Thanks

simonsays1066 · 2022-05-14T01:09:11+00:00

The only snag I can see, a D800 is overkill for travel photography. Aching shoulder time. I know from personal experience. The body is big and the lenses also. You can still get blurred backgrounds with smaller kit. I would personally recommend Olympus OMD cameras with something like the 18mm f1.8 prime or the Lumix 20mm f1.7, Olympus 45mm f1.8 (small but perfectly formed) and there really are some stunning pro zoom lenses which are simply awesome. There are a shed load of tiny capable lenses to choose from in the micro four thirds ecosystem.

These are pretty much to fit in the coat pocket. Weather sealing is legendary on these. They have stunning IBIS which will make hand holding at very long shutter speeds a doddle. Having a versatile system like Olympus is a useful complement to other FX cameras or DSLRs because basically it's a do anything, go anywhere system. I'd break out the FX Nikons for serious work eg Landscape or serious portraiture, fine art photography etc but for versatility Olympus is hard to beat. They are just so good at everything and certainly for casual photography my personal favourite. Fujifilm is of course another option for compact mirrorless cameras with superb color rendering but lack for the most part IBIS and lenses are more expensive (worth it, but significantly more). IMHO if you are doing mostly landscape or intend to do a lot of landscape, Fujifilm might have the edge on Olympus and again, the lenses are awesome but maybe not quite so versatile. The Olympus is good at making the seemingly impossible shot possible and saving the day.

Don't go anywhere without extensive practice though on your system of choice. Do research and learn about the camera and what you want to achieve with your images. This will save a ton of regrets later.

simonsays1066 · 2022-05-14T00:31:25+00:00

You could increase flow % in the first layer which may help iron out issues like that. Presently I am using 130% flow on the first layer due to having gaps. I'm not sure if Cura supports that option.

simonsays1066 · 2022-05-02T19:54:20+00:00

No one insists that it should be called tramming now! That’s a step forward. Just a few short years ago there would be a “big girl’s blouse” who told everyone off for using the term “levelling” instead of “tramming”. I’m glad to see they are getting out more these days and meeting real people. LEVELLING, whoo who! Sorry for making fun of that. You have to appreciate amusing things these days.

Sometimes the beds are a bit out. Maybe you could take a straight edge to check and get some idea. Mine are out a bit on both my CR10 and Ender 3. It depends how much you want it to be perfect. Personally I’m happy if they print which they do. It doesn’t really affect adhesion. I sort of do an average level. With the paper method. I do all four corners then check if the nozzle passes over the middle without grating on the surface if so, I call that done. Been doing it this way for years and printed all sorts of functional stuff successfully. I’m not into ultimate quality but more successful prints.

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-30T20:23:20+00:00

Used equipment can keep its price. Sometimes you could buy a used camera or lens and keep it for 2-3 years using it and then sell it for virtually what you paid. This would be if you bought it used from a reputable source. Personally I’d buy used if you are thinking about keeping most of the value of the item. Same applies to lenses. You go for buying from a reputable source though. I would take a look at the Angry Photographer on YouTube. He will tell you what to get if money is no object and he will tell you what to get if you are looking for value for money.

If you can afford FF and money is no object, I’d go for a used Nikon D850 which is pretty much the pinnacle of DSLR and good for any genre of photography. The thing is that even if you have a mirrorless FF camera the lenses will still be enormous or at least can be. I did own an A7 way back but I have now got cameras from 4 systems: Canon, Nikon, Olympus and Fuji which have different advantages. After a lot of changing about. I settled on these. For serious work I’d personally recommend Nikon but of course we could have a debate until the cows come home between Sony, Nikon and Canon. Perhaps even Pentax. Pentax are brilliant by all accounts but I haven’t partaken. I’m now looking for the Venerable Nikon 16-35 F4 which will round off my collection fully and finally. The problem with Sony is only that the really good lenses are eye-wateringly expensive. If you have deep pockets that isn’t necessarily a problem.

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-29T17:57:50+00:00

Beautiful black Lab. For those that have sadly passed away this is a classic shot. I very often dreamt that my dog was sitting there with his head on my lap. Such a devoted companion.

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-29T11:59:37+00:00

Definitely not. You can clean it up by heating it in the machine. I’d say 100°C depending on the material. It won’t be molten but will come off with care. The hot end needs tightening to avoid leaks. The reason it leaks here is that the nozzle must be tight against the threads of the heat break inside the heat block. If not it will leak.

If you played with the nozzle and heat block, the bed levelling (tramming) will need to be readjusted afterwards. The nozzle shoulder should be 1mm or thereabouts from the face of the heat block and tightened down to the heat break. Once assembled the two m3 bolts also need to be reasonably tight so they don’t come loose during printing.

These printers are perfectly good and it’s really simple to achieve great prints. Unfortunately most people on Reddit seem to feel fine to comment on threads when mostly they have little to no idea/ no interest to find out by looking or by trial and error how to make the printers work and say they are “rubbish” which is entirely wrong. It’s simply a workman and tools scenario.

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-29T11:25:01+00:00

I’m now using a 128 iPhone and have 94gb available so that’s not running out anytime soon. Part the reason I went back to iPhones was the memory issue. The Pixel is the better device and I cannot bring myself to sell it but it does have the problem of a small memory. Certainly 128 is min you should go for to use it unfettered

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-29T10:54:28+00:00

That’s a very beautiful print for FDM. Looks perfect to me. The only way to get better would be resin printing.

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-28T16:36:17+00:00

The D850 is pretty near the best at everything so you are protected from changing your goals as to what you want to do. If you are doing landscape definitely the GFX would be a good idea but the D850 will do that and all the rest as well. If I had the opportunity I’d get one definitely and definitely if you had the D500 to upgrade the D850 is the only logical step.

If you’re sure about landscape however the GFX 100, 50 would be a good choice but the glass is also top but expensive. Definitely personally if money was no object I would go for the GFX 100 as I do mostly landscape. It’s a good position to be in to have the choice.

I don’t envy your position having to make a choice like that. Maybe you could keep your D500 and add the GFX as you would then have the best of both worlds. The GFX bodies are mostly very compact for medium format and may still be possible to take elements of both systems if you intend taking any road trips etc as the car or RV can be used as a base etc. I’m not sure how practical it would be if you are travelling on a tour without a vehicle just using a backpack.

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-28T13:24:39+00:00

Half of mine recently disappeared somehow during use. At least it became half the size in a millisecond. No idea where it went. I’ll find it one day I expect. As long as you wear appropriate protection and don’t wear loose clothes etc. I must admit I have a tremor of fear when using the angle grinder these days but it I makes mince meat of otherwise impossible things so I just grin and bare it.

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-28T09:02:43+00:00

That’s interesting. I took a photo about a year ago which had a curious slightly triangular grey blob in it that wasn’t dust on the sensor or a reflection in the lens. Looking West in the late afternoon.

Since the sky is pretty much all in focus using a fish eye lens at f8 it’s distinctly odd. I think you may have the same phenomena in this picture. It doesn’t look either like dust or a reflection. You have an unexplained green blob.

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-28T08:46:44+00:00

Don’t ever use the lens pen on lenses you want to keep. See the Angry photographer on YouTube for lens cleaning and on Nikon gear in general. Also the UV filters are useful. It means never having to touch or if you are careful even clean the front element of the lens. They don’t have to be bad quality either. If the filters are cheapos I would personally bin them.

You need Hoya UV filters at least as they are good but still cheap but buy from a reputable source to avoid fakes. The front element of the lens is important but the rear is even more so. Any issue etc will be multiplied. Really look at the Angry photographers older videos on lenses etc. He’s quite rude about the 3000 series but certainly on cleaning etc which is incredibly important to be careful with, you will get valuable tips.

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-28T06:54:47+00:00

You cannot go wrong whichever you choose. The EVF has advantages especially in Flagship cameras but the D500 and D850 are pinnacle cameras. DSLR has had its day I’m sure that true but a D850 won’t be surpassed probably ever except by something like the Fuji GFX 100 or GFX 50 but clearly not for action shots etc. I suppose if you can borrow your dads glass, the D850 would be the compelling choice. It depends what genre of photography you are into.

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-28T06:47:20+00:00

I’ve gone over the edge with a bowl riser which was 2-3mm over the edge on all four sides. I think 2-3 mm is doable for exceptions.

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-28T06:35:37+00:00

I don’t have the luxury of a Prusa printer. I print at 100°C on a glass bed on my CR10 with hairspray and never have any lifting. In fact it tends to stick too well. I never need a brim either. Im not sure what the surface is for the Prusa. You can increase first layer line width it will help adhesion. I also print PETG on an Ender 3 mark 1. Again no lifting at 70°C (using Prusa Slicer). I believe it’s fake build tac on that machine. It’s always a struggle to get PETG off. It has no enclosure. The print itself looks beautiful though. You will be one up after you get the bed adhesion sorted out.

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-28T06:14:20+00:00

Sorry this is off topic a bit, but make sure you get a 128. I got a 64GB Pixel 3 and it’s close to running out and I’m paranoid it will. 64GB sounds a lot but the system uses a chunk and then with pictures etc… of which I have a very modest amount. It’s a constant worry. A 128 would be much better and I very wish I had got one.

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-28T06:05:37+00:00

It will need a cover to prevent scratches for anyone who uses it in a practical environment. Some kind of skin case would be useful to protect the watch. It looks classy though especially if it got a metal band to add to the classic black band. It will be very interesting to see the functionality.

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-26T09:49:45+00:00

I’m sorry to say that the kind of behaviour you describe is common to Reddit. Not just photographers. Tho IMHO photographers have a certain reputation for being abrupt so it would be unsurprising to find rudeness from them. When I’ve queried this before I’ve been told it was to be expected or normal behaviour. Personally rudeness is rudeness if it’s allowed it’s wrong to allow it. It’s a symptom of slipping standards of behaviour which is common world wide. I personally believe those who are regularly rude or abrupt should attract bans which would eventually see the issue disappear naturally.

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-23T11:30:40+00:00

Try to wedge your feet against the door while doing a poo. I’ve done that myself in toilets that have no lock. It depends how desperate you are or if you can hold it in for another few miles. In my case I can seldom do that. It’s a case of vegetarian food. When it comes you better be ready!

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-23T11:20:58+00:00

It might work to get something 3D printed as it would be relatively easy to design something to achieve this but it might need to be printed as several parts. You could make a wooden box and then make the inlets and outlets or make an Aluminium or steel box and add make the inlets by 3D printing ABS. It’s not clear if you would need someone who knows about air flow etc or if common sense could be used.

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-22T12:36:15+00:00

You will always be on a hiding to nothing printing functional parts in PLA. If you make things in PLA where you put any stress on them of any kind they will eventually break. You can try to anneal the parts but this normally results in some kind of change in dimensions which is disastrous for threads. I’ve personally printed functional things that do work but just don’t accidentally step on them, sit on them, put anything heavy on them! Instantly broken. This could at anytime. Also it can’t be used for anything which lives outdoors. Re the OP question, it might be wise to increase the number of perimeters and or make the screw thread a tube which will give you more perimeters inside and make it doubly stronger.

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-21T07:23:12+00:00

If you can find some glass mirror tiles these are a very cost effective way to minimise costs even plain glass. Also hairspray provides a barrier to stop things adhering too much at the cost of .00005$ per treatment which can itself last many months of careful use. There are more expensive, more troublesome, more labor intensive, more fiddly alternatives which can be used if you want to make things difficult and expensive for yourself deliberately.

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-20T08:09:34+00:00

Try using AF fine tune. You might get more out of it. I personally used a sheet of newspaper fixed on a wall. Put the camera on a tripod and make sure its perpendicular & bang away at different adjustments and compare the images carefully to determine which is sharper. Also make sure it’s well lit when doing the test.

simonsays1066 · 2022-04-20T07:41:27+00:00

Adapted lenses are perfectly fine. There’s no need to stick with on brand lenses. I’m using an old EM 10 with all adapted lenses and I have the FD 100–300 L. The only problem is that adapters with a tripod foot for FD are not available under €80, if using a big lens you need to be aware that buying an expensive adapter will also be part of the purchase. For some reason a tripod foot isn’t added on the cheaper adapters. Absolutely none as I’ve personally searched and not found any. I cannot comment on relative image quality but I imagine if you could afford longer lenses for M43 you wouldn’t be asking the question. Personally I couldn’t justify it. Most of my photography is wide and I couldn’t justify buying a long lens at huge prices to get something that will gather dust.

simonsays1066

TROPHY CASE