Category 5

Regardless of the pictures...the description is 100% discalimer for the watch being indentified as fake. the seller has no feedback...no images of the watch...no paperowrk...and the bid price is too low. There is not a .00001% chance that this auction will result in the buyer receiveing a genuine Rolex. ...maybe not even a fake.

All cameras will generate the noise even at low ISO, at least in shadow areas. the best with respect to this are Canon DSLRs because they use the MUCH less noisy CMOS chips over CCD. To date they are hte only ones. You will not have issues with noise usually when resizing for the web because the noise get's lost in the image size reduction. Noise is most visible on an untouched file when viewed at 1/1. Neat Image is most beneficial when i shoot ISO 800 or 1600 on my DSLRs. They are pretty clean even at htese speeds, but after a correctly profiled run through Neat image they are about identical to ISO 100/200. I have even had useable results at ISO3200 with my 20D and 30D. AQgain though, high ISO isn't really too necessary with watch photography unless you are trying to stop a running seconds hand without pulling the crown. ...and then, you better have some lenses capable of super small apertures, and or a ND filter handy. Did I tell you I really like that shot of the sub?

Does TW best have the deep rehaut like MBW? I am itching for an LV with correct dial depth.

Congrats...what's that? A TT and a Black now? Look out for that LV! While many enthusiasts have held their subs up to my rep only to say "Nice watch...I've got one too" the only time I have ever been called out was by a seller on Canal trying to push a $35 sub on me. He said.."Mine better...yours too fake" referring to my PT LV Sub. I was blown away. He thought his looked better with those hulk CGS, and the old band style (no sel, and solid midlinks), tiny date font, and 21,600vph Asia movement. What gave mine away? Too low of crystal height of all things. He rubbed his finger on the edge of by crystal/bezel and immediately said. "Your's no good. See...mine better!" I was blown away. Most of the sellers on Canal that day thought mine was Gen. "You pay TOO much!" was what most of them had to say to me.

You can easily make one. Al you have to do is take an image (out of focus) of the screen or a printout of the free greyscale chart. The softwrae automatically makes the profiles from that. Shoot the card at each ISO. A neat trick for removing chroma noise in PS is this. Duplicate the image as a layer and guassian blur that layer until you can no longer see the chroma noise (red green spltchy noise). Once the noise is blurred away, swith the layer properties to color (on the new layer) and the chroma noise disappears. Finally, merge the layers and add back some saturation. This is great for preserving grain, while eliminating high iso digital artifacts which are easy to spot (the red green splotches).

OOPS http://www.photoacute.com/studio/index.html

Nice step by step Pug. Why avoid layers? I actually portects your undo capability. You can always go back and edit separate parts at any time without remaking selections. I guess that proves my point, "there's more than one way to do any one thing...develop your own workflow". As far as noise is concerened, NN is great, but the latest Neat image with camera specific profiles is beyond anything else I have seen or used. And for SUPER DETAILED shots, check out this new tool. Looks quite promising! (at least until Adobe get's [censored] and adds all of this finctionality to CS3)

Awesome

Awesome shot Pug. Looks like you might have layered or used dodge and burn to darken the top of the bezel, and lighten the right side of the bezel (or even shadow/higlighht function). Also, it looks like you brought nack some detail to the case lugs and bracelet on the top of the watch...and with that super sharp and black dial I suspect you used a second layer to crank the levels up on the dial to get that sharp looking jet black appearance. Also, I imagine you double shot the watch with the crown in and crown out to freeze the second hand, and the PS'ed in the closed crown for a better picture. These days, PS is part of photography. If you don't master it in the professional photography world, someone else will be earning your dollars. There are multiple ways to do almost anything in photoshop, so developing your own workflow is essential. Great show Pug!

No WYSIWYG. The LV and SS Daytona across the street DID come with box, and some papers...but I am sure the way they are price gouging they aren't an AD.

Not $13,000 for a used TT Daytona...$13,000 for a NEW SS Daytona. I commented that I could get the TT at Tourneau for $12,800 (Held the very watch hours before) before haggling. List on a SS Daytona is like half that, so I offered him that. That's when he told me he would give me $10,500 for one if I could get it at htat price. Schmuck! If it was a real AD they could lose their dealership license for charging over list.

47th street, start one block west of Broadway, and it is about the 5-8th store on the North side of the street. You'll recognize it because it is the first or second small shop with a load of watches in the window. I'm still not rushing back. If I spend my bux it will be either an LV or a SS Daytona. Another guy across the street had both, but wanted $6500 for the LV and 13,000 for the Daytona. When i laughed and told him I could get the TT for $12,800 he asked me how much I would like to pay. I told him "list price" and he lauged again, told me to go find one at that price and that he'd give me $10,500 for it when i did. Deals on used Gens can be had in the DD though...those guys will haggle as much as the ones in Chinatown. Too bad I wasn't shopping for a diamond. There were some amazing stones at really great deals there. P.S. Take cash with you for a fat additional discount.

The guy tried pushing the Black sub on me for $2400. That seemed way too cheap. Then I noticed the winding crowns didn't look right on these. Rehaut was good though... ...and there next to the Blue sub in the photograph was another that had a distinctly purple dial. I asked the shop owner about it and he tried to tell me that Rolex makes a purple and a blue version. Shady! So do these pics look like Gens? Or is a store in the diamond district of NYC trying to scam some poor souls?

Anyone looking for a camera for watch photography only, take into consideration that ANY decent digital camera is capable of producing excellent results. ....especially if the destination is web or prints 8x10 and under. At this stage of the game, image quality is moreso a function of lens quality than camera quality. Granted, at high ISO ratings DSLRs are in a class their own (and at extremely high ISO Canon is king) but for watch photography there is no need for high speed. Spend the least amount possible on your camera, and put the $$$ towards lenses. I am a professional photographer (albeit not of watches though) and can honestly say that I upgrade my body at least once a year. My lenses and flashes will stay with me through 5 or more bodies. Of particular interest to a watch photographer are a light tent, neutral lighting (although even a pair of desklamps will work fine ) and a decent lens. If you want super closeups get a dedicated macro lens...a macro zoom is not the same thing. A few of my current favorites in the digital camera world are Canon Pro-1 - DSLR type (not interchangable lenses) with Canon L lens, and super macro capability 8mp and availabel for about $500 or less on the bay. EOS 350/300D - There is still no equivalent of the Canon CMOS image sensor for smoothness and low noise. CCDs are just not as good. (although you'll never see the difference under ISO400) Olympus E300/330 - On a budget these cameras are just fantastic. they are among the cheapest DSLRs and the image quality under ISO400 is excellent. EOS 20d/30d - What can I say? there's a reason these are the best selling DSLRs out there. 8mp Canon CMOS, ISO up to 3200 (and 1600 & 3200 can be useable!) and 5fps shooting speed. Again, if it's just for watch photography these offer a lot of balls that just won't get used. EOS 5D/EOS 1 series - These are the tops for professionals out there right now. Don't bother with them unless you are getting paid big bux for your shots. Even sports guys working for SI and the local papers are using 20d/30d's for a good majority of their work. I think the FUJI CCDs are great, but hteir resolution interpolation is a farce - You can do this with photoshop later. It's been proven that the resolution advantage is not realized as it is impled, and the resultant file size os hardly worth it. NIKON runs a close second to me against Canon, but their insistance on sticking with CCDs costs them dynamic range and some high ISO noise. If there was a cost benefit I'd see things differently. Also, keep in mind you;ll want a polarizer, so a P&S that won't accept filters can make things more difficult. Honestly, look at what TTK has done with a second generation Dimage 7i P&S. That camera is about 5 years old, and nowehere near the quality of the latest offerings.

440 is not really readily available...especially inexpensively. I would be very surprised if ANY rep was made from anything better than 316L. In fact, Rolex aside, that's what most SS gens are made of. 316L is the Caddilac of stainless steel. I'd bet our reps (which claim 316) aren't even using that high of a grade.

I never thought the etched coronet was a negative thing, since it still IS hard to see, and the difference in size is really only noticable in a side by side comparison. As far as the 30 on the insert. All 3 rep subs I have had showed this problem. The 30 is too far to the left. Funny thing, I have seen some Gens which seem to have this problem. Can anyone say aftermarket insert?

I got this watch from TTK and it is exquisite. The finish is excellent. See my thread elsewhere for more details, and of course pix!

Got a link?

Where did you find a Mille Miglia rep? ...or is this for Gen? It is one of my favorite watches, and I'd love to get ahold of a decent rep!

Those are the sam ecrappy reps that can be found on canal street for about $35. they feel terrible, and have none of the presence of the real thing. I'd like to see a 7750 based Big Bang that's the quality of TTKs latest TAG reps.

Please tell me it's the 7750 based Carrera! Or better yet, the auto aquaracer! Whatever it is, I am sure it will be awesome if you're alreday building us up. @infintime - I doubt the Gen uses a spacer at all. The purpose of a spacer is to allow enough extra space to modify a design by changing movement without redmachining existing parts, or redesigning. In the rep world, generally a plastic spacer is considered less desirable and a brass ring is considered to be more robust (more desirable). If it's the look you don't like, take it and get it plated. Then, the few times you remove the caseback to gaze at the movement you'll be satisfied. Rarely do reps get as good as the current TAG link. It is much closer to Gen than the latest Rolex and Omega reps. It's even closer than the famous 4th gen PO. If you like the design you should definitely get one now. I think TTK is right in suggesting that it won't always be available. TAG already takes a back seat in the rep world. When the Carreras start to surface I imagine the Links will get scarce. You can even interchage the vracelet with the gen for crying out loud. I doubt you will ever see better in a rep.

Do you realize that 4 minutes a day is almost a half hour per week?! If you were counting seconds in youor head I'd say that was good, but for a timepiece that's poor. Honestly, even my Canal street Sub ($25 two years ago) is still within about 15 seconds PER DAY. Ken, you're being to lenient with your standards. Anything above 20 seconds per day (as long as it's consistent) should be easy to regulate MUCH tighter. You can do it yourself. On Asian movements you have to adjust the regulator arm with almost microscopic screwdriver taps...on ETA reps you usually have a much more refined control in the way of a regulator screw. If you're adjusting a PAM, and you're lucky you'll have a working swan neck that allows very fine adjustments. Shane

10 minutes a dat means time for a service. It annoys me when peple suggest that several minutes (or even seconds) is not bad for an automatic. Maybe in 1920, but by today's standards that sux. As far as breaking in, both my ETA rollie reps were 15/18 seconds fast per day...exactly...every day. After a couple of months there was no change. One I sold, the other I had regulated to +5 seconds per day. It is always +5 per day. I havew no doubt I could regulate it within 3. My Gen Omega PO has been running since June 15th, and it is still within 1 second. That, however, is due to the co-ax movement. I wouldn't expect your 4 minutes to change much....not without regulation, and maybe a servicing.

So I'm not the only fan of Tag Heuer....even though it still feels lonely. Aquaracer Auto Chrono... New Carrera Chrono Auto... Who do I paypal?!

??? I have the gen of that watch and think it's one of the best looking Tags there are. I got the quartz because it looks cooler (and better built) than the auto I think.