Pugwash

Back when I wrote my photo tutorials, I said don't use a phone to take photos. Times have changed so I wanted to see what sort of quality you can get with an iPhone and a light tent. I think the answer is "as good as a point-and-shoot" now.

They could easily phone the AD while you're sat there to verify. There's another tale on the rep forums about a guy getting nabbed by Canadian customs, and they asked which AD he got it from. I forget the exact story now and am beginning to sound like Grandpa Simpson, which was the fashion at the time.

Well, technically, it's legal. Debatable, though. Ps. I have travelled through French customs a lot and never had a problem. Like I say, it's rare.

I'm not here, really. Just popping by every now and then.

He's passing one every 3 seconds or so, so they're not mile markers. 420mph is 7 miles a minute, so they'd be 1/4 mile markers, most likely.

I find it amusing that the dealers refer to the factory as the "Noob Factory."

You mean they let white Christians go through unchecked? They're the most likely terrorists in the US. Racial profiling doesn't work because it moves resources from the most likely group of people to merely the most feared. And yes, at CDG, they're just a large airport, but somewhere like Tours or Nice, they'll get bored with the three flights a day. And yes, legally, they can take counterfeit off you and, as this thread shows, they sometimes (albeit rarely) do.

This old thing.

This is exactly why I like the iPad. That dog's dinner probably gives the Tab a two-hour battery life. On a forum dedicated to replicas, you must realise that this mess is of Samsung's making. Ok, they've entertained me greatly by calling on Kubrick's 2001 as prior art, but still … Oh, and I really wanted the HP TouchPad to survive and thrive. Competition is a good thing; copying isn't.

I warned everyone of this years ago. Cartier and LVMH train French customs to spot fakes and they also lobby the govt on counterfeit issues. It's mostly to do with Louis Vuitton bags, but they do watches too.

Great argument, but I disagree with the hypothesis. This hobby is bad for genuine watch manufacturers. We represent an utterly tiny portion of their market and devalue their brand. I always use a fictional account of a rich guy who wants to buy a genuine Rolex Yachtmaster to match his new yacht, right up to the point he sees his janitor wearing one. Don't tell me we are good for Rolex at that point. The Janitor may aspire to a genuine Rolex, but his boss would have bought five.

Why does this surprise anyone? This is what French customs are like.

Yes, hence the SV650 advice.

I fixed the keyless works in my UPO today using Bazz's post.

The 7D MkII is indeed rumoured. I can't afford one today, and I won't be able to afford one when they come out, but I'll definitely be renting one early next year when I next have a motorsports assignment.

Finally! I;'m wearing a rep.

If you're new, the SV650 advice is good advice. It gets you used to the v-twin torque your ideal bikes produce while not killing you.

It's cheap. I got mine new for £150. If it were USM, it'd hav been too expensive.

Lots of practice, lots of misses.

I've had a few in the last five years. Any that failed did so quickly. My advice would be to get them serviced if it's a watch that means a lot to you or if it's starting to fail.

I have one watch with both straps and I change depending on he time of the year.

Not at all. It's all over.

Handheld all the way. Tripods get in the way.

They are identical from the neck down, so yeah, they're 'comparable'.

Some are straight off the lens, others … not so much. Post-processing is a large part of photography and is as much a talent as the photography itself. When I'm trackside, I take photos directly off the camera in Raw format and do a little tweaking on the iPad, usually just cropping and white balance. When I get home, after the weekend, I will load all 4,000 photos on to my Mac Pro and pick the best 50-100 and tweak the living crap out of them so they are as close to what I thought I saw with my eyes. So, yes, I'd be surprised if those photos aren't significantly tweaked. Here's the other kind of photo I take at races: The girls love a guy with a big lens and a media pass.