MIDGE. (14/08/14)

I have had a good and a bad day today. The good is that my parcel arrived within an hour of DPD’s estimated time. I don’t have it delivered direct to me as I’m of ‘No Fixed Abode.’ I have it delivered to a mate up the road and if he isn’t in then they leave it with someone else. Durine is such a tiny hamlet that no-one would take what isn’t theirs. I get an e-mail from DPD saying delivered to Keith, I wander a few hundred yards up the road to James’s house to get my parcel. His surname is Keith which can be confusing. I love DPD as a delivery company. When I was at Foyers the driver arrived when the site office was shut but drove around the site shouting Adrian. Not only a good set of drivers but a brilliant infrastructure to back them up.

In the parcel was the muck away.

     I have got rid of the midge and two or three other obstinate bits of crap. This is a great system for cleaning shit but even I had doubts it would remove a baked on insect. No spot removal at all. Sparkling bright it is.

     This is what I used. It does what it says on the tin. You have to remember that these are packed for folk that know what they are doing. You have to lock shutter open and mirror up. Make sure your battery has enough charge in it for a ten minute job; I fully charge mine, if the power fails you will end up with the wee stick jammed in a ribbon shutter and stuck behind the mirror. You will be going to your local shop for a new camera.

Then use very few strokes from edges of the sensor to the middle, you can press but don’t scrub. I look through a magnifying glass and hold the camera between my knees. The tiny insect needed a bit of attention. Don’t sweep outwards; ever. Try and collect the crap in the middle. Then all you do is open the second sachet with the dry sweeper up in and again work from the edges then turn it over and it will grab all the muck from the middle. It says not to use them twice but I give the view finder and LCD screen a clean with them before consigning them to the ashtray and thereafter the bin. The observant will notice that these are for less than full frame sensors. Mine are full frame it makes no difference but don’t rely on me, a new sensor would be the best part of camera price.

       This is the star of the show today.  It’s my new fluid head. I have put my biggest lens on it and it again does exactly what Manfrotto said it would do. It is a big lump but seems silky smooth. I looked at several folks reviews and you can too. Just Google MVH 502 series heads. Some of the tossers even unbox them. I had no trouble with unboxing, I just ripped the box open and dragged it out. It is worlds away from the old Manfrotto pan tilt head I was using. Is anyone old enough to have used a 141RC head? They are a great landscape head. It’s feeling a bit put out and usurped but it can come to bed for a cuddle tonight.

Not too much bad. The two Blender 3D jobs went belly up. I do save as I go along so I should be able to salvage them. It’s often better for me to start again as I can remember bits intuitively. We will see.

Have fun.