The Amazing Sony A1/A7/A9/APS-C & Anything else welcome Mega Thread!

woof woof said:
I only wear them when I go out and although I could look at my phone I just prefer a watch.

I have 5 of those cheap Chinese automatics now and I think that's enough. All work well and to be honest they keep better time than my Swiss watches. I did read that some Swiss companies are buying the Chinese movements in and putting them in cases and selling them as their own. If true that does seem rather naughty but maybe it's just like Leica selling Panasonic cameras at inflated prices :D

This one is my favourite at the mo. This cost £14.33.

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It seems to be a copy of this...

uk.mondaine.com

Original Automatic, Stainless Steel, 41 mm

An automatic watch to get you noticed The new Original Automatic watch has a robust design inspired by the renowned Swiss Railway clock. The chunky 41mm case is made out of stainless steel with a traditional white dial with black hour and minute markers. The metal bracelet adds a timeless and...
uk.mondaine.com uk.mondaine.com

I have a couple which are copies of the Rolex Submariner, I have a red one and a blue one. This is the blue one :D £17.04. The red one was £17.42.

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I have a digital watch which I bought when I was about 20 but that hasn't had a battery in it for decades.
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I have some really nice watches but I tend to wear my Apple Watch 99.9% of the time these days :confused:
 
I just have the two Swiss watches and these cheap ones are just for fun. I don't know how long they'll last but I do have an automatic Sekonda which I've had for decades which is still working as well as ever so there's definitely hope for these Chinese ones. I bought the first because I got a bit nervous about wondering around the hills and woods etc wearing a nice watch. I've never seen any trouble or thought I was about to be robbed but you never know.
 
woof woof said:
I just have the two Swiss watches and these cheap ones are just for fun. I don't know how long they'll last but I do have an automatic Sekonda which I've had for decades which is still working as well as ever so there's definitely hope for these Chinese ones. I bought the first because I got a bit nervous about wondering around the hills and woods etc wearing a nice watch. I've never seen any trouble or thought I was about to be robbed but you never know.
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where did you buy the chinese watches from , i might be Tempted
 
snerkler said:
I have some really nice watches but I tend to wear my Apple Watch 99.9% of the time these days :confused:
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I'm the same I wear my Garmin Fenix all the time these days. Function wise it's so much better than a traditional watch, always accurate, self adjusting (though I have a couple of radio watches that self adjust as well) just prefer a smart/sports watch these days.
 
mav said:
where did you buy the chinese watches from , i might be Tempted
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Four from evil bay and one from Amazon. I just searched for mechanical watch. Sadly the Ess Minimal seems to be mostly out of stock but the others seem to be available sometimes under different names.

This is the one I got from Amazon, more expensive at £27.99

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Some of these come with metal bracelets but I prefer leather / other so swap them over.
 
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LeeRatters said:
Christmas food shop survival at its best!
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Talking food shopping... We've found an Asian food shop in Middlesbrough which stocks lots of stuff Mrs WW has been looking for for years including fresh stuff and packaged stuff too so we're having lots of new Thai meals here. Plus I got my mam some real Turkish Delight which really is Made in Turkey :D They also sell some western stuff including big bottles of tomato and barbeque ketchup at reasonable prices.
 
Mike.P said:
Never seen one. How you finding the 200-600mm compared to the Sigma?

Don't think I have taken a photo for about 3 weeks.
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Well I have been suffering with a bad back so not had much chance to get out with it, and the couple of times I have there has been no light at all so I will keep my evaluation for when I have had more chance to test it properly.

My first impressions are good, the size and weight is fine, I currently carry it with Peak Design strap across my body so it hangs vertically down my side and is very handy and comfy. Focus speed is good but manual override is not currently working (for when shooting through undergrowth etc) but that may be a setting I need to find out, my adapted sigma just did that out of the box. F/6.3 at 600mm is sharper than the Sigma was (I always shot at f/7.1 on the sigma as it improved it). I wish it wasn't white as people non photographers seem obsessed with asking about it, but I am getting neoprene covers for christmas so that should tame that :ROFLMAO:.

I love the short throw of the zoom ring, but don't like how easy it is to turn, I find I turn it by mistake when just handling/shooting which is annoying when reach is everything and you realise you were at 532mm not 600mm etc. I have read that the slight overlap of a neoprene cover can help with this but I really wish it had a lock button or tighter zoom ring.

Like I said above, I've not really had chance to give it a workout in decent light nor try bird in flight, but am really looking forward to it.

*edit, the image stabilisation works 3x better than the Sigma, I can shoot this handheld at 600mm at a way slower shutter speed than the Sigma. I find my default used to be 1/800s or 1/640s if i was settled and steady, but find on the Sony lens 1/500s is easy and 1/320s is fine too, though the bird has to be very still to be using 1/320s. (I only shoot handheld 99% of the time birding).
 
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woof woof said:
Four from evil bay and one from Amazon. I just searched for mechanical watch. Sadly the Ess Minimal seems to be mostly out of stock but the others seem to be available sometimes under different names.

This is the one I got from Amazon, more expensive at £27.99

nv86KTu.jpg


Some of these come with metal bracelets but I prefer leather / other so swap them over.
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The best Chinese watches usually come with a Seagull movement or occasionally a Miyota
The Seagull ones are actually getting quite good, my first open tourbillion movement was a Seagull ST80 which I still have and love today.
There was an issue with people using Chinese movements in fake big brand watches, but there was a bigger issue with the big brand watch makers assembling 90% of their watches in China and still be allowed to claim the Made in Switzerland stamp.
Thankfully this isn't quite as bad now, Rolex and Breitling were especially bad for this which is why I will never buy one.
I'm a fan of all mechanical watches, can watch a good movement all day long, and have countless mechanical watches, some good, some terrible.
My dream watch brands are Zenith or Dornbluth and Sohn as those guys all design their own movements and every one is handcrafted, they only make a few a year..
 
I want to wish everyone a very merry xmas and happy new year.
And here's to more wonderful photography in 2022. :beer:
 
Merlin5 said:
I want to wish everyone a very merry xmas and happy new year.
And here's to more wonderful photography in 2022. :beer:
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And here's to any photography we can grab in any free minute :D

All presents are bought and wrapped and all cards written and I'm now relaxing with a cup of tea :D

PS.
We went to our local tesco yesterday and the shop was ok but the car park was a nightmare to get out of and we're never ever going there by car again at this time of year.

Wishing all of my thread chums a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
 
Well, I got most stuff finished off yesterday so this morning was my traditional Christmas Eve sunrise photography time :)

Off to pick my son up shortly & pick my daughter up at 8:00 when she finishes work & I have them overnight & for dinner tomorrow before dropping them home in the afternoon. Then I can have a well deserved drink :)

I'll still be about later on I expect, but Merry Christmas Everyone :)
 
Merry Xmas from a very humid wet Jamaica! To be fair, it's the first day of rain since we arrived last Sat...
 

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I just jumped back into Sony with a 2nd hand A7III and 16-35 2.8. It’s a bit of a grudge purchase as I need the combo for a low-light project, so it’s definitely a tool more than anything else.

Generally I hate Sony cameras due to the impenetrable menus and ridiculous overcomplexity. And this A7III took me straight back to it - what a nightmare. And why oh why is the focus point a muddy grey colour that you can’t see or change the colour of. Stupid stupid.

But, the pics so far with the camera/lens combo are rather excellent so I’ll just crack on with it and stop moaning.
 
Tobers said:
I just jumped back into Sony with a 2nd hand A7III and 16-35 2.8. It’s a bit of a grudge purchase as I need the combo for a low-light project, so it’s definitely a tool more than anything else.
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That's what every camera is really.... A tool to do a job.
Tobers said:
Generally I hate Sony cameras due to the impenetrable menus and ridiculous overcomplexity. And this A7III took me straight back to it - what a nightmare. And why oh why is the focus point a muddy grey colour that you can’t see or change the colour of. Stupid stupid.

But, the pics so far with the camera/lens combo are rather excellent so I’ll just crack on with it and stop moaning.
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I never understood the things about the menus because once you set up the camera you never need to go back into them.

But one of the newer camera bodies like A7iv might be better for you since it's menus are much improved and you can change the colour of the focus point.
 
Tobers said:
I just jumped back into Sony with a 2nd hand A7III and 16-35 2.8. It’s a bit of a grudge purchase as I need the combo for a low-light project, so it’s definitely a tool more than anything else.

Generally I hate Sony cameras due to the impenetrable menus and ridiculous overcomplexity. And this A7III took me straight back to it - what a nightmare. And why oh why is the focus point a muddy grey colour that you can’t see or change the colour of. Stupid stupid.

But, the pics so far with the camera/lens combo are rather excellent so I’ll just crack on with it and stop moaning.
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nandbytes said:
That's what every camera is really.... A tool to do a job.

I never understood the things about the menus because once you set up the camera you never need to go back into them.

But one of the newer camera bodies like A7iv might be better for you since it's menus are much improved and you can change the colour of the focus point.
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As you know, I've only got the original A7 but I can't remember the last time I even went into the menu's to change anything......

*aside from delete/format obviously.
 
LeeRatters said:
Not sure whether to shower with the Lynx Africa, Black, Africa or Africa......??

:ROFLMAO:

In all seriousness, I hope we've all had a good day :)
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My haul included some man smellies and some shower and deodorant that isn't Lynx for once, Dove :D
 
woof woof said:
My haul included some man smellies and some shower and deodorant that isn't Lynx for once, Dove :D
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Typically, I ran out of shower gel about two weeks ago so had to buy some! :ROFLMAO:

I had a nice Ikea office style ergonomic chair which I'm sitting in right now from the other half :) Also a Pin up girls calender :)

Bit of alcohol & some Toblerone plus a nice Firetrap hoodie & Wahl hair clippers from the kids :) They bought way too much for their age this year! Proud of them though. Plus the usual bits & pieces & some money/vouchers.

Still way too much aggro & rushing around though. One year I'm going to spend Christmas in a log cabin in the mountains somewhere.
 
I love Xmas and I don't care how much I spend.

I'm always first up and while I made breakfast I had Tijuana Christmas on. Twice :D I washed and cleaned the record the other day and it's much improved.

These days you can find it on yourtube.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnX7cvNggzI


Mrs WW was chuffed with a coffee maker but I think her favourite prezzie was socks with dogs on them.
 
woof woof said:
Four from evil bay and one from Amazon. I just searched for mechanical watch. Sadly the Ess Minimal seems to be mostly out of stock but the others seem to be available sometimes under different names.

This is the one I got from Amazon, more expensive at £27.99

nv86KTu.jpg


Some of these come with metal bracelets but I prefer leather / other so swap them over.
Click to expand...


I treated my self to some watches off Amazon, but they are pocket watches as love them for close up photography just have to wait a couple of days for them to arrive.
 
woof woof said:
I love Xmas and I don't care how much I spend.

I'm always first up and while I made breakfast I had Tijuana Christmas on. Twice :D I washed and cleaned the record the other day and it's much improved.

These days you can find it on yourtube.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnX7cvNggzI


Mrs WW was chuffed with a coffee maker but I think her favourite prezzie was socks with dogs on them.
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My other half had socks with dogs on too from my mum & stepdad :)
 
I have some pocket watches. One is about 100 years old and works but does lose a few minutes a day, which the watch repairer said is normal. I have one modern one. The oldest...

r7ACFrC.jpg
 
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woof woof said:
I have some pocket watches. One is about 100 years old and works but does lose a few minutes a day, which the watch repairer said is normal. I have one modern one.

r7ACFrC.jpg
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Very nice indeed, one of my other gifts is tickets to see the Queen Tribute band in two weeks if all is well, would love to of taken a Sony but will have to be the mobile phone.
 
This was the year of the gift vouchers for me. I guess people didn't know what to buy me when I said no camera stuff. :D

So I am now the proud owner of £300 worth of vouchers for House of Frazer, I have never shopped here but apparently its a department store, £200 of M&S vouchers and a £50 voucher for Amazon.

It was also the year of the socks with a record haul of 8 different pairs. Also got the usual aftershave, some clothes and my youngest bought me a self stirring mug which is actually my favourite gift, it's great for frothing up milk in coffee and for hot chocolate. One of my brothers got me a Meguiars car cleaning kit which was a bit of a bummer as I had ordered a kit myself from EZ car cleaning just before Christmas. Got a few bottle's of wine as well.

Not sure these people know me at all. No vodka at all, to be fair I had stocked up on grey goose for Christmas anyway and also no Toblerone. :mad: Wasn't feeling great Christmas day so to be on the safe side did a Covid test and thankfully it was negative, didn't fancy spending Christmas day on my own, did another one when I got up this morning and am still showing negative. Woke up fresh as a daisy this morning as I didn't drink much at all, the wife's still in bed sleeping off her hangover, probably exhausted as well. We had 14 for dinner and she also did an extra couple of dinners to send over the fence to the wee elderly couple that live next door.
 
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