Guess what I got for my birthday???

[Striker (Tony)]

I was close...I was going to say a pair of handcuffs.

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

WooooooHooooo :cool : You lucky bugger. Congratulations Silvie. How did you manage to keep it a secret all day. You would have been busting to tell everyone. Excellent.


See we told you he was an alright boyfriend.

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

I want one too!

[silvinator]

@ Tony

You're right Paul - I have been absolutely bursting to tell you guys ever since Saturday And yeah, Le ain't so bad after all

The lens has cleared customs and I'm hoping will arrive tomorrow.

It's interesting to note that there has been so much hype over all the canon cameras (300d, 350d, 20d and 20da) and I have not heard one thing about the D50. Guess I'll be the guinea pig eh? I can't wait to test its long exposure capabilities. It's noise levels seem to be low from the dpreview site, but that's for "normal" photography. Hopefully, I can give you guys a full update/test report soon.

Any suggestions on what I should report on? What would you guys like to know about the D50 for astrophotography use (assuming you want to know at all...)? keep in mind also that I'm an absolute beginner when it comes to astrophotography. Still learning the ropes and haven't had much scope time either. But, I have one full week off from next monday so I've got some time on my hands

Can't wait!!!

[RapidEye]

I got myself a Canon 300D for XMas and have had a ball with it since!!!

I did a lot of B&W 35mm stuff in HS and College, but sort of drifted away from it over the years. This DSLR stuff is just awesome and I'm back to having fun with the camera again!!!

One thing to keep in mind: storage is cheap!!!
When I just had my 35mm film camera, I'd maybe shoot 2-3 rolls on a weekend trip. Now, heck, I shoot over 500 shots =-) Even if your technique is rusty, the fact that you can shoot 10X more pictures means eventually, you'll get a good one

I even bought a T-Ring for it and made my first attempt at astro work using my 10" Dob last weekend. I got some really nice moon shots that I'm still trying to stitch together into a 10 frame composite. (work keeps getting in the way).

Enjoy!!! <G>

[iceman (Mike)]

Nice one Silvie, you lucky buggarette. A DSLR is on my wish list, unfortunately i'll be wishing for a while yet!

I still don't get how orthodontics comes into it?

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Just smile and think "cheese" Mike

[iceman (Mike)]

oh of course!

[Brendan]

hey silvie,
why to go on the B'day pressie.

looking forward to you sharing your first efforts with us all

[ving (David)]

you got some cheese? i dont get it!


congrats silvie, when do we star seeing pics?

[silvinator]

Well folks, I finally got my lens yesterday after a wild goose chase. Apparently, our USPS tracking number told us there was an attempted delivery on Thursday 25th August at precisely 3:57PM. Well, I'm sure they didn't even attempt a delivery because three people were home at that precise date. What was even more suspicious was that they didn't leave a pick-up card. So we figured they either tried to deliver to the wrong address (keep in mind our street sign is actually missing but still, it ain't that difficult to read a map is it???) or that they sent it straight to the post office. On Friday night, USPS said it was at the local post office. So Le called all the local postal offices on Saturday but they all said they didn't have anything and we should try the main office on Monday morning. Well, they tracked it down by the afternoon to one of the local posties (it was one of the ones that said they didn't have it...). The Australia Post guy said it was probably in a different storage area because there was duty to pay on the lens. So we raced down there and there it was, in the "duties to pay" section - there all along since last Thursday!!!

Anyway, got home and I started firing away in our garden. And RapidEye, you are right. I absolutely love this camera! It is absolutely beautiful and the lens is just gorgeous! Pics came out so sharp and the background blur is beautiful. I will definitely be posting pics once I upload them to my unfinished website and rezise them etc... no time now as I have to go and play around some more with the camera... woo-hooo!!! It's my new favourite toy

Oh, the t-ring arrived as well but by the look of that jetstream Mike was talking about in the other thread, it doesn't seem likely I'll be doing any night sky test shots. Sorry folks.