av98m

Ahh..thats good. In Singapore we've had monkeys run over by vehicles. In one particular case the monkey was injured but still alive and someone tried to help the monkey but nearly got killed herself by drivers refusing to stop or move aside. I remember this incident because the person in question was pissed off enough to write to the straits times forum about the callousness of Singaporeans.

Hahaha!! Is your neighbourhood overrun with monkeys or something? Question: These buggers look like they like to hang out on the road, do any of them end up as roadkill once in a while?

Actually no. I don't like stikfas but some of my colleagues love it(and all are ladies...must be a woman thing). Those pics were taken a few years ago man, I no longer have them.

Well that certainly sheds some light on the subject. Also sounds suspiciously like how government policies are made on a certain small island state (Now THAT I've seen fist hand)! I know some people at work that can start a sentence with one opinion and smoothly switch to another in mid-sentence! Incredible!

I like starwars and various japanese toys. What's wrong with Stikfas? P.S. Believe it or not, most of the first stikfas diorama photos that appeared in the magazine Toyfare were taken by me!

Marketing analysis is not my area of expertise so I'll not comment on it. I really have no idea how local distributors do their research, but let me illustrate the point was I making earlier with some examples: I have stopped buying cds locally for a while because local stores are very reluctant to order titles they do not have and in many cases even if they agree they end up forgetting to inform you when items arrive, or even forgetting to order the items (This has happened to me numerous times with HMV, and a few times with Gramaphone. I know the high staff turnover at HMV ensures that confusion will reign). Instead I simply order from places like amazon.com. Speed, convenience and decent service. To spread out the cost of shipping, I also include titles that I could have bought locally. So, because I cannot get 1 or 2 cds that I want, I also avoid buying say, the 6 other cds that I want that are available, and purchase the whole lot from someplace else. I also remember back during the days when I was an MD user(from 1996 onwards), all the really nice looking players by sony and other brands were never available in Singapore, only the butt ugly ones made it here. Same with the blank MDs. Nice ones with interesting color schemes never made their way here. My friends and I had to depend on some mutual friends who travel frequently to get our stuff from either Japan or Hong Kong. Not sure what the situation is like currently. MD is almost dead right? Same thing with toys and collectibles. To get the really nice and more sought after items, you could never ever depend on the Singapore agent and again had to go through overseas sources (e.g. Hasbro Singapore sucks big time. the local specialty shops usually deal with Hasbro Hong Kong or some other agent). I could go on ad nausem, but I'll stop here.

This reminds me of the fact that most of my expensive consumer items are purchased online. For the very simple reason that local retailers think the items I want are not feasible/too troublesome to bring in. And many of them complain that sales are bad. I wonder why.

I usually sleep through trailers unless there are scantily dressed women in them.

Nice! How far did you need to zoom to take that shot?

Wow! I had no idea they even made a movie based on it!

I happened to be walking along the corridor with my office camera when I saw the fly. I took the shot hurriedly because it was resting just outside my boss's office! (thats why I did not dare to use the flash)

A quick fly snapshot just to gross everyone out.

adhoc, if you're sure you like the RS-1s, just bite the bullet and get them. The pain from forking out the money will fade in time as you enjoy your new cans. Buy them new, locally, for peace of mind as far as warranty and service is concerned.

No special filter was used. (I was with him). As far as I know shooting with a small aperture helps to give you that stary effect. I think he was using f16 or f22, with a long exposure time. Tripod and cable release were also used.

Hmm..it appears your agar-ation worked out well!

Actually, I really did not have a choice in the matter, shooting macro that way (zoom lens + diopter) guarantees a very shallow DOF, even with my aperture stopped down to f16. Lets take this photo as an example, I really wanted everything in the frame to be in focus(of course I knew it wasn't quite possible so chose to focus just on the bee) but only the bee is(barely) in focus, the flower and ant(blur on the right hand corner) are not. I do love the nearly life size magnification.

OK lah, let me post another photo to keep this on track. Just don't ask me to identify it ok? This pic is from the same roll as the spider, with the same setup. So its uncropped. Want a 4R print of this one and the white spider?

A kind soul on clubsnap provided this info: This could be a Australische Krabbenspinne (Thomisus spectabilis), eh.. a type of crab spider..see: http://www.wissenschaft-online.de/a...d_popup&_bild=1 http://www.museums.org.za/bio/spiderweb/thomisid.htm The Thomisdae, or Crab spiders are the masters of ambush and disguise. This large family includes 37 genera in South Africa and many more in other countries except the arctic areas. They are called crab spiders because of their crab-like appearance and sideways motion. They occur more commonly on plants, sometimes under rocks and are harmless to man. The most conspicuous genus, Thomisus (the flower crab spider, is short and squat, ranging in size from 3-11mm. Its glabrous integument (exoskeleton) is cryptically coloured, taking on the colour of its surroundings. Thomisus stenningi in the Western Cape is able to undergoe white to yellow colour changes. This colour change facilitates camouflage on flower ambush sites and is completed within 2 days. Other species turn pink and appear to remain this colour. While colour patterns are species specific, colours can vary. The first and second pairs of legs are noticeably longer and thicker than the last 2 pairs. The abdomen is triangular in shape, being widest posteriorly. Its lateral eyes are situated on projections. Thomisus is a sedentary spider and is usually noticed only when one sees a strangely positioned, usually upside down, insect and upon investigation, the insect can be seen to be in the grips of a spider. Thomisus waits for flying insects to settle, patient and motionless, with outstretched legs. She can detect them from 20mm and when within a range of 5-10mm, Thomisus closes her powerful front legs, catching the insect which can be up to 3 times her size. The insect is then bitten behind the head and killed. The insides are dissolved and sucked from the exoskeleton and the empty, perfect form of the insect is dropped to the ground.

I vote this the worst attempt at a hoax since the coining of the phrase "People are our most important asset".

Mine is chrome, which doesn't look half bad. For some reason its easier to find chrome units on sale rather than black. BTW, I strongly suggest buying together with the grip. Much better handling and balance, esp with larger and heavier lenses. Cheaper using AA batteries instead of CR123s as well.

I paid 380 for the F80 & MB16 grip on clubsnap. It was an old ad and I was quite suprised no one jumped on it. Pristine condition, seller included the Magic Candle guide to the F80 (very useful book) and I found the unfilled warranty card tucked in the book!

No lah, where got dslr. I bought a used film slr (Nikon F80D + MB16 battery grip)recently for dirt cheap you see. Even my 3 lenses(28-105D, 70-300G, 50 1.8D) are bought used, except for my 50mm 1.8D. Also bought a crumpler company embarassment and tripod and cable release. Total amt spent maybe not even enough to pay for a used D70 body only.

You just need a Gitzo tripod, an Arca Swiss Ballhead and a Macro focusing rail from Manfrotto. You current lens can close-up well enough.. Oh... And you need to stop being lazy and bring your tripod down.. LOL.... Well, I shot the pics using a AF 70-300G, with a +2.9 diopter stacked in front. This combo gave me about 0.87X magnification (so those pics are actual size, no cropping was done). Manual focusing was a nightmare with this setup. But yes, a tripod would have helped lots. Imagine shooting handholding a 300mm lens at 0.87X magnification! The picture was shifting in and out of focus through my viewfinder like a drunken sailor with each breath I took! What can I say, I've always been a glutton for punishment. Next time I'll be sure to lug the tripod and cable release. For my AF 28-105D, the AF could work even at macro distance(when I toggle the macro switch), so it was very easy to use. Gives me only 0.5X magnification though. Its an excellent general purpose lens.

Yes, it was translucent white(sorta like cuttlefish or squid sashimi). I almost missed it when looking at the flower.