Anyone? No Singletrackworld pro photographers interested in helping out??

Superstar and Halo are doing 120-point engagement. Thats about as much as Id trust and honestly, do you need much more?

Its a bit like that guy a few years ago. He has cycled around the world several times over, arrives in britain, ties his bike to the guideropes of his tent and voila, in the morning his bike is gone! When the thieves found out who’s it was they quickly returned it!

No rental lockers? My mates managed to store all the kit in almost walk-in type lockers at Geneva train station for a night last year. Cost about 5 euros per night, but in terms of coming back (if youre coming back through the same airport and are riding away from the airport as opposed to driving) it might make sense.

They look scary but its actually quite comfortable as your hands rest on the bars. Its also not too bad for the back, and makes much more sense than moving your hand position all the time.

Takisawa2, bike looks nice. My mate resprayed his dads old frame bright green and pimped it out with various purple and white bits. Came out with:

Ive been thinking about that! Where I live is pretty hilly (Plymouth) so it would be an interesting lesson. Not if I crash but more when I crash.

The benefit of going for a Canon 430EX or a 430EX II will mean much faster recycling times. Try seconmd hand through places like MXV as has been suggested or maybe save for a few months? I wouldnt buy second hand off ebay. You never know what they are going to be like.

The Jessops 360AFD isnt bad, Ive used them and they can be wirelessly linked to a Canon master flash like a 580EX or 580EX II. They have a lower flash power rating than the Canon 430EX and are not as fast at recycling but for the money they are a good bet. The E-TTL compatiblity is a good feature, and they have a wide angle diffuser built in (might have a catchlight as well)

I dont think thats overly excessive for a well done job. Did you have to wait in a queue of other parts? My LBS has a turnaround of 2 days normally, and if you want it quicker they charge a little more for same day.

Its a simple job that cant be ham fisted. Taking everything out, cleaning up everything (it is just bloody stupid not to – you would have complained if he hadnt checked and half your bearings actually looked like golf balls or your bearing races were FUBARed!) and then refitting it. It all has to be done in a particular order otherwise the cones wont tighten and stay tight properly. Cleaning is almost essential as it can hinder refitting.

In my experience of a mechanic over a number of years, for my own bikes and in bike shops too there is nothing more annoying than trying to tension a set of cones properly. There are different thread pitches, bearing sizes and all manner of other things that affect how it’ll tighten.

Cheapest way in the long term is to learn how to do it for yourself. Unfortunately trade prices are not going to come down, and with rising costs of products bike shops have to cover themselves as well. The only thing I can see wrong is they didnt phone you. Half the time though, when we did this we either got a voicemail as they were at work and never got back to us they or they wondered why we’d called them over an obvious thing.

To add to the list, Tom Ang has done alot of decent, clear and precise beginners books.

If you go into the main menu, it should be highlighted. I cant remember where it is in the menu, but its fairly obvious. It has to be an Olympus M/M+ Panorama card (not all Olympus cards do it) It will say on the packaging for the card if its Panorama enabled and it will state on the card if its M/M+ too.

Thats alot of bits! Id shrink it by taking half a chain and leaving the mitts and probably the spare clothes at home. Though I can see why spare gloves and socks are useful. Must weigh a ton all in all! I carry a similar amount though.

Chewkw, sounds brilliant and easy! I have two birds so might try a couple of things…

The focus points on the cameras help as as long as its bright enough for the camera to pick up the focus, itll beep and highlight the area. This essentially replaced the split prism (old skool) way of working as it enables you to get a better control over where you focus. The problem with it is if you have poor eyesight or have the diopter adjuster badly then it will never seem in focus.

Also in Manual focus you dont have the red AF assist beam you do on Automatic focus so in low light its harder to focus anyway. The split prism screen is a good idea but again is only as good as the light thats coming through the lens. As somone mentioned a depth of field preview button acts to give you a true understanding of the depth of field.

Magnified eye pieces are a good way of sorting out focusing but often they cut off the coverage you can actually see.

Doug

My dads focus died around 100k. Turned out it burnt out most of the engine management wiring and circuitry over its years. Known for failing around 100k on that particular engine.

Id imagine ECU problem/dirty sensor. Checked HT leads for dirty connections?

I drove my ex’s and I can honestly say one of the worst cars Ive ever driven. Unresponsive, sluggish, devoid of all feeling. Such a dreary car it makes Rover owners look like party animals.

No idea if you can fit a bike in it. I wouldnt advise putting more than one bike on a rack on the back. If you do it handles worse as its almost wheelieing!

ok, getting off my high horse. but I just think this is a matter not to be light-heartened and jokey about, whatever you may think Gary_M.

I hate to say it but you are a twunt. My gran died of cancer a few years back and I can honestly say was the biggest racist I knew. Think about your words before you press the send button.

He also did say I can keep the dvd too, so theres not much hassle or inconveniance.

cheers all, didnt want to seem like a harsh twunt, being the credit crunch an’ all! Ill do it when I get home…

Looks lovely. No such luck down here in Plymouth though!

The 580 II has the main benefits of more power (58 feet at 100 ISO) as opposed to 43 feet at 100 ISO. Also, you are paying for the fact the 580 can be used as a master to wirelessly sync with other 580s or 430s. Other difference include faster recycling time that the 430, a larger power range (being able to drop lower too than the 430), a catchlight (good for band photography as gives a more natural colour if you cant bounce it off the ceiling and extended zoom range as Marsdenman said.

I would start off with a 430 and see how you go. The 580 has the kind of things you might not miss until you have them, but the catchlight is brilliant. If you buy any flash though itll be a good idea to use a softbox or flash diffuser as youre stuffed when ou have massive ceilings.

I watched the vid last night, 2 girls one cup. what sprang to mind was damn, the brunette needs more fibre in her diet! ;)

agree with tomzo on the batteries bit. A decent camera with a lithium battery should last around 150 images, if not more before worrying about charging. that depends on useage, but they are generally better.

If you are still set on the idea, the canon powershot a2000 or for a bit more than £150, the canon sx110 IS.

Ah interesting, thanks Freezie. I didnt think they went above 400….cheers!

Easy. You should have (unless Im mistaken) a custom setting, normally at the end of the list of presets if using on P or one of the manual modes. It means you can customise the white balance colour to suit the kelvin of light. Sometimes you might not find a decent one and may have to put up with a bit of a colour cast, but majority this should cover most. Just play around a bit.

If you havent, you should shoot in Raw, or if shooting in Jpeg you can alter it afterwards but you shouldnt really be altering Jpegs as the quality always suffers permanently the more you pull them around.

Personally, I would get an SLR if you are thinking of buying one. I wouldnt get a Sony A200, its the bottom of the range and its not that great. Focusing is soft with the image stabiliser on and it feels cheap and plasticky. Picture quality is good, but its a bit noisier than others at high ISO and its a heavier camera overall. Layouts ok, but not as nice as others.

D40 is good, picture quality is lovely, colours are vibrant but having the limitations of lens choice is annoying! The auto focus motor is in the lens, meaning you can only use certain lenses. These are the cheaper ones, meaning you can run high end stuff but its all manual focus.

Canon 450D is nice, no limitations on lenses and picture quality is more natural, slightly warmer than Nikon. Skin tones are brilliant. But, much above budget and hard to get hold of at the moment.

Bridge cameras are good. something like the panasonic will keep its value if looked after and performance will be great for most things. Panasonics are always a bit too saturated and contrasty for my liking, giving nice landscapes but in other areas not so good. Image stabilisation is great, cameras fast as most and picture quality is brilliant, even up to high ISO.

Doug

These you can buy more as individual songs rather than albums and make a feelgood megamix.

Jason Mraz (Im Yours – albums good but thats the best and most uplifting)
Toploader – time of my life
Turin Brakes – Painkiller
All American Rejects – Move Along
Anberlin – Breaking (from New Surrender album)
Barenaked Ladies – One Week
Colin Hay – Overkill
Counting Crows – Yellow Taxi (feat. Vanessa Carlton)
Dirty Vegas – Ghosts
Eels – Mr E’s Beautiful Blues
Elbow – One Day Like This
Anything by the Go Team
Idlewild – I Understand It
The Kooks – Mr Maker
Noah Ant The Whale – 2 Atoms And A Molecule
– 5 Years Time
Paolo Nutini – Alloway Grove
The Wombats – Lets Dance To Joy Division

Probably more to be added to that, but thats quite a nice mix.