First outing with 50D

[mbird]

Hi All

Right, so I managed to fund the 50D purchase, largely thanks to getting nearly £450 for my old 350D and few other bits on ebay! The next thing to do was ..... take some photos!

The 50D is a big beast in comparison to the 350D, both in size and weight. I have got about 30% the way through the manual, but thought there was only one this for it and go out and use it. There are a lot of extra fiddles and knobs to play with, but I haven't read up on those yet, as I got as far as adjusting apperture and shutter speed, and then got an itchy shutter button finger .

We spent last weekend at the coast (having been persuaded by SWMBO that a tend would be a great idea for the odd weekend away from the boat), ans so had a night near Cromer to give it a go. We froze almost to death overnight but that is a different storey.

Wandering around Cromer and Sheringham, I took loads of pictures, just trying to get the feel for the camera. I love the huge LCD screen on the back, but even more so the digital display on the top of the body, which shows all the settings at a glance. The body feels nicely balanced (my 17-85 IS lens always felt very heavy on my 350D), and focusing and metering are so much faster on this camera it is quite a marked difference. The images are very sharp indeed, but the trade off is that each RAW file is over 20Mb!

Anyway, having photographed things from all angles and got some odd looks, here's a few of the results.

[mbird]

And a few more to bore you with, from West Runton and Sheringham.

[pks1702]

Very nice compositions Mark

I know what you mean about manuals; I am still getting to grips with the Custom Functions on my new acquisition.

As you say while RTFM might be good advice getting out and taking shots is probably the best way to get to grips.

Look forward to more of you images.

[Guest]

Great composition as always Mark - you do just seem to be able to "see the photograph" in everything. And yes, I'm jealous!

I particularly like the one of Harry playing with the stones, though I am slightly relieved to see you cut his fingers off (it's nice to know it's not just me that does things like that )

I did go up to Wells-Next-The-Sea a couple of weeks back to do some photography but found it extremely frustrating trying to shoot from a wheelchair and the results were poor and uninspired. Even more annoying, since yanking my old 100-300 APO off the camera pointed at the bird feeders and mounting my new uber expensive 70-300G I haven't managed to capture a single one of the buggers! I'm so slow and cumbersome arriving at the tripod that they see me and bugger off so after a couple of weeks I gave up and dismounted the lot this morning.

As for RTFM, all blokes know that you only do that AFTER you break it, or at least do something very confusing with it. That does not top with cameras but includes just about all electronic devices - except washing machines. No bloke has any business knowing how to operate one of those anyway. Harvey's do a nice line in self-refilling bedroom drawers and I swear by them.

[Guest]

Hi Mark

the shots are so clear i love the three beach shots but more so of the boat

Jonny

[mbird]

I am slightly relieved to see you cut his fingers off

I hadn't noticed that!

Harvey's do a nice line in self-refilling bedroom drawers and I swear by them

I got ours from Norwich Pine Centre, but they seem to go wrong when Sharon is away for a few days.....must get them looked at (We can tell Susan isn't looking at the forum these days you know )

[Guest]

(We can tell Susan isn't looking at the forum these days you know )

Well now she's been promoted and we have another Sister Sue on our hands she's much too busy to bother herself with such things. It's her first day running the unit today so I'll be sure to have a stiff drink waiting for her tonight. Well, most likely it'll be an empty glass and the schnapse will be all over the floor - I haven't quite mastered the art of walking with crutches whilst carrying a full glass.

Perhaps I should just hand her the bottle?

I believe you're hitting the river for the best part of the next week so I hope we'll see some cracking shots posted on your return. Since Windows has conveniently decided my motherboard no longer supports SATA all of my RAW files from recent shoots have disappeared. The drive is recognised in the BIOS so it's just Windows being difficult but hopefully I'll have something to post soon myself. If Harry wants something else to hit with the axe then perhaps I can volunteer my computer (the car is now fixed, albeit three figures later).

[mbird]

If Harry wants something else to hit with the axe then perhaps I can volunteer my computer (the car is now fixed, albeit three figures later).

I'll mention it to him .

Please pass my congrats onto Susan for her promotion. Is she going to get all matronly on your case now ?

[Guest]

"Matron" is actually another two steps up the ladder even now. But for me she's ALWAYS been matronly on my case!!!

[Edit to add - I've got my H drive back again, woo hoo.... the old IT fix of if it doesn't work, keep rebooting until it does]

[newf]

Hi Simon , please give susan my congrats. as well and if I ever am admitted to N&N I will insist it's on her watch

[Guest]

Hi Colin, will do but I have two good reasons why you should avoid what you said.

1. She works in intensive care so you'd need to be properly sc****d to end up on her unit. Having just done a stint in intensive care myself I wholly recommend NOT doing that.

2. She doesn't work at the N&N.

[Guest]

Just caught up with this Mark. Great stuff as usual. The panoramic with the beach huts and the pier is a classic stock shot, and the opportunity for the pan very well spotted; and the low angle ones work very well.

[mbird]

Thanks Bruce.

The original shot was not particularly inspiring, but by cropping to a longer aspect, and boosting the saturation on the beach huts a tad, all of a sudden the result is quite pleasing. The good thing was, that when I took the shot, I had every intention of cropping it to that sort of aspect even before I pressed the shutter release, so I must be learning something

[Guest]

Hi Mark

i hope you dont take it the wrong way but i would happily pay for that if it was a postcard

Jonny

[mbird]

Hi Mark

i hope you dont take it the wrong way but i would happily pay for that if it was a postcard

Jonny

Quite the opposite Jonny, I take that as a great compliment, thanks!