thatgrip

Although it can create a "plastic" look to certain surfaces in photos, Noise Ninja is an impressive tool for removing noise. It uses an algorithm which more accurately targets noise without destroying texture the way the CS noise reduction filter can. Using NN, I've saved many pictures which were simply a bit too grainy for printing. Thatgrip

I agree on the ability to shoot several frames a second. My 20D is fairly fast. But for, say, an 8x10 for a client, it's gotta be clean as well as composed and lit well, know what I mean? I just find that for architecture, exterior landscapes and the like, HDR is doable, not so much for location shoots with people, unless the subjects are professional models.

Absolutely. Still, because of the time it takes to shoot a card of RAW stuff and cull bad shots, then process and print, HDR seems a luxury I can't commit to. I guess I'm pretty happy with what I get in camera. That said, it's not like I'm ever repelling down Devil's Tower and shooting gut wrenching panoramas. My needs are less substantial. Besides, it's impossible to shoot people ,unless they're models, through bracketing&merging. Too much movement.

To be nitpicky, a high contrast scene will EITHER have blown out highlights or muddy darks. When metering an exterior shot spanning more than about 6 stops, you lose detail at one end or the other(depending on whether you meter on the open or closed side of the average). HDR is meant for bracketing of exposure + merging to capture both shadow detail and highlights in the same frame. Digital is unfortunately limited in dynamic range compared to film. Since tabletop shots are in controlled lighting, there isn't much point to using HDR, as TTK points out.

I know the 46mm slab of B&R has been muched talked about on the board, especially the quality packed movement. But does anyone have experience owning the 39mm version? I know it's not 1:1, but I can't wear something the size of a square pocket watch on my arm. And, since the movement in the 39 is also sketchy, can the case accomodate something better?

As a noob, it is a pleasure to read your reviews. I looked at this bit right after checking out that fabo Tudor you modded. Coming on this board 4 months on is still like reading Car & Driver when I was a kid. Each issue brought me into an amazing world of beauty, speed and mechanical strength, kinda like enjoying the pictures and musings these reviews provide. Thanks for taking the time. That goes for all the reviewers on the board. This place is stellar. Grip

Flavor Flav...your watch has arrived. Oh my God that's funny.

At the risk of being berated I'd like to point out as a noob that when joining this little fraternity, I saw no giant placard telling me what to do or how to present myself other than the demand to maintain civility on the board. As for as using personal names and welcoming with open arms, there must be lots of us who simply didn't know that "hi neil" or "hi ken" in an email was harmful. Perhaps it would be a good idea to have a Rules Of The Board page when joining, informing prospective members what they can and can't do. And how exactly am I to earn the right to purchasing a watch? Do I need to say lots of great stuff, or simply show sufficient servility before the senior members? I've asked some dumb questions and been schooled appropriately. Now is it ok for me to buy a watch?

How can a smallblock Chevy fit inside an RS4 engine bay?

Many thanks for your kindness. As ever, when you get to the heart of the matter, differences have a way of being understandable and expected. I enjoyed the back and forth, actually. Having 3 little ones and few truly great friends, I've little in the way of good back and forth. Still, I am sorry to have spoke too glibly about people's motives regarding watch collecting and tinkering. Now, as for the Avatar, I suppose the jiggly bits could be, uh...in bad taste. But as I'm looking at the myriad of booby pictures as avatars and wrist shots, Spiderman can at least say his painted member is sublime.

I guess my original question which referenced my wife's Link was based on the men's quartz version. I thought it to be the same model as the rep TAG I've seen on a couple of dealers' websites. But, the rep apes a different Link model - an automatic. In fact, I thought the men's Link was exclusively quartz except for the chrono. So my question is foolish. As you said, almost all the interesting genuine watches are mechanical, so what be the point of a knockoff with a quartz drive? It's accurate but where's the interest? I ride the fence on external vs. internal beauty. My wife's watch is, to me beautiful and understated. Knowing that an exceptional design encases a generic quartz movement hasn't left me cold. Bizzarini's are spectacular cars with small block Chevy motors. They are gorgeous but reliable, without the internal beauty/challenge of an Italian engine. Still, a V12 Ferrari engine is a work of art. I'm fairly certain once I see an ETA gearset up close, in the flesh, I will be stoked. As far as my proletariat-verbal-warfare-against-The-Man, because I know where my superficialities lie and have known a handful of people unaffected by status, it seems amazing that the board is free of artiface. Since I was a sprat, I've loved cars (and later watches). This was due to a. the nice ones are shiny, pretty and look fast/sleek b. People look cool, impressive driving/wearing them. Why I still like cars and watches hasn't changed all that much. So when a reponse to my thread ranges into a monologue about 15 meter sloop racing and chess grandmasters, it's obvious I'm not the only one affected by perceived status. But given some of the responses from members, perhaps I've overstated the case. I didn't mean to make anyone angry by my suppositions and deductions, true or false.

Thanks for the honest response without getting in my face. Out of curiosity, what about the TIMEX question? Would you really consider spending a buck and a quarter on, say, a stainless rep of a 1950's watch with auto movement? Perhaps I overstated the group's collective social status motivations. Sorry for that. Bit confused by the bit about my avatar and the reasoning behind it. There do seem to be many of folks on this board that care an awful lot about an inch and a half picture which serves little purpose beyond amusement/titillation/information. Yours is pretty cool; I like the classic atomic logo. cheers, Chris "The tv business is...a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason." Hunter Thompson

I basically agree. I honestly said my peace about wanting to have a cool watch from a cool company on my wrist. I only started getting "rational" when a few members decided to sniff haughtily at my question and start throwing around aesthetic reasoning, completely ignoring the totally shallow end of the pool we ALL inhabit by wearing high priced knockoffs. I can shovel the sh** like anybody here (except maybe TTK whose sarcasm and intellect are killers). But I want discourse which doesn't devolve into stuff like how Mondrian really had it going on with all those colored squares, or Picasso's Red Period is exquisite. The reason for my delving into the subject of quartz's is due to 1. my lack of knowledge, 2.the insanity of looking for old threads similar to the one I started. I wanted opinions from a representative group of this massing of watch fanatics. The more responses I've read, the more I'm turned on by the auto watches. I can start to feel my fingers elongating...breathgrowingshort...teeth getting longer pain...have to pant ...need to howl. Basically, I'm screwed by the answers to my own question. Thanks to By-Tor, I have some confidence I won't need to crack open the case immediately and start screwing things up. Anyway, thanks for the response. Well said.

OK, that's an answer I can dig. I'm reminded of the used Scalextric 1/32nd scale racing layout my folks bought me for Christmas when I was 8. I could work on the motors, change the tires, put different transaxles in, etc. The whole thing, though expensive, (I didn't know it) was far more thrilling than a run of the mill AFX speed demon set. The reason I have a compressor and paint sprayer, and various tools I don't really need goes to that same desire to grind away on stuff, make it my own. Without all the elevated language surrounding what is in effect a duplication of jewelry meant to wow and impress, what's left for me is a love of good design and a level of ease of use which I need as my 3 sons don't really care WHY daddy is yet again unavailable. For them it's enough to know that he can't play or read or color because he's too busy. Hence my desire for quartz...I'd love to have time to work on movements, but I cannot. So my perfect collection is 2 quartz 1 auto. The Zigmeister fixes auto. I replace batteries.

Where can you get a good quartz rep?

To the first point, why if Tag and Omega deign to make quartz watches can I not find one in the rep world? I mean the rep 1st world, good case, bezel, strap, etc. Regarding the second point, as I stated in my original post quite clearly, I can absolutely appreciate the beauty of a complex mechanism as quasi-art in itself. But your analogy doesn't work. My quartz and your automatic watch perform exactly the same function- telling time accurately (I don't care what you say about mechanical beauty, without accuracy there's no argument). A racing sloop and a jet ski both sit in/on the water and transport occupants. But they are clearly different animals, more dissimilar than similar. The same cannot be said for automatic and quartz watches. They look identical on the wrist, save that only one has a sweeping second hand. And as far as soul, which most responders continually highlight, I'm guessing nobody here would give a rats ass about a Timex GENUINE watch with "soul". We're not here for the boundless love of mechanical beauty alone, not even a little bit. I'd guess the average genuine version of the timepieces advertised on our dealers' sites would run into the thousands of dollars. Associated with those dollars is a perceived lifestyle complete with J Class racing, vintage wines, classic European automobiles and the like. So don't dump all over me because I want an accurate watch that looks and feels the way the quality rep autos do. Most folks here are playing at being wealthy, myself included, by virtue of the names on our wrists. And Deep Blue (or for that matter, an Intel Pentium 2) doesn't have a heartbeat, date girls or care about the beauty of quantum theory, again not an analogy I find compelling. Honestly and Forthrightly, Chris

I don't really care much about my avatar one way or the other. I think it's funny, end of story. Tomorrow I might put a picture of one of my kids up. Maybe not.

So here's a question for which I hope I'm not slammed. My wife has a gen TAG Link quartz. So I'm wondering. What with all the sob stories of autos which are doa or have immediate need of adjustment/lubrication for a pretty significant fee, where are the quartz reps? I know there is cachet in buying an automatic watch. But, hey, we're all trying to perform the "Rolex drape" to varying degrees. At some level, I don't care if my watch has the sexiest movement. I want something reliable that looks authentic. Quartz. Before you scream, yes I like autos as well. There is something super cool about having a real mechanical device, one that truly replicates a beautiful original. I am also lazy-batteries cater to that. So, how about it? If the genuine article is quartz, why should I pay MORE for an automatic which is guaranteed to be less accurate and likely to have problems a quality quartz unit will never have. Chris ps that Ferrari being discussed on the board the last few days is absolutely gorgeous. I don't care if teeny tiny hamsters make it run.

Good God, this was supposed to be put in general discussion. I'm sorry.

Hey all. I still haven't connected with Neil, though I see someone else who posted a plea for TTK managed to cadge a response. So, a question. Do his photobucket pix represent watches which he can procure or is that limited to the ones delineated in his dealer section (at the moment a Chopard). Maybe I've simply been asking for something which he doesn't have. Thanks for any answers.

You have warned many folks that your box is always full and that life is not merely selling watches. Since I don't need to be coddled by a large breasted woman and told the watch I want makes me super awesome, your methods are just fine. I wasn't actually fishing for a response from you but rather trying to figure out from those in the know how often to email, etc so as not to [censored] you off. I'd rather get a watch at some indeterminate point down the line from someone whose reputation is righteous than anything else. Anyway, the watches I dig are the 200 and 74 (black, yes?). I'm wondering about cost. Beyond that I'll pack the moneybookers account with wampum and send it to Thailand. Thanks for the response and perspective. Your diabetes is, say, about 5 million times more important than my watch purchase. Should I email you again with a specific subject line which you'll recognize, so as not to give my address out to the rest of the freaks on this board? Thankfully, ThatGrip

I should have done a little poking around. I see the topic was moved to general discussion. I will say, however, that I felt when I posted the question a few days ago it should be slated in TTK's section as I was in a roundabout way, reviewing his business practices. As a potential purchaser, the place I look for just such information is going to be the dealer reviews. Anyway, sorry for the bristling. Grip

I think the question speaks for itself. Who moderates the dealer review section and why was my topic removed? If there was a technical error, fine. But the discourse begun by me is absolutely germaine to dealing with Neil. For those who wish to purchase from him, my experience delineated in the body of my message in his review section spurred discussion, the general idea behind a message board. If the topic was removed in error, please put it back. sincerely, Chris

Excellent advice. I'd prefer to deal with Neil as he obviously walks the walk as a dealer. I was actually contemplating attempting to shoot him cash through moneybookers to get his attention. If I included the watch # in a message attached to the money, perhaps a month hence the guy in the FEDEX/UPS/DHL truck would spring at me with a package that smells like Bangkok and Scotch. Anyway, I guess Zen it is. I'll begin by centering my chakra. Thanks.

Well said. I got a good chuckle out of that.