richard sweet

Origional crappy test shot.

<p>

800iso, f1.8, 1/60 sec, auto WB.

Hi,<p>

I picked up my D200 today with great excitment.<p>

However there seems to be a couple of faults.<p>

There's no doubt about the first fault, a bright red 'hot pixel' in

the LCD (not CCD).<p>

The second I'm unclear about, 'Banding'. It could be my imagination.<p>

I'd welcome poeples opinion.<div></div>

Try looking for blocks of council flats. There are loads south of the river, try around the SW8 - SW12 area.

Some have intercoms and you may have to persuade a resident/nip in behind someone else. While others just allow you to walk in.

If I come across any that seem particuly usefull I'll let you know.

No such luck in the UK, I'm fourth on the list and may have to wait for up to a month. :(<p>

Having said that I'm getting mine from a local Pro Dealer, may get one quicker buying on-line, but I'm a bit nervous about spending �1200 on-line, especialy on a new camera which may or may not have 'teething problems'.

<p>

Ken Rockwell has written about it here:<p>

<a href="http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/18200.htm">http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/18200.htm<a>

<p>

Never used one myself, but if it's as good as Ken makes out it looks like a great 'everyday' lenes.

I second that the Konica-minolta Maxxum 7D is worth considering. I had a play with one whilst looking for a D70s and was very tempted. I was impressed by the build quality and control layout (there seems to be a button for everything).<p>

In the end though I decided to wait for a D200 (still waiting). I just had more confidence in the Nikon brand and larger range of lenes.<p>

Worth looking at though.

Heres my new daughter, born today, weight 11lb 7oz!!<p>

Sadly my new D200 hasn't arrived yet so had to make do with a Digi POS.<p>

Can't decide on a name as yet.<div></div>

This may help:

<A HREF="http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/18200.htm">http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/18200.htm</A>

Oh, and it's supposed to be a Christmass Pudding hat, but a little

hard to se at this size.

Selective solarize effect. Slightly different because I inverted the

selected area, then solorized, then inverted again.<div></div>

I'm no expert, but to me the image in the origional post looks like the out of focus section was done - in part - using a bit of Gaussian Blur.

The body section dosn't seem to get more out of focus as it gose back.

I'm considering a Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 EX DG Macro to go with my new D70s (when I can find one in stock, D70s that is).

The 35mm equiv of 36-105, f2.8 and macro function is perfect for what I want, (taking new baby pictures in avaliable light).

On the down side I have read the auto focus is slow and a litle noisy, it uses 82mm filters and weighs about 700g.

Seems to get very good reviews for the price.

I'll let you know how I get on with it.