taotoo

I was playing with my canon point & shoot at the time total Freudian slip! I meant Nikon

Pics will be of - new son (august onwards) my food creations (macro after I know what the hell I am doing) and landscapes & general stuuf in and around our beautiful Island

IMO the most important subject here is your new baby. I would get a cheap DSLR and cheap 35mm f/1.8 lens. You might struggle to find a dealer willing to sell them together as a package, in which case you could just get the DSLR/18-55 package, and get the 35 1.8 in addition

You can add a macro lens and tripod later (though the 18-55 is quite good at close-ups). For general stuff an 18-105 will be much more usable than swapping between an 18-55 and 55-200. The 35 1.8 will give you much nicer shots of your baby than the kit lens, and you only get one chance to take them..

Thanks for the advice - very cheap!

I bought a Nikon body from Digital2Home - yes they are cheap, and I would recommend them. Be aware though that if prices are very low, then they are probably selling grey-market cameras. This means you probably can't get the camera fixed under warranty in Thailand. However D2H seem to have a system in place for sending the camera back to Japan under warranty. It's your choice...

Tamron (and Sigma and Tokina and Rokinon and etc etc etc) used to be regarded as the cheap 3rd party brands who would make cheaper versions of both consumer lenses (18-200s) and pro-spec lenses (70-200s), and there would always be a tradeoff in quality.

Then a few years ago they clued in that they could make a better killing by jumping into the lens gaps, instead of copying what Nikon and Canon were already making. Tokina did the unrivaled 11-16 2.8 for crop sensors that was not only covering a range that the big brands were not, but was also actually sharp.

Now Bower/Rokinon/Samyang have some top-quality primes out, Tamron is still capitalizing on midrange VC zooms (17-50 and 24-70), Sigma's 35 1.4 is making the front page....

It's quite an exciting time now that these once lower-quality brands are developing incredible lenses that equal or even outperform Nikon and Canon's stuff, while actually still keeping a generally lower price point.

HAve you used this lens?

The 70-300 in the picture? No, not personally, but like with anything there are patterns, and I can tell you what I'd think through them;

A) Both Nikon and Canon make two versions of the trusted 70-300 design; a cheap, sub-$200 lens, and a higher-quality-but-still-consumer-stabilized lens, usually up around 4 big ones.

The cheapo versions they make are optically not so great, don't feature any bells and whistles (VR/IS/VC/etc) but are light and easy to handle.

C) The biggest complaints/downsides are slow focus speeds, and when you have a telephoto like this it can hunt. and I mean SLOW.

D) The build quality of the brand name 70-300 cheap versions is very, very weak. Light plastics all over.

So, because Tamron is offering a budget version of what is already a Nikon/Canon budget lens, I suspect the quality to be quite low. A fair amount of fringing, haze at the long end, and slow, noisy, focusing.

THAT SAID, it will appear to be an impressive investment due to the effective 450mm reach, getting you views that can make a normal picture look stunning. And one of the primary complaints about people with their first DSLR and an 18-55 is that the 55 "just doesn't go far enough". This will help you overcome that barrier.

But apart from taking pictures of still subjects in broad daylight, don't expect this lens to be your favourite.

Disclaimer: again, have never touched this lens but I'm willing to bet that I'm 90% right.

Again thanks for your input.

I have just re-established a friendship with an old school friend, she has found me the cannon 55-200 for UK100 or the 55-300 for UK 199 ish. Her sister in law works for a camera/pc shop in the uk.

Now which of these is the better investment for a novice, I will be able to collect myself as I will be in the UK next month.

Neither of those lenses will work on a Nikon body (apologies if you figured that out already).

What are you going to take photos of?

"If you do not have a UK driving license you will also have to have a IDP as well has your 5 year Thai driving license You will then be able to drive in the Uk for 12 months without a Uk license".

The answer above is not correct. Best to go straight to the UK government website to get the real info. You do NOT need an IDP. The government website states clearly that you can drive for 12 months with your license from your country of residence.

If you have not got a UK license you will not be able to hire a car in the UK ,also if you are stopped by the police and have not got a UK driving license they will ask to see your IDP as happened to me in York 2011. It does quote that on their website but I am only reporting on what happened to me.

I'm afraid this is simply not correct. I hired a car from a major company in the UK just two weeks ago using a Thai drivers license. There was no question of an IDP or any other requirement. And the OFFICIAL UK govenrment website says you can drive on your home country license, as I have done in the UK many times.

I am going over next month and hope to hire a car at Heathrow using my Thai licence. Which rental company did you use? What proof of address documents did you need?

I did this a few years ago with an old-type Thai licence. Can't remember the third-party hire company, but when I picked up the car it was with Alamo or Enterprise or somebody. Don't imagine I needed any ID beyond passport, DL, credit card.

They have been banned in Thailand, plus the latest reports are that these ECs are poison and are more harmful than actually smoking cigarettes.

I think you'll find that the 'latest reports' are funded by the anti smoking lobby. For example the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, who have an anti-smoking agenda, hold $5 billion in shares of Johnson & Johnson - makers of patches & gum - who distribute $hundreds of millions to the highly lucrative anti smoking lobby.

Wouldn't Johnson & Johnson be PRO-smoking? They need smokers to sell patches too.

No, they need people who want to quit, to sell patches & gum to. Who better than the anti smoking lobby to drive people to their products. By using the same anti smoking lobby to create FUD about e-cigs (their competition), they get a double whammy.

Yes but they need a constant supply of smokers, otherwise there's nobody to buy their products in an attempt to quit. If the anti-smoking lobby was successful, that supply of smokers would dry up, and J&J's product would cease to have any value.

They have been banned in Thailand, plus the latest reports are that these ECs are poison and are more harmful than actually smoking cigarettes.

I think you'll find that the 'latest reports' are funded by the anti smoking lobby. For example the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, who have an anti-smoking agenda, hold $5 billion in shares of Johnson & Johnson - makers of patches & gum - who distribute $hundreds of millions to the highly lucrative anti smoking lobby.

Wouldn't Johnson & Johnson be PRO-smoking? They need smokers to sell patches too.

Asuming you're talking about the 55-300, they're in the deal because they're cheap. The lens will be okay optically. Make sure it's the A17 NII model, or you won't get any autofocus. You may have problems with autofocus accuracy - personally I would avoid for this reason alone.

use the "favourites" optiion to highlight (gold star) your favourites and then using the "genre" function instead of displaying "all channels" change it to favourites and you will see only the channels you have selected as favourite ................... easy, peasy, lemon, squeezy !

still don't get it - how do I 'bunch' Eng stuff n one place???

You can't, but you can 'remove' all the channels you don't watch, by doing the above. Unfortunately it requires twenty minutes of button pressing every time you want to change the channel, so isn't worth bothering with.

so there is no way of (on start up) having your fav channels in a list? still have to have Chinese news inbetween BBC and CNN for example

Not on startup, no. You can view a list of only your favourites but it requires four or five button presses each time you change channel...

I tried to get onto Bited last night and it said something about there already being a user with that ip address???? I am stumped?

It's probably because your IP address is shared with other users of the service. As the previous poster says, rebooting will probably fix it. IP stands for Internet Protocol. It also stands for Intellectual Property, but I'm sure that's not relevant to this thread.

In Hong Kong I had a terrier type who was 14, and very crochety. One day, my other two dogs, a big female German Shepherd and a Labrador cross, decided her time had come, and went for her, together. I managed to rescue her before she actually got hurt.... but there was no keeping her after that, and we had to have her put down. I'd never heard of this happening, but I seriously wonder if dogs do practice a form of euthanasia on old dogs who can't keep up with the pack.

So you rescued her then killed her?

Sad, wasn't it? What would you have done? Nowhere to keep her apart from the other two; the same scenario would have happened again, and she would have suffered a much nastier death.

I suppose in a worst case scenario I might have done the same. I'd like to think I would exhaust all other options first though.

use the "favourites" optiion to highlight (gold star) your favourites and then using the "genre" function instead of displaying "all channels" change it to favourites and you will see only the channels you have selected as favourite ................... easy, peasy, lemon, squeezy !

still don't get it - how do I 'bunch' Eng stuff n one place???

You can't, but you can 'remove' all the channels you don't watch, by doing the above. Unfortunately it requires twenty minutes of button pressing every time you want to change the channel, so isn't worth bothering with.

In Hong Kong I had a terrier type who was 14, and very crochety. One day, my other two dogs, a big female German Shepherd and a Labrador cross, decided her time had come, and went for her, together. I managed to rescue her before she actually got hurt.... but there was no keeping her after that, and we had to have her put down. I'd never heard of this happening, but I seriously wonder if dogs do practice a form of euthanasia on old dogs who can't keep up with the pack.

So you rescued her then killed her?

One reason that different people experience very different results with the same medication is because of the wide prevalence of counterfeit drugs sold across the world.

Yes, I just remembered and was about to post that I'd read something once about fake Frontline being an issue in the US where people buy it from auction sites. So far in Thailand I've always bought it from established vets, not that that is a guarantee of course.

Interesting to read the negative frontline experiences. I find frontline+ is 99% effective on my dogs, and they're constantly walking through grass, undergrowth etc. I give it every month year round.

Have three dogs and found one fat tick a couple of days ago, last tick found prior to that was a skinny one in january 2012 - so maybe there are a lot around at the moment.

Previously had dogs get blood parasite/microfilariae, but never since they've been on frontline+.

Buying the biggest possible size and splitting between multiple dogs make it half price or better.

Just saw world camera sale - d3100 18500 with sigma lense, good deal?? good lense to start?

If you go this route, get the d3100 with either the standard lens (Nikkor 18-55vr) or another Nikkor such as 18-105vr or - my recommendation - the 35mm 1.8. The sigma is likely more trouble than it's worth - focus issues, yellow cast etc. - it's a reverse engineered lens...

OK budget is not unlimited but not really a concern but i guess - 20k? I have very limited experience in photography, but as a chef have taken & lost thousand of food shots over the years & now really regret not having better pictures and or an organised data bank of them - which I dont want to do with my first child.

I currently use Canon Ixus for the follwing reasons - Size is great, easy to use, battery life is unbelieveable & i like the feel of it.

Probably just get a newer Ixus then. An s100 or other expensive compact probably won't feel as good in the hand, and the difference in your photos would be minimal anyway.

Thank you all for the great contributions.

For better or worse I came home today with a Nikon D3100...

First shots taken, so much better than the old point and shoot. And it takes pictures so fast! Kicking myself for not doing it sooner. Time will tell on the size/convenience factor.

Thanks again.

Good choice! Now go out and spend a few thousand baht on a 35mm 1.8G AFS-DX lens and your journey will be complete. It will also make the camera a touch less bulky.

We are expecting our first & am sure will need to take a millions of pics

Congratulations! It so happens that this camera purchase is motivated in part by my guilt that I'm not taking great photos of my kids.

If I was having a baby I'd get an entry level dslr with a cheap 35mm 1.8 lens and not look back.

Another is that I wouldn't be likely to carry it around as often, just as happened with the nice Nikon SLR film camera I have around here somewhere...

Why not just use your smartphone? I only carry around a slr for specific reasons - other than that I wouldn't bother with a dedicated camera at all nowadays.

I've had a couple Canon point-and-shoot's, but this time I would like something with better lens/focus,

For any camera with a small sensor there are going to be minimal differences between the quality of the lenses. The focus on any small sensor camera will always be contrast-detect, and hence slow and prone to misfocussing (though the large depth of field will minimise this issue somewhat). I don't believe buying a new small-sensor camera will give you any major improvement over whatever you have currently in these respects.

and better color.

You will see some difference in colour with different brands. Personally I think Canon colour is great. Whatever you do, avoid Panasonic if colour is a concern.

If you're willing to put time and effort into learning photography, buy something more expensive that has a big sensor. Otherwise if you just want a 10,000 baht compact, you can't go far wrong with a Canon IMO. You're not going to see huge differences between the various small-sensor cameras - arguably a 5,000 baht one will be plenty. A compromise between the two might be the Nikon 1 series.

Just noticed Google Maps must have had it's satellite data for Chiang Mai updated recently as you can see the haze.

Indeed; they stopped routine interviews for all applicants, visit, settlement, study, work etc., some time ago,

These days if the ECO does want more information before making that decision they will phone the applicant, or in the case of a young child the child's parent or carer.

In very rare cases they may call the applicant into the embassy for a face to face interview, but I've not heard of that happening in Bangkok for a very long time (doesn't mean it hasn't happened, though).

taotoo, telling someone to apply for a settlement visa because it is somehow easier to get than a visit visa is very poor advice.

Apart from the extra cost and the far more stringent financial requirements of a settlement visa, settlement should only be applied for if the intention is to live permanently in the UK.

Plus, of course, the OP would either have to first marry his girlfriend (spouse visa) intend to marry her once she was in the UK (fiance visa) or have been living with her in a relationship akin to marriage for at least the last two years (unmarried partners visa).

They don't qualify for the third, and from what he has said they are not ready for the first two.

I didn't tell him to apply for a settlement visa, just suggested it was the only viable option. From how I read it he was already considering that option himself - maybe I read it wrong. I stand by my statement that it's his only option though - they're not going to give her a tourist visa are they?

I won't comment on your other points as I'm obviously not up to date, other than that the specific rules most have changed over the years.

I think your only chance is a settlement visa. Your current main problem of the embassy having no reason to believe that she will return to Thailand will obviously no longer apply. However you will need to show that you have suitable accommodation and income without resorting to the state.

In my (limited) experience, how the pair of you do at interview will be crucial. Despite what they say, the impression you make is as important as hers. Frankly, if you're unprepared and not able to think on your feet I suspect they will reject the application in a heartbeat. I'm sure they have no time for explanations regarding lack of telephone call logs etc. You have to consider what they want to be shown, rather than what you think is reasonable to show them.

Exactly. There is no "interview"

RAZZ

I'm obviously out of date then - there's no need to be condescending though.

I think your only chance is a settlement visa. Your current main problem of the embassy having no reason to believe that she will return to Thailand will obviously no longer apply. However you will need to show that you have suitable accommodation and income without resorting to the state.

In my (limited) experience, how the pair of you do at interview will be crucial. Despite what they say, the impression you make is as important as hers. Frankly, if you're unprepared and not able to think on your feet I suspect they will reject the application in a heartbeat. I'm sure they have no time for explanations regarding lack of telephone call logs etc. You have to consider what they want to be shown, rather than what you think is reasonable to show them.

The minimum used to be 10 litres - not sure if that's changed. Though as you say you were there before the cutoff time so shouldn't matter.