new arrivals in WA

[nathan]

damn i hate typing a long message and then losing it before it posts!
anyhow,
back in WA (from victoria) for the birth of my second kid which went well. it meant i drove my 6.9 for the first time in months as i insisted i picked her up from the hospital in it.
whilst here, i got back into benz mode and have done a couple of things
-saw my mums w212 wagen on the dock awaiting customs clearance (you can see its all taped up).  i think it must be the first w212 wagen in the state.  i could only take pics from a couple of hundred meters away so not the best and i also forgot i had turned off the vibration reduction (it was very windy so would have helped).   but thanks to WGBs insistance on me buying a particular lens for the slr camera it worked alright as i could zoom in. i also bought a polarising filter for the lens. for the camera wise here (not me, im learning the basics presently), i used the filter for the first time. you can see in the pics how it gets rid of the reflection in the side of the car in the second pic. these filters eliminate reflected light so are very good for car shots as you see only their colour. also, it helps you see 'through' water rather than the reflected surface as well as seeing through glass similarly.
-a family friend is trading in her w211 e class on a new merc. seeing the trade is very low, i was offered to match it to buy the car.  it therefore looks like ill purchase the sedan for my wife who has had enough with old mercs, especially now we have the two kids. i expect collection of this one in the next month but spent the day cleaning it up to look for imperfections and will take it to the mechanic for the all clear!
regards from WA (but soon back to Victoria)
nathan

[motec6.9]

Still good photos Nathan i just bought a Nikon D3000 with twin lens kit and vr still learning to use as my wife insisted on having good Camera as 5 weeks ago welcomed the arrival of our first child a little girl

[nathan]

congrats on the birth mate. it warms my heart to know i wont be the only one up at 2 am! ha ha (besides you and me with our kids....oops, and TJ who will be in his garage doing something on his 450!)

[motec6.9]

thanks Nathan baby was born at king eddys but seeing as the good wife is a midwife at king eddys there really was no other option in location

[WGB]

Pleased to hear of all the new arrivals.

Pleased to hear that you have found the D90 with 18-200 lense helpful.

Now you do know that a D90 can work all the old AF lenses and e-bay has some real bargains on 70-300 and 75-300 AF lenses for not much more than about $150...........

Bill

P.S being the ex-owner of a 2003 W211 E320 the 2002-2004 period was when they had a number of issues with the onboard software which should have all been fixed under warranty.

I have a version of Carsoft 7.4 which covers all M-B's up to about mid 2004 and am working on getting a 2010 version of Star DAS so that I can continue to service my own ML's after their warranties cease - if and when you get into problems.

[flutes]

Wow congrats to all!  Cigars all 'round.

Nathan - good to see your priorities are still in order - posting car pics not baby ones!

Bill - what's your opinion on buying lenses without stabilisation for large focal lengths?  (I have an EOS 450D)

[WGB]

Bill - what's your opinion on buying lenses without stabilisation for large focal lengths?  (I have an EOS 450D)

Obviously the lenses would be better with stabilization but the price difference (>$1000 vs <$200) is a powerful arguement.

I travelled around europe last year and have a large number of pictures taken from a boat with my 75-300 set at 300 and in daylight there were no blurred shots - the lense cost me $145 on e-bay.

I use my 18-200 for internal shots without flash that benefit from the VR - as can Nathan.

Bill