Douglas WHO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where's  the free  print you promised me a month ago?

<snip>

I'm constantly amazed at this type of mentality.  "I have to ditch my
brand/model X because it has been surpassed by brand/model Y".  As if there
are more than a handful who ever reach the photographic limits of their
gear.  Whatever happened to technique and arduous practice.  Working to find
images worth capturing for most would-be photographers would be a great
start.  A lot of people are shooting a lot of crap with fancy gear.

This mentality is the lead thinking that is driving supposed 'progress' in
photographic equipment, and IMHO largely at the expense of decent image
capture.  For my money, an old Nikon FG with decent glass in the right hands
will always produce better images than the most expensive 14 Mpix gear in
the wrong hands, and there is enough evidence to suggest that many out
there, even those calling themselves pros should be trying to develop the
'right hands'.  It's like watching some kid bunny-hop dad's Porsche 911
Turbo up the street (saw it the other day).

Sure, if you are a pro sports photographer then you'll probably want Canon
with 300 f/2.8 at least.  I'm not a sports photographer but have made enough
out of one motorsports shoot using a D100 with 80-400 VR to pay for the lens
several times.  Almost every other pro shooter out there bagged me for even
trying with my ill-equipped gear but you draw on your skillbase and go for
it.  Some of these 'experts' had terrible images - pity their clients.  As
I've said before, I'm no guru or fine art specialist, but I have put in the
hard yards, mostly with very old Nikon equipment which is still making me
proud today.

Clearly this is the way of this new electronic world.  Constant 'updates'
are necessary and people will always have to have the latest gear with the
newest buzzwords.

Anyway, that's quite enough rambling from me.  As I re-read the above, I
feel that perhaps at 38 I'm becoming a bit cantankerous and may feature in
"Grumpy Old Men" sooner rather than later!  :-)

Happy shooting,
Dave E (Sydney)

Kind of an ironic way to finish off your post don't you think?

In my opinion, posters who use this "expired in 7-days" method should
be ignored.  However, I'll make an exception....

Douglas - how is 'Go Go Dancer'?  (For those not in the know, 'Go Go',
or 'maddy' as s/he calls him/herself, is Douglas' most recent
sockpuppet.  This is identity number 24 to date, but I've probably
missed a few...)  And where are those samples?  It wasn't just Avery.
You seem to lose people's emails very frequently.. when it suits you..

Avery, please report back here when you get the samples and let us know
what you think - in particular whether they show exceptional
enlargability as Douglas claims.

This is among the stupidest posts I've ever read anyway.  It simply
reflects the rather well-known fact that Douglas bought a couple of
Canons, couldn't work out how to drive them, and as usual, blamed the
equipment.  And then he dropped digital entirely, so he said....  the
sad story is here:

http://tinyurl.com/kof23

For anyone near Brisbane you can view Douglas' expertise, and
thereafter judge how seriously to take his opinions, by visiting the
Redland Times office, at 135 Queen Street, Cleveland, (Mon-Fri 9to5 I
think) to see his masterpiece of enlargement - the surf fisher directly
over the back wall of the office.  Then you will begin to understand
(hint - it's not good....).  Alternatively, visit the Cleveland craft
markets on Sundays.  Right, Douglas?  Look for the stand without a name
on it, go up and have a good look at the enlargements....... Actually,
some aren't all *that* bad!  But is he the skilful digital imager that
he claims, who can, and I quote - "Enlarge digital images with more
detail than the original"...?

You tell me..  (O:  In my opinion he is a person with a bit more money
(and mouth) than talent, and nothing he has ever posted has made me
think differently.  Strangely (O:, *everything* he has ever posted has
been withdrawn, after it gets poor reviews.

And as a postscript - I am an Olympus fan and still have hope for the
4/3 system... but the E330, while an interesting camera, is *not* 'the
one' that will do it.  And if they don't come up with the goods (ie
better real resolution and lower noise) within a year, I think the 4/3
system may well be doomed. I'm waiting, but not forever.

Original post follows
=================
From:        from Douglas - view profile
Date:        Wed, Feb 22 2006 4:48 pm
Email:         from Douglas <no....@nt.use.1>
Groups:         aus.photo
Note: The author of this message requested that it not be archived.
This message will be removed from Groups in 6 days (Mar 1, 4:48 pm).

Gather round all you Canon deviats. The news is not as rosy for Canon
as it
might seem with the release of a 30D. Olympus have pulled a rabbit out
of
the hat which is yet to become the camera of choice for discerning
shooters
- with their E330 and the use of a N-MOS sensor.

Now these buggers have really good lenses Canon can only hope to
imitate
and don't need to have their pictures artificially sharpened in order
to
get a sharp picture.

The Nikon D200 is no slouch either in the sharp pictures with good
lenses
area. They too outshine 20Ds and 30Ds in every area except indoor
sports
photography - According to a reviewer. I guess that rules out using one
of
these suckers for anything else too, huh? Pity because they are head
and
sholders above Canon's offering - especially when it rains!

This is the year Canon will encounter some stiff opposition from makers
who
know all about building reliable, state of the art cameras.

So... To avoid getting trampled in the rush to other brands. All you
Canonites need to consider changing this group's name so you can keep
on
going on about how your worshiped brand is so far ahead of the rest.

Maybe one day someone will produce a photograph that absolutely could
not
have been taken with any other brand camera than your fabled Canon and
all
the rest of us with independent ideas who happily own and take pictures
with other brands of cameras can then look on in amazement as you reap
the
acolades and rewards from your purchase. Mean time, we'll just keep
taking
pictures!

--
Trolls are the evil of the Internet, don't feed them and
they'll look elsewhere for their gratification...

==================
end of original post

.. and yes, Douglas' signature is just a little ironic.