Usil

No, I mainly used my Nikon AF Nikkor 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5 - at least until it was stolen with my S3. Usil

A few more from S3: Usil

A few more from the S3: Usil

Another S3 shot. Usil

Here are a few from the Fuji S3. Two Paris Shots. Usil

Oops. Screwed up. See next post. Usil

If you want the best color, especially skin tones, the Fuji S3 Pro outshines them all. Many Nikon and Cannon users use Fuji S3 pro for weddings. The S3 takes Nikon lenses. It is going to be replaced next year by the S4 and you can pick up the S3 body right now for about 1100.00 USD. I have used it to take profesional landscapes too and it always blows me away. It also has the highest range between dark and light it can capture (dynamic range) so you don't blow away the highlights in contrasty situations like outside in shade and sun. Having said that, if there is anyone out there thinking that going digital is the devil's work and would only consider film cameras - then contact me for a good deal on a Nikon F100 body in excellent condition. Usil

Darn, looks like my Nikon F100 is now just a paperweight. Usil

I'm buying mine now while they are still available. Usil

I Have a profesional Nikon F100 (magnesium) body I no longer use since I have gone to Digital. Check the link for features. http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1...;productNr=1796 Going for 900 USD used I would sell it for 600 USD (467 €). Usil

I did the same thing. AND Andrew was my first choice for reps as well. Enjoy. Usil

Moving up to Cannon or Nikon depends on what you want to invest in. Since these cameras require extra lenses and have proprietary lens mounts - once you select one or the other, you are pretty much locked in. You have to take this into consideration if you want to go this route. My advice, go to the bookstore and buy a few photography magazines. See what the users are saying and doing and after a few reviews, price comparisons and looking to what they might come out with next, you can make a selection. Of course, what ever you select will always be improved upon and be half the price next year but that's the way it goes. I chose the Fuji S3 because it has the Nikon mount and I have Nikon lenses from my film camera days. See what I mean as to how this locks you into one particular brand. But the S3 takes outstanding photos comparable to Fuji Velvia and Provia slide film I used to use. Usil

Insurance was a bust so Iwill just have to save my pennies and get a new one. I had a Fujia S3 Pro and it took excellent pictures. It is now half of what I paid for it 2 years ago so maybe have to bite the bullet. I was very nervous about doing what I did and do not think I would try it on others watches untill I am more practiced. But I feel good about it and want to try luming some day - at lease a simple watch. Usil

Not yet, but hope to meet Ryyannon in Paris in August when I get some free time. Usil

No, it was not crystals or lint. I can only speculate but it was probably fumes of some solvent or oil that diffused off the watch parts when assembled and deposited uniformly as a 'haze' on the front glass (probably very hot in the factory). If you look at all the recent 127 pictures when the 'ultimate' debate was ongoing, you will notice that some pictures have a clarity to them that is very different from other pictures when you look through the top glass at the face. This best illustrates the differences I saw when I cleaned the glass. It is very dramatic. Usil

Light Maintenance on Two Watches (hopefully will help others): I have been doing some timing of a few of my watches these past few months and have gotten pretty good at it (no electronics, just time, patience and small movements). So far, I have only removed the backs of the watches to perform these adjustments. Today, I decided to go a little further. Let me say up front that I have no experience other than what I have read in this forum so the description of what I have done is based on this information. This would probably be minor to most of you but it was major for me and I knew there was some risks, never having done this before. Watch #1: PAM 127 (1950-47mm) This watch was from Andrew (Trusty Watch Guy) and it is my first 47 mm PAM. My wrist size is 7.5 inches so it is not too large for me and I like the simplicity and size a lot. There has been a lot said about the 127’s lately on who’s got the best or ultimate Fiddy. Frankly, it has been confusing. Andrew offers two models. One has the Asian 6497 hand wind movement in it (without the swan Neck adjustment) and he offers this on the web site for USD 188.00. The other model has the same 6497 movement with the Swan Neck adjustment feature, Super Lume and light AR coating on the front glass. He offers this on the web site for USD 328.00. The USD 140.00 difference, to me, was too much but this is just a personal choice for me. I know these things are important to others. For all practical purposes to me, they look identical and no one will see the missing Swan neck on the obverse side. The promise of a movement that would last a while and the looks of the Fiddy for 188.00 seemed like a good deal especially with all the controversy going on. Anyway, the watch arrived in short order and it looked fine until I started to compare the clarity of looking through the front glass at the face of my watch compared to some of the pictures I saw posted on this forum, mine looked a distinctly hazy. I know that some of you are dynamite photographers but this looked more than just good pics. I examined my front glass in the sun and using a side light and concluded that there was a homogenous fine haze on the underside of the glass. It just was not clear as it should be. My observations have been repeated by others on this forum about other watches from time to time so I decided to try to do something about it. I removed the crown guard and unscrewed the back using the ball of tape method and took a look. There was one blue screw (should have been two) that was holding the movement snug to the case. Also, I saw the small screw that is supposed to unlatch the crown. Remembering The Zigmeister’s ‘no more than two turns” statement for this screw, I did exactly that. The crown came out without a hitch. Next, I undid the retainer screw. Now, I thought, the movement will come right out. Wrong! Yes, I did read that some had indicated that you can not remove the movement from a Fiddy this way and some with just as much conviction that they have and you can (this is often the case here as you have to sort out the opinions from the facts and in some cases it is probably just different models). So I got the loop out and took a closer look. What I saw was that it looked like there was a flat metal plate (could be the face itself) under a ridge that runs around the inner case. It looks impossible to remove the movement this way with the model I have. There may be others where this is not the case but it was for me. So, I replaced the retainer screw, cleaned the back glass, silicone greased the o-ring and upper neck of the crown stem and reassembled the watch. Now What? My only option was to remove the front glass. I examined the side and saw it looked like I could slide the knife edge of a case back remover under the metal bezal surrounding the glass. I did this and with a little force, felt the glass and bezel move up. I knew I had it then and easily removed the front glass. I used a professional grade optical lens cleaner (I use for my camera lenses) and cleaned the inside of the case. Slipping the front bezal and glass back on was very easy. The results was nothing short of amazing. The clarity I saw in the Fiddy photos in this forum was now what I saw with my own watch. It was the difference between night and day. I am not exaggerating on this as I showed my wife the before and after difference. The watch was now reassembled and perfect. With this success, I next moved to: Watch #2: 45 mm Omega Planet Ocean (Asian 21 Jewel automatic movement) I had the same problem of a ‘foggy’ front glass that was visible under most light conditions. I unscrewed the case back, saw the small ‘push point’ to unlatch the crown. I removed the plastic insert and while gently pushing in on the push-point, I pulled the crown out of the watch. The movement came right out and I again cleaned off the inside of the glass with the professional lens cleaner. I replaced the movement, greased the o-ring and upper part of the crown stem and replaced the back. AGAIN, the visible clarity results were amazing. This improves the overall appearance of these watches 100%. That’s it. This is the first time I did any of this and based on what others have posted here, I was successful in this ‘light-maintenance’. Thanks to all. Usil

I started adjusting the timing on my watches recently. I have started with the automatic Asian movements. One was the IWC Big Pilot and I got it from 3.5 minutes fast to 5 seconds fast per day. This was done off and on over a period of several weeks. The second watch was an IWC power reserve. This took less than a week and now runs less than 1 second fast every 2 days. I could not believe it when I kept checking it. I let it run the entire week without touching it and it had only gained about 2.5 seconds for the week. So, it is possible. some will probabley be easier than others and a steady hand and patience is needed. Usil

Hope all turns out well. Server is more responsive now. Will check back frequently to see how things are proceeding. Usil

Must have been a server issue. Usil

Pavetron.com - tried it but gave up after waiting 15 minutes for website to open. Have no idea what they are selling. Usil

Give a few months and you will be listing PAM numbers with the regulars. Welcome to the group. Usil

I lived in Keller for 10 years before I moved to Paris. It will be good to know some places that work on reps with no problems in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. I will be in Paris 2 more years but when I move back I will be needing some service. Usil

I got one of his welcome emails and I thought that was great - very helpful. I did not see anything wrong with him being friendly. Usil

It is easier to go from brushed to polished than polished to brushed but having said that I would have to qualify what I would do. I tried this just last week on a case back that was brushed. I was trying to clean off a small nick and of course this polished the case in this area. Polished against brushed looks awful so I proceeded to polish the entire back. It took an hour and I decided I did not like it so went back to the brushed look. I did this by spinning it on the top of a green 3m scour pad. It worked but only because it was flat with no nooks and crannys. Polishing an entire case would be very difficult because of the bends and angles. Lots of small dremel polishing points and rouge, however, should work. If you decided you did not like it and wanted to go back, I do not think this is possible to the level of quality we see. Brushing uniformity would be very difficult. Polishing is a dirty process so the watch should be completely dissasembled so just the case is involved. I did this on a 'cheaper' rep just to see what was involved. It takes patience and an hour or two of having nothing else to do. I scratched a PAM case when I tightened the strap screw and left a mark a few months ago. I got anal about it so decided to see if I could polish it out. I did not take the watch apart but put it inside a plastic bag and made a small hole in the bag where I pushed the strap tang out for polishing. This worked perfectly and kept the mess off the watch. A dremel and red polishing rouge removed the scratch left from the screw driver perfectly. Usil

Yes, but I see all kinds. I went to the Paris international bike show last fall and saw every bike made. It was awsome. Me, I like the cruisers like my Shadow. Usil