August 20, 2005 - L.A. to Port Canaveral - Eastbound Repo Cruise - The SHIP OF FOOLS Part 3

[kmiles]

Kmiles -

My boss wants a Nikon D70

What would you recommend for a vendor?

He also wants a 20-85ish zoom lens. What do you have?

I actually purchased mine from Best Buy because they had 12 months no interest financing. I figured it would be easier to make monthly payments over 12 months than to plunk down the $1400 at once. Plus, it's a FREE loan and I'm always game for that! I actually got 0% financing on my Saturn in 2002!

At any rate, I wouldn't hesitate to recomend B&H Photo. As mentioned, they have good prices and don't charge sales tax unless you live in NY. (At least not to Florida residents.)

Your boss might want to wait a bit though. Nikon just announced that they're going to release the D50 and D70S. The D50 is the little brother to the D70 and the D70S is a minor upgrade to the D70. These releases may push the cost of the D70 down further than what you can currently purchase it for.

When I bought mine (Aug 04) the going price was $1299 for the kit. (Body plus 18-70mm DX lens.) Right now the price seems to average around $1199 (Best Buy and B&H) plus a $100 mail in rebate from Nikon.

You may be able to find better deals than this but at the time I purchased mine, it was $1299 period.

As far as the lens, I would certainly go with the kit. The kit lens for the D70 (Nikkor DX 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5) is a beauty. In fact, many Nikon users were pretty surprised that they included the lens as a kit lens because of the great quality and value.

Other than that, as I'm sure you know, lens selection is a pretty personal thing. What I might like someone else might not. I love my little Nikkor 50mm, f/1.8 that I bought for *JUST* $99! A steal for sure.

One other thing to consider is the crop factor with digital cameras. Since they don't use a 35mm sized sensor they mm on their lenses can be a bit deceiving if you're used to 35mm systems. For instance, the D70 has a 1.5 crop so the 18-70mm is closer to 27-105mm in 35mm terms.

Can you tell I love my D70? I even sleep with it.

 

[kmiles]

I have a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F828 that's 8 Megapixel, and I love it. The only bad part is it's a little big and bulky, but on the up side, it takes great pictures.

Ah, no, no, no, Renee! The photographer (you) takes great pictures! The camera is only your tool to create your art!

Unless of course the picture is bad. Then, of course, the camera is to blame totally.

[Just a little trick I learned to help the self-esteem.]

 

[piglet33]

Ah, no, no, no, Renee! The photographer (you) takes great pictures! The camera is only your tool to create your art!

Unless of course the picture is bad. Then, of course, the camera is to blame totally.

[Just a little trick I learned to help the self-esteem.]

I have to remember that!

 

[DisneyElf]

Here is a collection of Tech Support nightmares...

a.. Overheard in a computer shop:
CUSTOMER: "I'd like a mouse mat, please."
SALESPERSON: "Certainly, Sir. We've got a large variety."
CUSTOMER: "But will they be compatible with my computer?"


a.. I got a call from a woman who said her laser printer was having
problems. The bottom half of her printed sheets were coming out blurry. It
seemed strange that the printer was smearing only the bottom half. I walked
her through the basics, then came over and printed out a test sheet. It
printed fine. I asked her to print a sheet herself. So she sent a print job
to the printer. As the paper started coming out, she yanked it out and
showed it to me. I told her to wait until the paper came out on its own.
Problem solved.

a.. Another user was all confused about why the cursor always moved in the
opposite direction from the movement of the mouse. She also complained about
how hard it was to hit the buttons. She was quite embarrassed when we asked
her to rotate the mouse so the tail pointed away from her.

a.. This guy calls in to complain that he gets "access denied" message every
time he logs in. It turned out he was typing his user name and password in
capital letters.
TECHSUPPORT: "O.K., let's try once more, but use lower case letters."
CUSTOMER: "Oh, I only have capital letters on my keyboard."

a.. I have a friend who just bought a computer and was instructed to load a
program by typing "A:" and then the name of the program. My friend told me
it would not work because his keyboard was no good. He said he couldn't type
the "dot over dot thingie" and that every time he tried to type the "dot
over dot thingie" he got the "dot over comma thingie" no matter how careful
he was to press only the very top of the key. When I told him about the
shift key he thought I was a genius.

 

[mississaugamom]

Erica - Your "Tech Support Nightmares" sounds like my week!

Thanks so much, everyone, for your Anniversary wishes!!!! We'll be having a lovely dinner out tonight - just the THREE of us! Lara fully shares in our day; when Martin bought roses last year, she yelled upstairs "Hey, Mom - Dad brought US flowers!!!!"

Continued prayers and best wishes for Melinda and Bob today.

Arlene

 

[mississaugamom]

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY, EMMA!!!!
Arlene

 

[RobinMarie]

I actually purchased mine from Best Buy because they had 12 months no interest financing. I figured it would be easier to make monthly payments over 12 months than to plunk down the $1400 at once. Plus, it's a FREE loan and I'm always game for that! I actually got 0% financing on my Saturn in 2002!

At any rate, I wouldn't hesitate to recomend B&H Photo. As mentioned, they have good prices and don't charge sales tax unless you live in NY. (At least not to Florida residents.)

Your boss might want to wait a bit though. Nikon just announced that they're going to release the D50 and D70S. The D50 is the little brother to the D70 and the D70S is a minor upgrade to the D70. These releases may push the cost of the D70 down further than what you can currently purchase it for.

When I bought mine (Aug 04) the going price was $1299 for the kit. (Body plus 18-70mm DX lens.) Right now the price seems to average around $1199 (Best Buy and B&H) plus a $100 mail in rebate from Nikon.

You may be able to find better deals than this but at the time I purchased mine, it was $1299 period.

As far as the lens, I would certainly go with the kit. The kit lens for the D70 (Nikkor DX 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5) is a beauty. In fact, many Nikon users were pretty surprised that they included the lens as a kit lens because of the great quality and value.

Other than that, as I'm sure you know, lens selection is a pretty personal thing. What I might like someone else might not. I love my little Nikkor 50mm, f/1.8 that I bought for *JUST* $99! A steal for sure.

One other thing to consider is the crop factor with digital cameras. Since they don't use a 35mm sized sensor they mm on their lenses can be a bit deceiving if you're used to 35mm systems. For instance, the D70 has a 1.5 crop so the 18-70mm is closer to 27-105mm in 35mm terms.

Can you tell I love my D70? I even sleep with it.

Wow - you know your stuff! Thanks!

 

[big cheeser]

thanks to Tracy et al (good old Al!) for all the work on yet another comprehensive and excellent newsletter

I'm going offline for a few days as I head across the pond to Seattle and Victoria, BC. Please take care of PamPat for me - check on her nightly, and make sure she's sticking to the straight and narrow - no excuses for her going out to play just 'cos the master of the house is away. So, I'm relying on you all to make sure she's behaving herself.

And all our best wishes to Bob, Mel and Mom! GWS!

Cheers

Allan

 

[NYdiscuisers]

getting behind...let's see...

Happy B-day to Emma!

Happy Anniversary to Arlene and Martin!

Tracy, great newsletter, as always! Also, thanks for posting the imagestation t-shirt offer. I got my DCL survivor T today!

Continued thoughts and prayers for Melinda, Bob and family.

 

[Scratch42]

Hey Grumbo, is this where you work too??...Mark

http://www.boardsmag.com/screeningroom/commercials/1334/

That is every government worker!

Scratch

 

[ehtpnt]

Just a quick bump to put us back where we belong at the top.

And prayers, pixie dust and hugs to Melinda, Bob and the family.

Estelle

 

[disneydudette1]

Prayers and pixie dust to Melinda and Bob.

HAPPY Birthday to Emma

And Happy Anniversary to Arlene and Martin

Also...

Happy Birthday Jeanne...alias DD#2

All this talk of digital camera's...love them, Oh how I would love a biggie but I got the Sony Cybershot 5.1,,,nice and compact. Jeanne will tell you I have a very bad habit of dropping camera's. I'm sure she was happy that the last one bit the dust. Got tired of me telling people as I hand them the camera "don't worry, I know it's blurry but the picture will be clear."

 

[DisneyPata]

I'm so new to all of this.
My first Disney Cruise and I'm so excited. (mybe a new song)
My name is Joyce, better known as Pata. I live in Southern California in the City of Orange. This all started as a dream trip for my family and I to take a Disney Cruise in 2006. But when my daugher found out the Magic would be in SC we could wait no longer. My best friend, Carole, better known as Pita and I will be fellow passengers on the "Ship of Cools". My Daughters' and Grandaughter's will be on the Magic 07/23/05 for the week Mexico Trip.
I would like some help in picking a good place to stay for a few night in Florida - I know it will be Labor Day w/e. We will be 4 - two couples staying and maybe going to DW too.
Thanks for any help I can get. Hopefully I will learn how to abbreviate while on this dis-board.
Disney Pata

 

[gassmandy]

Pita and I will be fellow passengers on the "Ship of Cools".

If only we were the "Ship of Cools"!!! LOL!!


A big welcome to DISNEYPATA!!!!! (We are unfortunately a bunch of Fools....some of which might be cool?? Who knows!!)

So glad to meet you and have you with us!!

 

[winnyis]

Robin - thanks for your step by step instructions on the SD500. I followed it as written and got one for $373 plus tax. Great deal considering every where else is charging $499.

Now I just need to get a new Camcorder and a portable DVD player to keep the kids occupied on the plane.

 

[Bmwdsny]

Hello everyone!!

I tried to get in chat but had trouble getting in so i thought i post here instead. First of all, thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers. That meant so much to Bob and I. Thank you Tracy, for posting the updates, and thank you Sandy for phone calls. We visit my MIL 3 times a day for about an 1 1/2 hr each visit. This afternoon she had her eyes open but stared in space. Tonight, she was sleeping again. The Dr told us that she had the worst stroke a person could have and it was even a miracle that she survived. This had been so hearbreaking for all of us since she is the "strong" one of the family. It tough to see her lying there with a ventilator tube in her mouth. My MIL is like a mother to me. i am much closer to her than a typical daughter in law. Patience is the name of the game to see what happens each day. She does make some faces when talking to her esp from my FIL. It is also tough to see him go thru this as well. it is so weird to stay here at their house and not hear mom's voice here. My BIL from GA flew today as well as other family are here.

Again, thanks so much for your support!! We will be staying here til Sunday.

HUGS!!!
Melinda

PS. Happy Anniversary Arlene!!
and welcome aboard to all the newbies.

 

[DenverVal]

I'm so new to all of this.
My first Disney Cruise and I'm so excited. (mybe a new song)
My name is Joyce, better known as Pata. I live in Southern California in the City of Orange....

Welcome, Joyce! I am the keeper of the maps, making a map of where everyone comes from for scrapbooking memories. I'll add you to the map!

 

[Mom2Belle&PeterPan]

Dear Mel,

Thank you for the update, we all sure appreciate it. My heart and prayers go out to your MIL and to you all. I know you are very close to your MIL. We will all keep praying that things go well. I'm sure your nursing background is a big help also. You all must be exhausted.

Don't know what else to say except, take good care of yourselves, and know that you are cared about very much by everyone here.

God Bless,

Barbara

 

[Mom2Belle&PeterPan]

Welcome Disney Pata, friends, and family!!!

Glad to have another Southern CA group joining the Ship of Fools! My family and I live in Lakewood.

Looking forward to getting to know you and yours and to cruising with you!

 

[mark & sandra]

Mel, empty your Pm box...Mark