ABOUT ME

I live in a camper van with a West Highland Terrier for company.
My passion is creating images but it is a work in progress.
I am always willing to share what knowledge I have and can be contacted through the comments on this post or e-mail ADRIAN
ALL IMAGES WILL ENLARGE WITH A LEFT CLICK

Thursday 14 August 2014

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.

_MG_3374     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.

_MG_3372     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.

_MG_3373       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. 

16 comments:

  1. DPD are good it helps most of their Van drivers are self employed=more they do more they earn. Years ago I worked for APC crap and useless as it's like a franchise so no continuity in the delivery chain etc.
    The head looks like a serious bit of kit, I had to hide my wallet :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Douglas, they are my favourite delivery company. It is well worth buying things just to use them.
      I have been after a video head for ages but always assumed they would be priced in telephone numbers. This one would be too small for you, it only supports 4kg. I'll go out for a play and see if it makes any difference.

      Delete
  2. You have some super delivery service. I should do some serious cleaning of my binoculars. New glasses are coming in Sept. so that should improve things.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Red, DPD are a country mile better than most. Fed-Ex are good but a bit picky about where they leave stuff. Our post office are much better than they used to be but not a patch on DPD or Fed-EX. I can track my parcel in real time and even get a picture of the van on a map wending it's way towards me. Brilliant.

      Delete
  3. Eighteen quid for Wet and Dry sweeper? You must be made of money. Just spit on the lens and wipe off with a J-cloth. After all - even though you look like him - you are not Cecil B. DeMille!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. YP, they aren't for lenses they are for the camera sensor which attracts muck at the drop of a hat. I have enough in the box for four polishes. They are a bit expensive. Harrisons gave me these which was very kind of them.

      Delete
  4. I agree about DPD. They are amazing. They even photograph your front door when they deliver, to show where they've delivered the parcel. But....last time, they delivered a parcel to another blue door with a number three on. Same blue; slightly different door. But it did help to unscramble the misunderstanding.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Frances, now I'm jealous. They have never taken a picture of my door.
      I use post codes not door colours to get deliveries.

      Delete
  5. I am glad to hear most of your week was a success.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am a small town kind of guy... have you heard from Holdingmoments lately?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dale, no I haven't. He is staying in Wales as far as I know. Trevor is the one to ask. I did try phoning him.

      Delete
  7. Enjoying your photos, videos and commentary ~ bet you are glad to see the end of the midge...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glo, it was flying around in the camera for a day.

      Delete
  8. I have had good results cleaning my own sensor, but I often have to wipe part of the floor of the viewing screen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maria, it isn't a difficult job. The Olympus was much worse as the sensor is so small.

      Delete