afford it. In the meantime, I’ve managed to get my ancient laptop going again - it’s a Celeron 550, with 192MB of RAM and a pathetically small hard drive - and a completely knackered optical drive. It runs - well, crawls - XP. Time to see if Damn Small Linux will make it run any faster as a temporary browsing machine…
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November 5th, 2008
They just don’t seem to get it, do they? Carlsberg are to close the Tetley brewery in Leeds, home since 1822 of Joshua Tetley’s finest. OK, it’s far from the greatest bitter in the world, but it’s as much part of the fabric of the city as the Corn Exchange, the Town Hall or Leeds United. Well, probably more so than the Whites, actually… but the point is that for all that it’s a national brand these days, it remains a local brew. Never mind that those brewers who actually promote cask beer don’t have declining sales. The decline in sales is probably more to do with the marketing directions Carlsberg has taken and the fact that they’ve ignored the local and regional importance of Tetleys as anything - rebranding the brewery as Carlsberg was never going to be anything other than cultural suicide. So now they intend to finish the job. Tetleys brewed in Northampton? Who would want to drink that?
Utter, utter madness.
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October 30th, 2008
Posted in General, Photoposts | No Comments »
October 22nd, 2008
Man Traps and Spring Guns
A pic from the weekend…
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October 13th, 2008
…the Ken Rockwell of photography. 
There’s a very funny skit at DPReview that’s well worth a read, but what is it that gets people so wound up about Ken? I personally think his site is pretty amusing, but then I don’t take much of it at face value - as he warns visitors not to. But some people really take umbrage - my pet theory is that Nikon owners don’t have much of a sense of humour, but if not, why do they use Nikon cameras in the first place?
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