[redpigeons]

When I was originally buying my DSLR, I was asking for advice on a Mac forum where I used to frequent. Many over there were recommending Pentax. I guess we/they like the feeling of being outside of the mainstream.

So, a Subaru then next?

I had a Subaru for 15 years before I moved to New York
Subaru as an amazing car but I never knew its not mainstream
the new Subaru are fantastic but also cost relatively

BTW my Subaru 1982 still driving great and being used daily to this date by my young brother

[lithos]

yup. you forgot "and i hear steve himself touched the first 10..."

"...with his boy-parts!"

shrug. there's a guy like this in the local flickr group. i'd call him an associate, not friend i guess. anyways, generally he's alright guy but he owns a canon 5dmkii with a 70-200f2.8L and a few other things. it's a nice setup, but somewhere from here an ego/attitude comes out that forces the guy to spout random tech info that usually doesn't have relevance with an action or result.

I've found a few 5D users like that (because, really, the 1D series is waaay out of reach of pretty much any non-real pro.)

Shooting gigs was ripe for that - they have the 24-70 USM on it, no image stabilisation, standard. And GBFO Speedlite pointing straight ahead because in most concert situations, f2.8 ain't fast enough. It's especially not fast enough when you've got them damn thing perpetually stuck on Auto.

Which is what most of them do. Why? "Mate, it's so damn good you don't need to do anything else."

And yet I see 'em chimping after every shot. Every. Single. Shot. Which means you miss a lot of opportunities. Because they're wondering why it's all gone blurry, what with no SR and becaue they're shooting some with a black shirt, in a dark pub, in front of a black backdrop. And, of course, the histogram is gospel. So when it's not perfectly spread, something's wrong. Even Nikon's 3D Colour Matrix Metering would soil itself.

So they screw on the flash, and start firing away.

Few things annoy like direct flash. The band's trying to play, can't see their hands to hit the right note or their feet to hit the pedals. But they stop soon enough once the security guards tell them to stop, because security guards get paid to see things. It takes about the same time as a camera's synch speed for a punch or a broken glass to find someone's face.

So, they go back to peeking, every shot. Eventually, they put the camera away, and mumble excuses about it being back in the car or their mate took it home, if you ask to see some of their shots. If they do still have it, they only good ones are the ones with the flash, and they effectively turn the five grand camera into a P&S - no shadows, no tone, just perfectly even light. Dull. (They might spend twenty minutes deleting all the duds, because they don't want you to know they can fail.)

It's true. And at the end of it all, they'd point to my K100D, with A f1.7, on M, and then tap the 5D, and say, "Get one of these, They're pro." And you think, sure, and now you are, too, right?

If you ever walked into a camera store, you'll know where they get the atitude - it's the sales pitch the clerk used on them.

Plenty of real pros would turn up, though, and they'd be the ones who'd say, when you asked about their gear, a lot of them with 5Ds or D300s, "Eh, gets the job done."

I liked shooting bands, because no one'd question you about your gear. Why? Because they know that things like guitars and amps are highly personal. Not better, just different.

[nanok]

your last statement is very interesting. i think you are right on the money with it. they do want to see the results though, and they will like them or not, that's about it, they know their stuff, you know yours, you don't pretend you know what some guitar is compared to some other (or that you would hear the difference), but you like the music or you don't, they do the same.

this brings me to a pet peeve of mine: i am so sick of "experts", you know the kind? experts on anything, you can tell them from miles, they will preach about any subject, they "know". most of them can't even make sense for 5 minutes straight. the only thing to say to them is "get off the pot"

[Cosmo]

I have a friend who got a Canon 450D, he was completely new to photography.

He asked me what camera I had, I said a Pentax. He immediately gave me a weird look and said "what? but Pentax suck."

I asked him why, and couldn't give an answer, he said something along the lines of, Canon and Nikon are popular, so they must be good, and not many people have Pentaxs, so they must suck....

Looks like someone went to Jessops for camera gear advise...

[Rener]

A get together of Pentaxians after work. Although, they own SLRs before jumping to the DSLR, they made Pentax their first foray to digital. It did not happen by just going to the stores and get Pentax. Because we work in a rather large aerospace company, there is the usual pictures from family gatherings, picnics and parties. I was then using my K100 w/ DA 16-45. another friend was using a C* ( not too sure of the particular model ) and yet another one was using a N* D80. Time and time again they comment about the Pentax color and detail,almost 3D effect, that kept the ball rolling. There are now over a dozen of us using Pentax, from K100, K200, K10 and K20. In fact 2 already pre ordered the K7 and one more is going too.

Sharing couple of pictures.

[Zav]

Just joking:


Do you drive a Subaru?

[lithos]

your last statement is very interesting. i think you are right on the money with it. they do want to see the results though, and they will like them or not, that's about it, they know their stuff, you know yours, you don't pretend you know what some guitar is compared to some other (or that you would hear the difference), but you like the music or you don't, they do the same.

NOTE: Behringer amps, however, can never be justified. If you ever thought the German's could do no wrong when it comes to engineering...

"Oooh! It's got five hundred amp and cabinet simulations...and they're all crap."

[rparmar]

I liked shooting bands, because no one'd question you about your gear. Why? Because they know that things like guitars and amps are highly personal. Not better, just different.

Good rant!

NOTE: Behringer amps, however, can never be justified. If you ever thought the German's could do no wrong when it comes to engineering...

Oh no, the bash Behringer threads have expanded out from the audio groups into the photography groups.

Actually, I know what you mean, but no-one makes a better cheaper studio monitor than their active Truth set. And the ultra-cheap mixers are OK so long as you leave them on your work surface at home. I wouldn't use them on the road as all the surface mount connections will fail.

[lithos]

Actually, I know what you mean, but no-one makes a better cheaper studio monitor than their active Truth set. And the ultra-cheap mixers are OK so long as you leave them on your work surface at home. I wouldn't use them on the road as all the surface mount connections will fail.

Yeah, my audio-tech mate has a Behringer mixer he uses at home, often as a pre-amp for various things, and as an adaptor for the bastardised, mutated collection of various cables he uses for patching ("Why do you have a thirty-foot lead with a lone RCA Male that splits into four 3.5mm and one 6.5mm stereo plug?" "Needed it for something.")

LEGAL DISCLAIMER: To the best of my knowledge, it was acquired legally. Having said that, it's not like he would've paid for the damn thing. It's noisy as hell.

But their instrument amps (V-Ampire, geddit?) are the equivalent of buying one of those Chinese novelty effect cameras from LOMO. For one, they sound like arse. Another thing - no one uses more than one of the amp models. Why? "I might need a tremolo'd, phasered, bastardised Fenderish blues amp one day." You're in a bleeding "doom-slash-industrial-slash-black-slash-progressive metal band"! You need one tone, despite what you want us to think. Why didn't you just get a decent one-sound analoge amp in the first place? Get some stompboxes if you're desperate (no one ever buys the footswitches for those modelling amps.)

In the end, no one wants to admit they're just utterly feckless nerds who are sexually aroused by massed LEDs and knobs. Oh, and they're German.

Fun fact: without plugging anything into a Behringer guitar amp, turn the volume right up and listen closely: in the noise that leaks from the speakers you can hear the words...

Why didn't you get a POD?

Why didn't you get a POD?

Why...?

[rparmar]

Fun fact: without plugging anything into a Behringer guitar amp, turn the volume right up and listen closely: in the noise that leaks from the speakers you can hear the words...

Wow, and I thought I was the only one who did such things.

[Ben_Edict]

In all fairness you shouldn't forget to mention (to the non-audio-informed rest of us), that Behringer is really, really lowest cost. If the comparison to a Lomo or Holga is valid, it should at least be extended to the price tag as well. And you simply get what you pay for....

Ben

[rparmar]

In all fairness you shouldn't forget to mention (to the non-audio-informed rest of us), that Behringer is really, really lowest cost. If the comparison to a Lomo or Holga is valid, it should at least be extended to the price tag as well. And you simply get what you pay for....

Well, I did say that "no-one makes a better cheaper studio monitor". A statement which both mentions the low cost and contradicts the cliche "you simply get what you pay for". In fact, in the audio world there is often no relationship between price and quality.

Come to think of it, the same applies to Pentax. With the K20D you get so much more than what you pay for. Bargain SLR of all time, IMO.