tenthijeThe dust advice is very important. In fact, all new cameras come with a free supply of dust. I was told this is because the final assembly is not in a dust-free room, but find that hard to believe.
Nonetheless, before using it you should clean it. Or have it cleaned by the camera shop if you feel a bit edgy about damaging the sensor. I would recommend on doing it yourself for the very simple reason that it is expensive to have someone else do it. And that is assuming there is a store nearby that does it! Also, for all the virtues the 100-400L has, it is a real dust magnet. I am told the push-pull zoom acts like a pump you’d use for the tires of your bike. With the air comes a load of dust.
You can clean the sensor using Eclipse fluid (based on methanol) and Sensor Swabs. Both made by Photographic Solutions Inc. A 59ml bottle of fluid should set you back around 10 euros (~7 pounds). The sensor swabs are rather expensive at 69 euro (~45 pounds) per package. If I am not mistaken there are 10 swabs per package.
The shutter mechanism will not last a life-time, so try to avoid “machine-gunning” your photos. You should be able to get loads of shots, but it is a large strain on the shutter. Don’t worry too much though as you will easily get tens of thousands of shots.
Do not over-expose. This will kill your photo beyond rescue with photoshop and the likes. Under-exposure can be dealt with quite easily with the computer.
Good choise on the camera. Got a predecessor of it and like it a lot. Have not got the 100-400 myself, but managed to borrow one once. Excellent quality photos. The 100-400L will be my next purchase, but that will have to be a few years down the road.
tenthije‘Ladies and gentlemen, easyJet welcomes you to Loch Ness, please be careful when disembarking the aircraft as the captain forgot he’s no longer piloting at seaplane, but a 737. Thank you.’
Ooh leave the captain alone. He can’t help he just transferred from seaplanes. He is just a bit wet behind the ears.
tenthijeWhat is that F100? It seems a Germania hybrid of some kind, but do not know the airline. And the Kingfisher must have been a cool surprise!
tenthijeWas working fine for me this afternoon.
tenthijeVery interesting opinion there tenthije, however, I do notice that you have not included Flybe into the list of low-cost airlines. Any particular reason for this, seeing as they are an up-and-coming airline since the recent take over of BA Connect? Incidentally, it has been reported that Flybe’s stats for LGW-IOM has improved significantly since the takeover of BACON…so it is not all doom and gloom for the loco’s.:D
Well, it is of course impossible to mention all loco’s. But I would not be surprised if BA in a few years time realised that having a domestic network is not that bad an idea. After all, they are BRITISH Airways, not SW-London Airways.
tenthijeI think the loco’s will be here to stay, but there will be consolidation.
I would not be surprised if in 10 years time there will be 3 or 4 large legacies left and another 3 or 4 large loco’s. This along with a number of smaller carriers that have carved a nice little niche.
My gues for the next ten years is for the following airlines to continue, largely carved up along the current alliance groups (not necessarily under their current name):
And for the low-cost carriers:
As mentioned there will be some outsiders as well. Niche players that cater for a particular group. My guess would be for:
tenthijetenthije,
Superb shots from AMS! Booking a flight tomorrow with Transavia from PIK to get to AMS on June, looks like a hell of a place to get around. May require some info on the place, would be appreciated, also staying the night, maybe some info on local hotels ?
Around that time the Kaagbaan spot will likely be closed. As already explained no official date has been set, but construction is due to start mid 2007. Most frequently heard date is late may. The other spots will be accesible, but for the most part only when you got a car or a bike at your disposal. Of course the observation terrace will be open and is easily accesible.
There is a map on my website that shows the hotel in the area. While I obviously have not tried them myself, I know that amongst spotters the NH Hotel, Bastion hotel and the Ibis hotel are most popular. All these hotels offer a shuttle bus to the hotel and have reasonable prices. The Ibis is usually the cheapest.
The Ibis hotel is a walking distance from the Mac Donalds spot alongside the (barely used and sun-facing) Buitenveldertbaan. Both other hotels are a walking distance from the final approach to the Kaagbaan and (if still open) the official Kaagbaan spot itself.
There are links to the hotels at my site.
If you come during the weekend I might be able to drop by. The first weekend of June I’ll be in Zurich, so no rides then. Saturdays would be preferred.
tenthijeFab shots Peter like the VLM F50 and the KLM F50:D So has AMS only have too spotter places now?:confused:
There are two official spots (Mac Donalds and terrace, not counting the Kaagbaan spot that is for now still open) as well as a dozen or so unofficial spots. The Polderbaan is believed to get a new official spot as well to replace the Kaagbaan spot. Schiphol is in favour, but apparantly the borough is hesitant due to traffic and litter.
Let’s be honest, the Kaagbaan spot was never kept too tidy and the way people parked there was not that good. So I can understand the borough having some reservations. In the end they will no doubt agree since the alternative is even worse, having people flock all around the perimeter. They do not mind us spotters flocking around since we do try to keep things tidy. It’s the “tourists” that do not often bother cleaning up after themselves.
When spotters make a mess this is dealt with by ourselves. Not that long ago some spotters from Germany where seen cutting holes in fences. Something was said about it, and ignored. Suffice to say a picture of that ended up at the autorities along with information to trace the culprits down. It is a shame this has to be done, but if this maintains our good relation with the airport and autorities, so be it.
tenthijevery nice shots there peter ive heard a rumour that the polderbann is closed is that true
hoping to book up in the next few days for my trip
kindest regards
peter
Line-up point is closed. This means that at the eastern side we only got 200 metres and at the western side we only got 2600 metes left for spotters. Life’s hard at AMS. 😀
tenthijeCool, did not know there where still BAC111s and Andovers flying around. Or do these no longer fly?
tenthijeHi Cees
Is it still available? I don’t read dutch alas…
The add has been removed, presumably it is either sold or the owner decided to not sell it after all.
tenthijeIt’s actually being leased by GB Airways for the summer, and will operate out of Gatwick.
The lease has put a lot of strain on GB’s LGW crew of late, as many have been off roster for conversion to the 737-800, meaning a very heavy workload!
It will be a damp lease, with XL flight crew and GB cabin crew.
Why convert many crews if this is only a temp lease? Why not convert 4 or 5 crews and use them on the 737 exclusively?
tenthijeDDP is the most comprehensive incoterm there is. That means that the shipper should have handled the entire transport to the place of your choosing, including customs clearance, transport costs etc etc. Only exception are those that are specifically mentioned in the contract. For instance, the shipper can say “DDP without VAT”. But again, this needs to be specifically mentioned in the contract.
Behind DDP it should mention the destination. For instance “DDP Home-adress”, “DDP portname” etc.
In this case it does appear that the shipper was wrong to not deliver at your place, and very wrong to not handle customs clearance, terminal handling and all those other charges.
At the very least I would write a official letter to the shipper asking for money back, threatening legal action. Often that will be enough to scare people into refunding the charges you paid. Without having seen the docs and transportcontract myself it seems you are right, so you got nothing to loose.
If might just be that the shipper did everything right, and that the transport company he appointed messed up. Please tell me it was not DHL?
tenthijeSomeone ought to tell that bird to stay clear of Manchester Airport !
What’s at MAN that is so dangerous for this bird, considering this was shot at Schiphol?
tenthijeSomeone ought to tell that bird to stay clear of Manchester Airport !
What’s at MAN that is so dangerous for this bird, considering this was shot at Schiphol?
Sign In
