I posted the message below on Thursday and that is the reason I did not reply. Unfortiunately I am still experiencing PC problems, however it appears you chose not to read it or just missed it. I was certainly not being disrespectful nor was it ETHICALLY wrong.

__________________________________________
Thursdays Post.

Unfortunately I am experiencing problems when trying to use the "PM" system on this site, Im not entirely sure what is wrong, I do not think I have used the "PM" system previously on this site. However, I will try to correct the problem tomorrow (Friday) alternatively I will try to send a "PM" via another PC.

I am receiving your PMs so if all else fails then send me a email address via "PM" and I will respond that way.
Kind regards
Bruno.

.[/quote]

Bruno, perhaps I can help out here. In my original request to you about alternative sites I said "can I ask you to PM me with details of a couple of alternative forums, please?" By "PM" I meant "private message" me via the link at the top of every page in the blue section. In that way you need only advise me and not the whole forum. There are only a couple of similar requests, so that shouldn't be too difficult for you to give us the benefit of your experiences. I did mention it again later in the thread, but I think it's got lost somewhere. Anyway, that way perhaps we can all win without your personal ethics being compromised. My preference would be for Nikon enthusiast level users. What do you think? Geoff[/quote]



Geoff.
Unfortunately I am experiencing problems when trying to use the "PM" system on this site, Im not entirely sure what is wrong, I do not think I have used the "PM" system previously on this site. However, I will try to correct the problem tomorrow (Friday) alternatively I will try to send a "PM" via another PC.

I am receiving your PMs so if all else fails then send me a email address via "PM" and I will respond that way.
Kind regards
Bruno.

.[/quote]

Bruno,
While I respect your opinion, let's remember that the concept of the Internet was based on and founded on the principles of sharing. Ethics has nothing to do with it. The beauty and effectivness of the Internet is based on linking and sharing information (unless you're in China) - If it wasn't, you would never have received 234,000,000 hits from Google...lol.


[@][/quote]

You are of course entitled to your opinion, however you state " Ethics has nothing to do with it" I somewhat disagree with the above because ethics (in my opinion) has everything to do with everything, I know this is a broad school of thought but I believe it is a very important one. It is the benchmark that many of us live by and is also the very bedrock by which the majority distinguish right from wrong. Without ethics we can easily wander into anarchy and chaos. We certainly chance disrespect for each other and rudeness prevails, the word sorry would no longer exist and we end up killing each other as we did in medieval times. Therefore "Ethics" (imho) does have something to do with it. Ethics creep into our daily lives, at home, at work and at play. To be unethical is to break our moral code and is often the slippery downward slope to what is the very worst in us as humans, surely we do not want to revert to the days of a lawless society and where the physically strongest ruled and all others went to the wall.

It is not my intention to lecture or judge anyone nor do I seek a great debate on the moral rights and wrongs, this is just an opinion, a bit like noses really, we all have one.

I agree on 2 points.

(1) Yes, sadly it appears that the OP has been scared off, I feared this might happen.

(2) Directing someone to a section or page in the manual is or can be helpful and in many ways very positive as it takes someone to the heart of the problem, whereas just saying "read the manual" or "Go to Google" can be off putting and pointless and leave the OP feeling like they wish they had not even asked in the first place..

Hi

In response to several requests for links to other Photographic related Forums etc, I feel it would be unethical for me to do this either on or via this site. We must all make up our own individual minds as to the merits or otherwise of any forum. However, it is very easy to get this information regarding other forums etc via well known search engines. The way to go is to type in “photo forum sites” and then click the return key. I just did this very thing here in the UK and it gave me 234,000,000 hits world wide. I know, mind blowing isn’t it, you can of course refine each search by adding your own related information. Naturally some are merely photo related sites but there are literally dozens of pure forums as well. You will find some with a manufactures bias such as Nikon or Canon forums and others with an interest base such as Macro work, or portrait work. You will never be short of photographic reading material and it’s also a great resource for other photo related data, plus it is also a great pool of learning to dip into now and again for most things photographic.

I have 2 DSLR cameras and 2 P&S, I found the Nikon Manual for the Nikon D90 very hard going with nearly 300 pages, so I took advice and bought a "Dummies" book. Another very helpfull book is the K.I.S.S photography book, KISS stands for the "KEEP IT SIMPLE SERIES" which I have had for years and still dip into its 350 pages of simple tips.

We have all had to start somewhere, usually at the bottom and when we become educated enough to transfer knowledge of any kind to others then we should see it as a privilege. Humble in our ability to teach without arrogance or disrespect to anyone.

Barbara, I know exactly how you feel. Personally I have stopped posting on here and would not dream of asking anything on this site because there is a minority on here who are quite rude and who just love to jump up and down shouting things like "read the manual" and " Go and look on Google" etc. I repeat that they are in a minority thankfully. However, these are the people that drive others away and make people feel inferior. I get the impression that they don’t even want others to post unless they are " In there club"
Yes, sometimes there are people who don’t fully explain their dilemma, this happens on all sites, however some just can’t wait to jump on this and make a big deal of it instead of politely asking for more information, some are even downright rude. Again I state that thankfully these are in a minority.
I am on several photographic forums which I contribute to and the problem isn’t as prolific as it is here. I just pop in here now and then to check if there is anything of interest to me, the more that I see of this problem here the less I drop by.

Barbara, thankfully there are plenty of other sites so don’t let it bother you and bear in mind that those who think that they know it all and are rude to others who share their hobby are best avoided. I repeat that they drive some people away and it is then their loss. There is absolutely nothing to be gained by them being over critical or rude.

After saying all this I know there are some very polite and extremely helpful individuals here who are only too willing to give good advice and point us in the right direction and it is these that I come here to listen to.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Bruno,

I am confused here. I did not post the " "don't put too much faith in canon's ttl...it doesn't work most of the time. i have a canon speedlite 580ex2 on a 7d...and i now shoot manual and am happy. canon ttl is unreliable.

i also have nikon gear and their ttl is.....well that's for another thread".

That was someone else before me. I have bought and still own both CANON & NIKON strobes. I certainly did not post anything that could even be construed as being "dis respectful" to either CANON or NIKON ( as if either manufacturing giant would ever take any notice of what a retired camera hack in Australia had to think! ). That was again, some other fellow (expressing his / her personal opinion also). I have absolutely no superior knowledge or ANY knowledge that would be helpful to either CANON or NIKON. I only agree with the rest of the photo community that Infrared data transmission is inferior in almost all cases to Radio Frequency data transmission, as far as both CANON & NIKON ETTL systems are concerned. The entire photographic community has been wishing both manufacturers would convert to RF date transfer over their individual IF systems.

CANON has just released their latest top of the line strobe and it does utilize the RF data transfer system. NIKON will have to follow suit to remain in the top two world strobe market.

You obviously, as you say, didn't bother to read my entire book length post, as none of the above quotes you attributed to me came from anything I posted. They were posted by another person, not me. Why would I try to write / publish a real book about either CANON or NIKON? I have absolutely no (zero) knowledge or expertise in the field of electronics, infra red technology or radio frequency technology. How could I write / publish a book disrespecting any sort of technology I have absolutely no interest / knowledge in? As you won't be bothered to read my entire 'book length' post, I can only again tell you that none of the "quotes" you claim I wrote came from my computer. What ever other comments of opinions others post, whether I agree with them of not, is their own business, but don't accuse me of authoring someone elses' posts. Again, no disrespect intended,
Curt H[/quote]



Im afraid I do not have the time or inclination to read all of this or any post of great length. My life is too busy taking photographs and other photo related and non photo related issues. You obviously have more time on your hands than me and certain things are more important to you. So be it.

Im afraid you made the post disrespectful yourself when you wrote:

"don't put too much faith in canon's ttl...it doesn't work most of the time. i have a canon speedlite 580ex2 on a 7d...and i now shoot manual and am happy. canon ttl is unreliable.

i also have nikon gear and their ttl is.....well that's for another thread".


You had already been told that someone else could not be bothered to read all of your post.
This is after two of the major manufacturers Canon and Nikon have spent millions on research. In fact many, if not the majority, of people on here will have Canon and/or Nikon gear and when you go to the trouble of disrespecting these names do you really think everyone is going to take you seriously? If you wrote a book stating how Nikon and Canon dont measure up, do you really think it would get published.

Perhaps you have superior knowledge to Nikon and Canon? If so then write to them and help them out. That way they wont have to spend the many millions on research and development that they spend at the moment.
Personally I have great respect for the advancement in technology that companies like these give us, thats why many of us buy their products.

Don't worry about shooting jpg. It has been argued that the actual quality difference between RAW and fine JPG isn't great. Yes, Raw gives the opportunity to manipulate the original file but there are downsides to raw, one is you have to convert the file so you will need a RAW converter. The other thing is that RAW files are much larger so they take up more space. If you are happy in what you are doing then keep doing it, only be swayed into something if you feel comfortable doing it. There are and always will be people that think that if they don't shoot in full manual mode and save the files in RAW format then they are not real photographers :lol:
Each to their own eh.

We come across this attitude quite regularly here in the UK. One of the most amusing things I came across was a "stuck in the mud" black and white 35mm film guy who regularly verbally trashed anything to do with digital and even frowned on colour. His family had to clear his house when he passed away at the ripe old age of 96. When doing this clearance they found two up date digital Nikons (1 cropped frame and 1 full frame) plus a range of digital equipment. His son told us that his dad had been using digital for several years, however, due to his constant derogatory remarks regarding digital over the last couple of decades he felt he could not "come out" and declare his use of digital, as he felt he would encounter a lack if integrity..

When I now here anyone decrying the digital world and making statements such as “Digital isn’t real photography” and things like “Photoshop and post editing of any kind is cheating” I inwardly smile and think how hard it must be for these people to let go of their beloved past and wonder to myself whether or not they secretly wished they had jumped onto the digital wagon years ago. The problem is they will never tell you.
Each to his own.
:)

Ditto....You are not alone. If I want to read a book or similar I have a Kindle and a very good library close by.

I am really pleased things have come good or at least been made good.
Dont beat yourself up. Life is full of people who have made mistakes....... and of course those who have not........YET. :wink:

1) I did not shout "charge".
2) I didnt say that anyone was WRONG....you did that.
3) I have no idea why you are refering to Romney, or the national guard, Republicans, Cannon Fodder, Home guard.
4) I have no idea why you are asking me about Republican problems and war on foreign shores to overshadow the problems in your county.

Im British, I live in the UK, I have no interest in your politics or any war on foreign shores relating to your country.
I was being positive and made sugestions on trying to RECOVER files. My reply to the original poster was about photography. I have no interest in anything else and avoid anything political.
I thought that this forum was about photography and photography related issues... perhaps I am mistaken.
I clearly stated that I did not want to start a war, I feel that you may have other ideas.

I agree. I love "Neat Image" the stand alone noise reducing programe, is so easy to use and gives very good results. I am still using the free version, I should upgrade really. Certainly worth downloading.

This sounds like good advice and good practice.