Hello All, New boy here so hello from none-too-sunny Marple Bridge UK. I was a pro snapper for 30 years plus. Started with a local weekly newspaper, doing black&white shots on a Pentax Spotmatic II. Went into advertising, where I first met a Mamiya RB67 and learned to use 5x4 inch plate cameras. Then, I was the photographer/illustrator for the medical school in Manchester. I had to copy thousands of X-rays and scans and photograph everything from post mortems to minor ops and other procedures. Then, I found a niche, freelancing for and later editing a couple of car magazines. I was using Nikon then and another RB67. More freelancing then, testing motorhomes and covering local attractions and campsites over the UK and much or Europe. My Nikon (F90X) kit and two laptops were stolen in two separate assaults by voleurs in France. We then went all digital so I replaced the Nikon with an EOS 5D kit. I had this 11 years and it went all over with me, even to New York and Norfolk Virginia. On retiring, I sold up the Canon kit and lost big money on account of the camera body and my big white superzoom (28 to 300mm if memory serves) being affecting by internal mould. This was despite my having a Lowepro bag and a big bag of silica gel so be warned! I then picked up a Panasonic Lumix FZ45, which is not the best and too small for my big paws. Lastly, I've just bought an EOS1300D and this is why I'm here now. I'm definitely out of practise and need some hints & tips so if anybody can advise where to ask on this forum, I'll proceed.
Welcome to the forums David, we have plenty of sub threads on specific topics you may have questions on, and plenty of us on here to give 2 cents on a topic. Sorry to hear about the mold, I have not seen that on mine yet, most my ef lenses are 12 or more years old as a started building my kit 20 years ago. I also have all my medium and large format gear still too, finding things that old in good shape just gets harder.
Thank you johnsey, for replying and for the warm welcome.The reason for the mould was that I lived in a converted stable that was built in 1875 and there was hidden water penetration in the corner where my kit lived. With the benefit of hindsight, I'd have been better drying out the silica gel every week and finding a better location in which to store the gear. Still, these things happen and I now live in a dry house! As I said, I'm starting from scratch on the video side and the 1300D/Rebel is of course totally new to me.I'm getting to know it and any video I produce will only be for practise at this stage. I'm planning on adding a Speedlite to my camera bag - selling my Lumix should pay for one. All the best, David
