# Well, here goes nothing...



## RustyBrown (May 29, 2004)

Man have I been technically challenged. Picked up a 24" monitor for Christmas on eBay and today it went kaput. Talk about just wanting to cry. Now I'm going to have to haggle with the seller and all that mess.

In the meantime, I have access to a spare 21". I managed to get it calibrated so I'm off to the TPF contest. After agonizing on which to choose, I came up with these four. Hoping to get lucky again...


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## Charles Helm (Oct 22, 2004)

Best of luck to you!


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## richg99 (Aug 21, 2004)

No luck, all talent there. Good "luck". rich


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## fishphoto (Mar 3, 2005)

looks like four winners to me!


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## LUISJG (Mar 22, 2006)

Rustybrown.
what size did you resize those pics.
and you mind telling me what program you used,
finaly got my digital slr , big change from a 35 mm roll camera.


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## MT Stringer (May 21, 2004)

Good luck, Rusty. They'll get my vote.
Mike


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## Gator_Nutz (Sep 27, 2006)

Very strong selection Rusty. Good luck.


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## RustyBrown (May 29, 2004)

Thanks all. Last year's recognition really came as a shock to me. It would be nice to be a bit of a giant killer again. From what I understand there's a huge volume of entries this year. 

Just need to keep it in perspective. This is a subjective medium and the image that was best overall last year wouldn't have made my top 20 - so it shows how much I know. Best of luck to all of you as well on your well arranged box of pixels.

Luis, try irfanview for resizing. For now stick to 650 pix wide at 72 dpi and use the manage attachments selection underneath your text when you post. You've got enough on your hands w/o complicating things.


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## grayfish (Jul 31, 2005)

All four are top quality shots Rusty. I'd put money on anyone of the four and double up on that 3rd image. Of course it is a photo contest and very subjective. You just never know how things will fall. Best of luck to you.


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## Arlon (Feb 8, 2005)

You certainly picked out some nice shots.. Go get them giants!


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## Capt Rick Hiott (Dec 14, 2007)

Rusty,,,Do you shoot with a Maxxum 7D?


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## Pocketfisherman (May 30, 2005)

All four are great, I don't think I could pick a best one out of that bunch.


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## RustyBrown (May 29, 2004)

Capt Rick Hiott said:


> Rusty,,,Do you shoot with a Maxxum 7D?


Rick,

Yes. I shoot with a 7D. I absolutely love the camera and how well laid out it is. I've yet to see a camera that will come close to it in terms of layout for a photographer and that include bodies over $3k.

Unfortunately for most of us it's all about the quality of the final image and I'm afraid my little 6mp sensor is showing it's age. I made a vow when I bought this camera that I would only upgrade if I could advance my skills to the point where I felt the camera was truly holding me back. For now that's still a rare occurance.

That said I've been considering both the Canon 5D and the Nikon D300, but changing brands is very expensive as I'm sure you know.

Just charged the batteries and formatted the cards - might have to take out the pea shooter again in the morning.


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## Arlon (Feb 8, 2005)

Rusty I think the only disadvantage you'd have with 6mp is going to really big paper.. I mean really big. I still like my D50 better than my D200. Some of the enlarging software available these days makes very nice enlargements up to several hundred percent... If you decided to get into the poster business, you might want to step up the pixels. Why fix what's not broken? Maybe you just need to find another 7D to use as backup while they're still available on the used market. 

How did the monitor thing turn out?


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## RustyBrown (May 29, 2004)

Arlon said:


> Rusty I think the only disadvantage you'd have with 6mp is going to really big paper.. I mean really big. I still like my D50 better than my D200. Some of the enlarging software available these days makes very nice enlargements up to several hundred percent... If you decided to get into the poster business, you might want to step up the pixels. Why fix what's not broken? Maybe you just need to find another 7D to use as backup while they're still available on the used market.
> 
> How did the monitor thing turn out?


Arlon,

I do have an interest in being able to make larger prints, I also would like the luxury of having a little more cropping room. I also think the sensors have advanced significantly in regard to decreased noise at higher ISOs and as you know I love to shoot in th dark.

In regard to the monitor - it's a bad deal. It was listed as an open box / never used item. Its obvious from marrs on the back of the monitor and the stand that it is used. The seller has file a claim with UPS and I'm taking the box/monitor to the UPS office Wednesday. If that doesn't work I'll be filing a greivance with Paypal as the item was not as described.

Let me tell you though its picture was absolutely incredible and I plan on getting a new (retail) one once I get this resolved.


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## Arlon (Feb 8, 2005)

If you want better ISO/ less noise, Don't bother with a d200/300 or anything else Nikon sells short of the new D3. I seriously doubt noise is any better on my d200 than what you have now. I'm kind of pickey but ISO 400 is as far as I consider useful on the d200.. I've heard the d300 isn't any better (from a knowledgeable friend that owns both). D3 is another story but at $6k a copy and it's full frame so you loose the 1.5x crop factor of the older digitals. ONLY reason I have a Nikon is because of the abundance of cheap old lenses that work on them.. 

Hope you get the monitor thing squared away. Stuff looks different on a good monitor. Stuff I think is great at home on my laptop often get downgraded a few notches when I look at them on the 27" dell I have here at work.


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## fishphoto (Mar 3, 2005)

Arlon said:


> If you want better ISO/ less noise, Don't bother with a d200/300 or anything else Nikon sells short of the new D3. I seriously doubt noise is any better on my d200 than what you have now. I'm kind of pickey but ISO 400 is as far as I consider useful on the d200.. I've heard the d300 isn't any better (from a knowledgeable friend that owns both). D3 is another story but at $6k a copy and it's full frame so you loose the 1.5x crop factor of the older digitals. ONLY reason I have a Nikon is because of the abundance of cheap old lenses that work on them..
> 
> Hope you get the monitor thing squared away. Stuff looks different on a good monitor. Stuff I think is great at home on my laptop often get downgraded a few notches when I look at them on the 27" dell I have here at work.


I agree. I've seen some high ISO stuff shot with a D300 here in Houston and it didn't impress me much. For the price, I'd look at a used D2x or D2xs if the D3 is out of your range.


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