AM I BECOMING A 'TWITCHER'?

[Horus]

Glad that you got sorted Grandad and I second what you say about Amazon, up to now I have found them to be a great company to deal with. Shame it did not do what you wanted, but at least you have decided that sometimes we can't always have what we would like and decided to live with what you have. I have just sent off for a flash plus radio triggers, so that is my Christmas play thing. I did not pay a lot for them as I just want to do some experiments and it may not work out, but if it does then stand by in the new year to be bored with my efforts.

A very good point about pictures on your monitor it is surprising how good they can look on a decent LCD television.

[Grandad]

As my camera buff friends on here know, I was hankering after a very long focus lens but, after trying a 500mm mirror lens as a cheap alternative and sending it back, I have resigned myself to be content with my three Nikkor lenses that meet my needs with each suiting particular applications.

Well, now it is January one starts to think about holidays in this new year and I decided that I would not want to lug a heavy camera bag around even on short weekend breaks. So I decided that what I need is a universal lens so that I just need to take the camera and one lens on holiday breaks.

I shopped around and today received my new optic. I thought that an 18-200mm would be ideal. The Nikkor for my camera is £690 from Amazon....too much for a general purpose lens. I found a comparison between that Nikkor, a Tamron and a Sigma, all of the same focal range. The Nikkor was as expected the best but the Sigma was not far behind and the Tamron was disappointing so my new Sigma 18-200 arrived this afternoon from Park Cameras at £169 , thats £10 cheaper than Amazon. (Apparently it was £300 when first released)

Very grey and dull today but a few hasty shots outside hopefully show that I have made a good choice at an affordable price. All exif data is recorded the same as with Nikon lenses. It is f3.5 at the wide end but only f6.3 at the long end but I can live with that because I will mostly be using it in good light.

I look forward to posting some examples when we have a better day......

[Horus]

Nice to see you have your new lens Grandad and you are happy with it, you certainly need to shop around nowdays. Hopefully the weather will improve and we can see some piccies.

[Grandad]

I will post some pics in due course but these are three from this pm's trial. All taken from the same standpoint. Hand held. Camera on Auto. Light very poor with grey cloud cover, just before 3pm. Centre frame is seed head of castor oil plant.


18mm f5 100s ISO400


90mm f5.3 160s ISO800


200mm f6.3 320s ISO1600

These are just posted for comparison at different focal lengths and I think you will see why my initial impression is favourable. The DOF is very shallow at the longer focal lengths particularly at relatively short range. These are all full frame copies.

[Horus]

Those look pretty good to me Grandad and with that shallow depth of field you should get some good Bokeh effects with close ups.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Way cool Grandad! Are those castor beans growing right now in your yard? Wowwwwwww but then I forget you're able to control the weather! Am curious how you explain to your neighbours all the good weather in your yard?

[Grandad]

Way cool Grandad! Are those castor beans growing right now in your yard?

I have no idea what they are LLL. They just look like some sort of seed head.....green fingered I ain't
They were just the nearest thing to use for my trial shots. I have lost the knack with the weather though. Last time we mentioned it I said I would send some to Kiya.....must have sent it all although Kiya will deny it. It has been miserable and grey here for several days.
Are you back in the US now?

[Horus]

Lets hope they are not Castor Beans Grandad, I'm sure that's what they make the deadly nerve poison Ricin from.

[Grandad]

Lets hope they are not Castor Beans Grandad, I'm sure that's what they make the deadly nerve poison Ricin from.

Actually they are Horus, 'Ricinus communis', a plant poisonous to humans and animals. But we don't intend to eat them.
We have two in pots and they have lovely deep green waxy foliage all year. They don't produce such abundant blooms and seed heads as they do in mediterranean or more tropical climes but they are large and decorative.

[Grandad]

Still have not been anywhere 'scenic' to post any pics with the new lens. However, as I am a methodical (boring ) person who wouldn't just buy a new optic but has to 'test' it. I DID go to my favourite spot for such tests in the city yesterday morning.

This is The Mound, just inside the city wall. I do not know why it was constructed but there are records of its existence from the first century AD so it was there long before the City Wall which was built by The Normans. Perhaps it was a burial mound or maybe a defensive look-out point. It is the highest point in the city and the tops of many historical and contemporary buildings can be seen from the summit, even the roof of my home, about two miles across the city.

This is The Mound taken from outside the City Wall.


This is a panorama of about 120 degrees looking across the city. If you can enlarge it I have noted some buildings but there are more to pinpoint.


I had said that I wanted a single 'holiday' lens and these are the two pictures (from over 30 at different settings) that determined the optimums at each end of the zoom range. Both are full frame and the same EV.

This is the widest, 18mm, f11 ISO 200 160s


And this is the longest end, 200mm, f6.3 ISO400 1600s


I am now happy and have forgotten my desire for a very long lens for birding....a 200mm is adequate....and I now have my 'Holiday Lens'

I won't persue this line (or thread) any further Must get back to some serious picture taking, weather permitting. We are hoping to go somewhere interesting next Tuesday but more of that if it all works out.

[Horus]

Looks like a great success for you Grandad, just a pity the weather isn’t a bit better, I was planning to go out shortly myself, but ……………….. it has now gone all overcast again, typical.

The panorama looks good, but the text does not show up so well without zooming in another program. Although it looks a bit too neatly shaped to be so very old, it was probably the earlier means of defence before the castle walls were built. They were called Motte & Bailey constructions and were usually an earth mound like the one in your picture with a post fence enclosing the top of the mound and another wooden fence surrounding the actual mound and some additional land around the base, the stone walls probably trace the outline of the old wooden fence at the base.

We are all anticipation as to your mysterious visit next week, so look forward to some pictures.

[Kiya]

So you lot down south are as cold as us up here

Grandad nice photos I recognise the grey building in the middle background in your panorama pic, is'nt it a new building you put up pics of some time ago.

Shame about the last pic, I would have liked to seen the tops of the spires, is it part of Canterbury Cathedral

[Grandad]

Yes Kiya, the angular roof is the new Marlowe Theatre that opened last October. I had posted pictures of the old and new, mainly because the old theatre, previously an Odeon cinema, was a classic Art Deco building and I regret that they didn't retain the facade in the new design.

The last picture that you referred to IS the central tower of the Cathedral, Bell Harry Tower. I only wanted the shot to check the lens definition at the 200mm end but here is a picture at 90mm which shows a more complete detail from my viewpoint on the mound...just for you


Horus, I agree that the mound looks as if it might have been a Motte & Bailey defence but there are confirmed records that it existed in the first century AD before the Romans came to Canterbury. There are also suggestions that it was constructed by the Danes when they invaded in the ninth century. It has been called 'dinjon' hill and 'dungeon' hill among other names, suggesting that there may have been a prison of some sort there in the distant past. The present name 'Dane John' could easily have derived from the ancient names....The small park in which the mound stands has been a public place for at least 200 years and has quite an interesting local history.

Just beyond the city wall there is a moat, now dry. After WWI a tank from that war was sited in the moat and I can clearly remember it during WWII. During that conflict it was requisitioned for scrap to help the war effort....shame. From the walk along the city wall there is a steep bank that drops down to the park level. There was an RAF unit in the park during WWII and I remember as a young lad walking along at the foot of the bank with my pal and we saw the fin of an incendery bomb. We pulled it and 'the bomb, was still attached. Fortunately one of the RAF guys was nearby and he took charge of it.....near scrape I think.

[Grandad]

Yes Kiya, the angular roof is the new Marlowe Theatre that opened last October. I had posted pictures of the old and new, mainly because the old theatre, previously an Odeon cinema, was a classic Art Deco building and I regret that they didn't retain the facade in the new design.

The last picture that you referred to IS the central tower of the Cathedral, Bell Harry Tower. I only wanted the shot to check the lens definition at the 200mm end but here is a picture at 90mm which shows a more complete detail from my viewpoint on the mound...just for you


Horus, I agree that the mound looks as if it might have been a Motte & Bailey defence but there are confirmed records that it existed in the first century AD before the Romans came to Canterbury. There are also suggestions that it was constructed by the Danes when they invaded in the ninth century. It has been called 'dinjon' hill and 'dungeon' hill among other names, suggesting that there may have been a prison of some sort there in the distant past. The present name 'Dane John' could easily have derived from the ancient names....The small park in which the mound stands has been a public place for at least 200 years and has quite an interesting local history.

Just beyond the city wall there is a moat, now dry. After WWI a tank from that war was sited in the moat and I can clearly remember it during WWII. During that conflict it was requisitioned for scrap to help the war effort....shame. From the walk along the city wall there is a steep bank that drops down to the park level. There was an RAF unit in the park during WWII and I remember as a young lad walking along at the foot of the bank with my pal and we saw the fin of an incendery bomb. We pulled it and 'the bomb, was still attached. Fortunately one of the RAF guys was nearby and he took charge of it.....near scrape I think.

[Horus]

I was intrigued by that little snippet of information Grandad, but could find no reference to a 'dinjon' which of course may be a local pronunciation or a typo on your part.
I did find this though:
Noun 1. donjon - the main tower within the walls of a medieval castle or fortress
So it looks like your dungeon name would be correct.

Interestingly enough, a small church near me that is located out in the countryside, sits atop of a similar mound. This mound was there before the church was built and my own research indicates it may have been a neolithic mound as there are traces of several others nearby.

I did eventually go out for a couple of hours today although it was freezing cold, I can hear Kiya gloating already
As I walked in the field alongside this church they were removing a few Cypress trees that had become too big so they were getting the chop. Usually I dislike trees being cut down, but as these are not native Yews or similar I was not too put out and the bonus is that come the Summer, I will be able to get better pictures of the church which was always difficult because of these trees.



I noticed in one of your pictures that the Snowdrops were out so I went into the churchyard to see how ours were doing as we are usually behind you folks being further North. To my surprise they are out in some profusion in places, so I am hoping that the severe frosts we are expecting does not kill them off.

[Grandad]

Horus, it was a typo and should have been 'donjon' from the French for 'keep' or, as you say, fortified tower. It is all something of a mystery and it might have been for burials or for defence but intriguing nevertheless.

I DO like the picture of the 'tree surgeon' (there's a misnomer ) We had a very large London Plane tree near our local church that had to be removed for safety reasons. They used a very long reach cherry picker type vehicle and, like your man, took it down slice at a time because it was in a confined area. All very well done though.

Yes, spring flowers are very early and we have crocus beds nearby that are out already.....

[Kiya]

Thank you Grandad & a beautiful catherdral it is too, I knew you were trying out your new lens & great captures too, hope you get some real close sometime to the catherdral, would love to see of the detail up close

Horus hope you were all snug as a bug while you were out & about in that freezing weather, don't want ye catching a chilll now
It was beautiful here all day with sun shining, still a bit nippy but hey whats a bit of cold we're used to it
Nice pics too glad to see the tree surgeon with all his safety gear & snowdrops are lovely , aint seen anything here ...yet

[LovelyLadyLux]

Terrific photos Grandad. Really enjoy all the shots.

The snow drops are wonderful too. Nothing is out yet around here, hopefully soon!!

[Grandad]

Nice bright middle of the day today so I thought I would visit the RSPB reserve that prompted me to start this thread almost exactly 2 years ago. The first picture I posted here showed some migrating birds at a small shallow lake. Well today there was nothing there, just a few seagulls. And as for other birds, just one heron took flight from the reeds in front of me too quick to get a picture.

So all I can offer today is a picture beside one of the hides (that was locked), no water birds to be seen but I was able to take 1EV bracketed pictures then process them to an HDR.



Would have been nicer with some birds but if tomorrow is bright I will go to the other end of the reserve at Stodmarsh (this morning I was at Grove Ferry)

[Horus]

Nice all the same Grandad I was out myself today as it was so nice and sunny, quite cold when you sat down for a sandwich ad a cuppa, but a lovely day otherwise and could I find my wooly hat and gloves before I went out? could I ****** ****