robert_tan1

<p>Hi Chris,<br>

No problem.I think sometimes patience is needed.If i don't get it,then,it is not the right time.One more thing about camera cases..I bought one from S'pore almost 20 yrs ago and it has still been with me..it can take in 300mm telelens or standard 50mm lens.I have been looking for one in Toronto but no success.Last year,i went back to KL..Bukit Bintang and visited at least 3 plazas and about 20 shops...showed them what i have and it seems they don't make them anymore..a real pity.<br>

Same with S'pore..even chinatown,famous for you-know-what...you can't get it there too.<br>

So,if you guys ever go SEA or HK..look for one and if it cost C$10,get it!<br>

Good luck!</p>

<p>>>Chris,<br>

I am in Richmond Hill,Ont..and you are a gold mine of knowledge.<br>

I have an old canon 75-300mm that i bought 16 yrs ago and since my canon eos 1000 died a few years ago ( the foam padding in the shutter housing decomposed into tar..) i switched to the xti and it is fine.I did try the special shops that you recommended..Henry and Blacks was around my area but i wanted to touch and see how it works and the nearest FS had a display and even offered to put in the CF card for me..Henry's n Black's staff was a bit pushy and i feel i had to buy from them or else they might be sour.Getting the camera off the display was a so-so but at FS,you could play with it since it was stuck on with a security cable and with the battery and card inside,i could test the performance with my own tele-lens installed.<br>

There was a sale for C$450 and it was a good buy for me.Good performance.<br>

With the sony a200 ,i could reach iso 3200 and it was great to take great sunsets in KL.The sunset feature is sensitive to low light,gives warm tones.It has IS built inhouse..wow..so i have 2 now..I guess i got special treatment for buying the sony 300 mm telelens from them too.Also on special offer.<br>

Later on,there was a special offer for the grip and camera bag plus battery for Canon.Yup,i was hooked onto it.<br>

Then i got the camera bag for my sony...i did not need it but it comes with a battery..yup,got it too.<br>

Well,no more buying for me now...<br>

All in all,i know what i wanted and what i was willing to pay.It is a matter of patience,i suppose.That's the way life is.I am a newbie so it is no biggie if i miss it.<br>

Nice knowing you and the other guys in this forum.<br>

Robert</p>

<p>>> Chris Clarke,<br>

Yes you are right and i must admit i do not know much of the places you mention.I do most of my research online and once i know what brand and model,i just keep an eye out for the right time and place to buy it.I tend to focus on FS actually cos BB are a bit more expensive.It's a matter of patience.The nice thing is I have 2 weeks,i think,to test it out really well,read the manual and see if it fits my expectations of user friendliness and i want to know it's weakness from my own personal expectations.What some people and online/magazines advice may not tally with my personal needs and so ,it all boils down to choice.<br>

I did try Blacks and Henrys a few times but being 1 on 1 and wanting to try it at the shop still give me the creeps.The best thing is when the cashier and sales assistant smile at me and say that if i am not happy,i can return it and have my money refunded (no hassles !) without paying a restocking fee and whatever hidden charges they might incur to deter returns.I did mention a sour face too?<br>

That,to me, personally, allay all my buying apprehension :)<br>

Have a nice day</p>

<p>If you ever fly via Canada or visit canada for holidays,you can try Future shop or best buy for computers and cameras,they are 100 percent authorised dealers..i got both my xti and sony 200k from FS and compared with KLCC sony authorised dealer ..canada is still cheaper even when you add in all the taxes..But that was last apr 08..maybe things have changed...<br>

I do not know of BKK but since you mentioned KL,that's what i know.There are some local response on this thread,so,maybe you can contact them directly..People in that city knows the best info.<br>

Good luck</p>

<p>Thanks for the reply.Were those normal sony cf card 133x ? Or sandisk extreme ? I read those sandisk ultra,being cheaper,would not stand to extreme cold.<br>

Were there special precautions taken,like keeping the unused cards close to body for body heat and when it is used, taken out of camera and quickly placed back in near the body?<br>

It is little things like this to go the extra mile but i am not sure if it really helps.Or maybe,makes it worse regarding data loss?<br>

I read in the forum that CF data loss failure is possible but to date,no one seems to know why and how to prevent it or maybe,it is just plain depreciation ..the more one uses it,and combined with cold weather,the odds of it happening increases proportionately.<br>

My thanks to all those who contributed to this thread and/or reading this..<br>

Robert</p>

<p>Happy new year everybody!<br>

Thank you so much for all your input.It was a wonderful surprise that some of you replied so fast and some even went the extra mile as to go onto the sony website for the table.<br>

What prompted me to ask the question was that i read somewhere in the forum that CF cards and other types digital memory cards do fail and there goes all those hours of hard work.I am not sure why they happen and rather err on the side of caution.I am not a pro but can just assume that hard knocks,extremes of temperature and humidity do cause problems.That same idea applies to usb drives too and i believe they are of the same technology.I met a businessman who lost all his files in his 8gb usb drive!<br>

That prompted me to research the fallibility of digital memory.Perhaps if one uses it often and/or somehow accidentally subject it to strong magnetic forces or electrical fields,it might be risky.<br>

In any case,it would be nice if these "myths" could be substantiated or not by practical experience in the field.<br>

All the best<br>

Robert</p>

<p>Hi guys,<br /> I just got my sony compact flash card a few days ago but it was delivered to my outdoor letter box where the temperatures have been minus 10C or 15 F for the whole day.I am not sure if the extreme cold damaged the item.I know people go shooting in the extreme cold but i am talking of at least 8 hours outside in the extreme cold and it is not housed in a camera but is in it's very thin plastic packaging,that means,no insulation.<br /> I can test it for a few days and if it is ok,i will keep it but i am apprehensive if any internal damage has occured due to the extreme cold and this might surface in a few months time.By then,it is after the 2 weeks trial period,i cannot return the item.If problems arise much later,sending it for repair/exchange is not a problem.<br>

It is about those one off pictures that i take on holidays in some far off land that will be lost forever and flying there and having that unique moment is near impossible.<br /> So,what do you think i should do?<br /> Did anyoe experience this before?<br /> Thanks in advance guys and happy new year!<br /> Robert</p>

<p>I once had mould inside the lenses itself but the pix were still sharp and minimum flare.Maybe i was lucky but if it is bad,then i suggest following the Bob's advice.</p>

<p>some pc are fussy..sometimes sp1 sees it well,but for others,it won't..if you are using vista,it should be ok..</p>

<p>are you using windows xp sp1?</p>

<p>I transferred all the files from my CF card to PC to DVD...a mix of jpeg and raw files..<br>

Now this gets interesting..I took the dvd to a Kodak kiosk at shoppers drug mart and played around with the settings until i liked the pix and saved the final one for printing.<br>

With jpeg,i had no problems but with raw,it seems hazy or blur and it was pretty difficult to fine tune the picture..did i do something wrong or maybe miss a step?</p>

<p>I have my 75-300 telelens from the eos 1000 era and it still works!</p>

<p>Jos is right..but what about those with telephoto lens at full extension..will that be worse?</p>

<p>>><a href="../photodb/user?user_id=255616">Alan Myers</a>,<br>

Thanks a lot Alan..now i finally understand why my xti has trouble focusing in low light conditions..all i have to do is to<br>

1.remove the polarizer or<br>

2.switch to manual as the last resort..<br>

Haahaa,if all else fails,<br>

3.switch to my trusty sony a200 (nudge,nudge,wink,wink and ducking tomatoes aimed at me) cos it has a fantastic low light function and it has built in body IS!</p>

<p>Thanks Sara,<br>

Not to divert the main issue here but how do i know what i have cos i have 1 for my sony a200 and one for my xti and i can't tell the difference between the linear or circulart polarizers..grrrr...I am asking this cos since we are talking of polarizers,it would benefit other readers here.Thanks for your input</p>

 

<p>I might be wrong but a friend of mine told me that there are 2 types of polarizer filters..the only difference is the price and function..Anyone care to elaborate..i am all ears</p>

<p>thanks guys...warmest regards for the coming festive season..</p>

I have the canon xti battery from canon and have noticed that sterlingtek sells both the spares and

chargers..Can i use my own canon charger on sterlingtek spare batteries or must i use only sterlingtek chargers

on sterlingtek batteries?

Hello guys,

Q.1.. I have the sony alpha 200k dslr and would like to buy spare batteries. Sterlingtek does not sell the

batteries but it does sell the charger.This is strange.I know they sell the canon spare batteries and charger but

why have they not done so for the batteries?

Q.2..Second question.Since i have my own sony charger,can it be used to charge the spare ones from

Sterlingtek if they decide to sell it or b) must i use only the sterlingtek charger to charger sterklingtek batteries?

Thank guys and happy weekend ahead!

as a sideline,is the sony cf better cos it is more expensive and it advertises a faster rate than sandisk..btw,i tried lexar and it is really sloooowwww...

it looks interesting but the removal with the hair dryer looks really difficult..i can safely assume it can only be used once?

i have the sony a200k,so far so good..iso 3200 and the low light feature is marvellous..IS in camera..works well

wow,this seems so complicated..i have the xti and so far,i was unaware of re-compose shots..i just shoot and

hope for the best.Thanks for sharing.

I can't help with any advice but i, and many others here, would be interested to know what happened.So,please do get back and tell us what was the problem.Thanks.

I was talking about minus 30C in the canadian winter (btw,it ain't the windchill factor i am worried about cos it will be minus 50C if factored in!)