Or...you would have more gear.

I am still learning the Smallbore Silhouette game. Starting a little late at age 70. Targets are 1/5 high power size and distances are 40, 60, 77, and 100 meters with .22 rifle and 25x Weaver scope. Those Turkeys are wicked, no matter the distance. For Smallbore the wind is a bigger problem than mirage.

I shoot a lot of iron sighted rifles and help each year with my gun club Public Sight In Days. Have a couple of 50 year old spotting scopes (Bausch & Lomb) and had the same problem with a tripod next to the bench.
A friend made me a scope holder that is a C-clamp and rod to which I can attach the scope using vertical adjustment scope mount. I clamp it to the bench and adjust so I only move my head a few inches to view the results. It is rock solid and unaffected by the rifle blast.

The Dragon has landed!

Hi. You will love the forums. I have been here a month and have already learned a lot. You will too.

Steve

That's fine, we are a perfect match. I am still a mediocre photographer (30% would be about right). I picked it up used at a good price, so I am happy.

Thanks so much to all. I have the 18-55 that came with the camera as my other lens, so nothing to compare the longer zoom to. I have been happy with the zoom and thought the quality was good. Just wanted to be sure.

It is like stereos. You can be happy with the sound of your boom box until you hear a full fledged audio system.

Thanks, I appreciate the info. I see many references to 18-300 so wasn't sure how good this lens is. I visit all the zoos I can, and love carrying just one lens.

I got mine used at a photo store in Kansas City that had been in business for 40+ years. Sadly they closed in January and my source for all things photo disappeared. So glad to have found UHH.

Just curious, is the Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX ED VR II Lens (72mm) considered a kit lense?
I am using this on my D3100 almost exclusively.

Thanks, Steve

Planepics, I have seen software that will allow you to play a 78 at 45 (or maybe 33.33) and record a digital file that will then play correctly. I picked up a USB Turntable that includes software to record vinyl to my computer. I moved recently and have all my audio still packed away, but it may have come with the turntable. A search on line may turn up what you need.

Until this post, I didn't think about all the parallels between film and vinyl. I was a complete audio nerd going from vinyl to reel-to-reel to Dolby cassette to CD. Copying music could only be done in real time, taking hours to transfer to tape or burning a CD from vinyl. (We thought that CDs were a permanent medium not knowing that prolonged light exposure would decay them also).
I spent most of that time trying to eliminate surface "noise" and scratches trying to improve the sound "quaility". And of course every upgrade in equipment enhanced the sound "quality", and too often the noise. Digital and the newer software eliminated the "pops, scratches, and surface noise", but according to many, it also reduced the "warmth" of the music.

Now, thinking about film and digital, does this sound familiar?

As a rank amateur, I have only been taking photographs since buying my Asahi Pentax Spotmatic while in the Navy in Japan (1968). I didn't take as many photographs in the Far East as I should have due to the cost of film and limitations of a sailors pay. I liked Fuji film as it gave me brilliant colors. But things were hit or miss as to whether I got the shot. I took a picture and hoped that my exposure and composition was right. If I knew what composition was.

Although digital plays greatly to the "instant gratification" crowd, it is also such a wonderful teaching tool. I can review, delete, and reshoot without the time and expense of film.

Without digital and the non-expense of experimentation, this rank amateur wouldn't be spending part of his retirement reading UHH and enjoying this fine hobby.

Steve, Nikon D3100, Nikon 18-200

PS - my hearing is no longer acute enough to distinguish between my 500 vinyl records and my 300+ CDs. It all sounds like music.

Ditto!

One of my friend's (Michael) daughter is named Lauren Michael. It is not that strange.