From: Theta Sigma
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Slightly OT - Digital Cameras
Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 01:10

I few things to consider:

Sorry that I don't have direct experience with the cameras you
mentioned. I take a lot of photos of orchids/ flowers and gardens.

- having a camera with built-in macro focusing will be a plus when
photographing close-ups of flowers/ plants. Otherwise you'll have to use
a photo editor to zoom in on the flowers and artificially increase the
sharpness to compensate - read: time-consuming. Zoom doesn't count that
much here - look for Macro or "close-up" capability. With macro, for
example, my Canon SD300 can be 3 cm close and I can easily fill the
frame with a single, small orchid blossom. With standard zoom on the
same camera I have to be at least 1 foot away.

- to the cost of the camera, add the cost of either additional or larger
memory cards as needed.

- color processing/ correction features are a big plus - not all digital
cameras record color and luminance faithfully or the same - some are
better than others. It is especially important with flowers and nature
and critical with, say, retail products/ marketing. Again, if not right
the first time, you'll have to manually adjust the color of each shot.

- big plus if the camera supports any one of the Image Color Management
standards natively. And... you'll want to calibrate your computer
display and your printer using the same ICC profiles across the board.
Otherwise you'll see different renditions of the same color on photo
store prints, your own prints, and your computer display.

- pictures seen on web pages are often purposely degraded in quality/
size to save data throughput and loading time. They are not good
standards by which to measure quality. The more megapixels the camera
has, the more detail is available in the shot (and larger enlargements
possible). I have found that, for nature and close-ups for 5 x 7
prints, I need at least 3 million pixels - 4 is better for those times I
want to enlarge or zoom in a bit with a photo editor. If you print only
4 x 6 inches or place the photos on the Web for viewing then the 3 M
size is fine.

I have this gorgeous (expensive) Canon EOS 1DS digital camera that
messes up purples and reds (especially visible in flowers) since it uses
the older DIGIC-I color-correction device. So I *always* have to adjust
the color of most flowers. Pain in the backside. Otherwise it is "over
the top" in features and quality.

The newer models of this same camera have DIGIC-II color processing
which fixes many of the color complaints. Of course the newer models
are all less expensive :-) I recently bought a shirt-pocket sized Canon
SD-300 (~$294 US, £153 GBP) which has the DIGIC-II color processing and
has a macro setting for close-ups. It met my criteria for inexpensive,
good color, enough detail, macro close-up. So far it's done a great
job. Oh, and by the way, it also shoots movies for those times when a
still shot just won't do.

-=mark=-

From: Geoffrey Hands
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] RE: Seed germinating service?
Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 09:20

The general answer is that we don't.

I told you what I did many years ago - sent the pods to a friendly nursery
where I had some sort of relationship with the people ( because I was the
Secretary of an Orchid Society , and arranged for their vists to us , our
visits to them , their display at our shows, taking them to lunch before the
meeting etc., all helped.It was much mor ofa relationship than you get by
being an occasional customer for the odd plant..)

Later , I knew a well known amateur breeder who has made and registered many
crosses - and even created very many new multigeneric combinations , e.g.
Hamswellsara - the first to use species from , was it, eight different
genera - which is another story - and he encouraged me to make a glove box
and have a go myself . Other friends in the same Society were similarly
encouraged, and one moved into phal stem propagation and now has this on
almost a production line basis , and so on.

But now I don't have the space, and I would like someone to do it for me...

Geoff

francis quesada pallares wrote:

Who do you guys go about when you make your own
crosses, then?

From: John Stanley
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Slightly OT - Digital Cameras
Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 12:30

Hi Mark,
I can receommend the 'old' Nikon Coolpix 'twisty' range (990, 995 etc) which
can probably be acquired cheaply now. They have excellent macro facilities
( fill the frame with less than a postage stamp at close-up).
I'd avoid the 5700, 8700 range; they are excellent when working but I had
awful problems with lens lock-up to the extent that Nikon agreed and
discounted me a goodwill offer.

I believe Fuji Finepix are very reliable and, should it be necessary,
repairable.

A good idea to bear in mind that, if you use it 'in the field', batteries
are a consideration. There used to be advice to get a cam that takes
ordinary AAs or rechargable AAs but many dedicated batteries are now cheaper
(as with the Coolpixes above)

No doubt others will have favourites.

Why not ask Chong-Yee Khoo. He is a walking advert for good photography and
I think he uses a Coolpix but I can't recall which one.
John Stanley

"Mark Griffiths" wrote:

Hi, I've been thinking of getting a new digital camera to replace an
anchient Sanyo one I have here...

From: Ron Newstead
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] RE: Slightly OT - Digital Cameras
Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 14:30

I have been looking at the Panasonic cameras with Leica lenses, i.e. the
Lumix DMC F2 & F7
What do you think?
Ron

Geoffrey Hands wrote:

I am currently researching the latest crop ogf digicams in order to start
work on the 2nd edition of the book I authored " The Handbook of Digital
Photography", so I think I can help...

From: Ron Newstead
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Hello
Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 14:30

All is well because I am now receiving messages
Ron

From: aeranthes2
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: seeds
Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 16:35

Geoff I 'phoned Malcolm Perry who was out but spoke to his wife who says that Malcolm didn't take over the seed germination, microculture etc. from Bob Dadds so sorry but no help there I'm afraid. He is still in business and is selling orchids. For anyone interested these are his details:
Malcolm Perry Orchids
298 Park Lane, Frampton, Cotterell, Bristol BS36 2BL
Telephone 01454 773055 Fax 01454 778737

Could anyone help further with Max Hopkinson please? I followed the url Geoff gave me and found his email address but unfortunately that is the one his friend in Oz has and his mail is being returned as 'unknown' so he has probably changed his email address. If anyone has his tel.no or that of the orchid society in that area (Nottingham)I could phone and check with him/them. Thank you - Jean

From: aeranthes2
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: my query
Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 17:10

Hullo everyone, please don't bother any further with any searching for the
person I am looking for (Max Hopkinson). I have found a 'phone number. I did
try but he is out so I'll keep trying until I get an answer. Many thanks -
Jean

From: Ron Newstead
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Re: Slightly OT - Digital Cameras
Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 19:30

Hi Mark,
I had the first of the 'old' Nikon Coolpix 'twisty' range but it used up
batteries at a terrible rate, so much so that I gave it away!
My wife then treated me to the Fuji Finepix S1 Pro when it first came
out and it has behaved itself very well even when I fell on the deck of
a ship and gave it a nasty bang. It does suffer from the complication of
using 3 different types of batteries but they last a long time and are
easily replaceable, being standard types.
For me it had the advantage of being basically a modified Nikon camera
and therefore accepting interchangeable (Nikon F) Lenses which I already
possessed.
Ron

From: Geoffrey Hands
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] RE: Slightly OT - Digital Cameras
Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 20:55

The FX7 looks like a very good pocket camera . Everything one needs for
everyday shots - 3:1 zoom , reasonable range of sensitivity, nice big LCD
screen , and a good price. 5Mpx is all that one needs for quite big prints .
I have not been able to find the F2.

I had an earlier model - a 4Mpx Lumix with a fantastic 12:1 zoom , and a
leica lens too . But it seemed neither one thing nor the other . Too big to
go into my pocket , but not versatile eniuygh for the shots I could do with
the Nikon , so I sold it.
Actually itis quite difficult to get the camera which really suits ones
needs - especially if ones ideas of needs keeps changing !.

Geoff

From: aeranthes2
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: yes Geoff
Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 21:45

Yes Geoff that was the email address but letters are being returned. I'll try the 'phone number again later. Thanks for helping as far as possible. Jean

From: aeranthes2
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Dijon
Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 21:50

I forgot to say have a great time in Dinon Geoff and anyone else who is going. Please take lots of photographs so that the rest of us can enjoy something of the displays. Jean

From: Andy Mckeown
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Re: various
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2005 09:25

Great - I will look out for you

Andy

"Dr Chong-Yee Khoo" wrote:

> Hi, Andy,
>
> I'll probably be at the Bournemouth Orchid Society stand (number 90), or
> at my exhibit of digital orchid photos (in the "Orchids in Art" section).
> Do drop by and say hello - it will be good to put a face to the name.

From: Andy Mckeown
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] RE: various
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2005 09:30

Thanks Geoff. I did wonder if it was cobbianum but thought the flowers too small. I also thought filiforme?

Andy

Geoffrey Hands wrote:

Well done with the Laelia.

I think the dendrochilum is cobbianum. - at least that's the label on a similar one I grow.

From: "Wood, Michael \(WG\)"
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Slightly OT - Digital Cameras
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2005 10:35

Mark - you should splash the cash and get a digital SLR ...... OK they are much more expensive at the moment - but are far superior in almost every respect - except for size obviously ! up to 12 megapixels instead of 2 OR 3 ..... the ability to customise your set-up with lenses , flash etc etc Far superior in every respect !

From: Beccy Holmes
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] The Orchids of Madagascar
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2005 11:10

maybe try abebooks, I've heard they're good. Also, there are new "book
barns" in the west country, no idea if it would be a good option but you can
search their stores on line: http://www.bookbarn.co.uk/

Tim Fulcher wrote:
>
>Afternoon,
>
>I wonder if anyone can help me. I've been searching for a copy of this book
>(Orchids of Madagascar by David Du Puy) for a colleague who needed it by
>April, and whilst it's (apparently) available on Amazon, I'm wary of their
>4-6 week delivery estimate after a couple of bad experiences.

From: francis quesada pallares
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Hardy orchid's tuber size
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2005 11:40

Hi group,

I have recently bought a couple of hardy orchids
through ebay.

They arrived yesterday, and when I took them out of
the bag to pot them up, found that the tubers were
rather small (Orchis the size of a very small pickled
onion, whilst Dactylorhiza one swollen root about 1.5
inches and two smaller, thinner roots).

As this is my first time with hardy orchids I have no
idea what the flowering size is, but I surely expected
something bigger!

Anyone out there can give me any info?

I tried the net, but to no avail!

Thanks,

Francis.

From: Ron Newstead
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] RE: Slightly OT - Digital Cameras
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2005 13:05

I bought a Nikon D70 to keep in Portugal and have found it and the
wide-angle zoom lens, that was designed especially for this camera, very
good. It's worth looking at and complete with the lens, sells for just
over US$ 1,000 in the USA.
Ron

From: Ron Newstead
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Re: various
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2005 13:05

So will I!
Ron

Andy Mckeown wrote:

Great - I will look out for you

From: John Stanley
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] RE: Digital Cameras - bang on topic for orchid photos
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2005 16:40

Hi Michael and Mark,

Agree; a digital SLR is the ultimate - even if you don't aspire to more than
six megapixels. However, it is expensive for most of we mortals and there
are snags (I have a D100).

Snag 1 is that the old fashioned closeup extension rings etc are not so
simple on a digital SLR unless you are really au fait with the basics of
manipulation of a camera (auto probably won't work).

Snag 2. Because the sensor is substantially smaller than the film area of a
35mm SLR, lenses think they are about 1.5 X the focal length of writing on
the barrel. Great if you are a birder but a real snag with wide angle (you
need to go down to about 16mm to equate to a 24mm (expensive).

They gain in having less noisy sensors and a clearer (real) viewfinder
(wysywyg) although you lose the pre-view and just have a review image. If
you are to use the advantages you need to take RAW images which need more
Photosshop tweaking.

They can go up to 1600 ISO without intolerable noise and up to ISO6400 in an
emergency!

They suffer from dust on the sensor which is not removable by the faint
hearted or ham fisted.

They are heavy round the neck but have more inertia for stability with long
hand-held exposure (1/20th, 1/30 second).

I still can't beat the Coolpix 995 for extreme closeups until I spend about
£400 more on lenses for the SLR.

ps. What on Earth are you going to store all those 12 megapixel files on
anyway Michael?

Having tried both I'd agree that the SLR is best . . . but at a real cost
and a consumer/prosumer camera can do an excellent job provided lighting is
OK at less than the cost of one lens.

John Stanley

From: "Wood, Michael \(WG\)"
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Hardy orchid's tuber size
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2005 18:10

worth looking up the Paul Christian - rare plants web site ......www.rareplants.co.uk/orchids
he sells those - and gives basic growing info...

Mike

francis quesada pallares wrote:

Hi group,

I have recently bought a couple of hardy orchids
through ebay.

They arrived yesterday, and when I took them out of
the bag to pot them up, found that the tubers were
rather small (Orchis the size of a very small pickled
onion, whilst Dactylorhiza one swollen root about 1.5
inches and two smaller, thinner roots).

As this is my first time with hardy orchids I have no
idea what the flowering size is, but I surely expected
something bigger!

Anyone out there can give me any info?

I tried the net, but to no avail!

Thanks,

Francis.

From: Roger Grier
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Tubers.
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2005 18:40

Hi Francis,

Your tubers are just about the size that I would have expected, and are flowering size. Tomorrow I will look out a few slides that I have of the roots/tubers of some of our wild orchids and then show them to all of the group.

By the way, did you know the Genus word for the Bee orchid etc was OPHRYS, and it is a Greek word meaning 'Eyebrow'. When your plant flowers you will see why!

Your Bee orchid tuber in general will like a soil that contains chalk. They do grow very well on the 'Downs' in the south of England. They will also grow in some very strange soil as I hope to show you this weekend if our plans permit.

The Dactylorchids prefer a non chalky soil, and they are not too fussy what they grow in.

Rocky.

From: Mark Griffiths
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Re: Slightly OT - Digital Cameras
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2005 19:20

Thanks everyone for all your advice, I'm printing them all off and
working my way through them all!

All the best, Mark

From: Roger Grier
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Dactylorhids.
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 11:05

Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Hi Francis and all other interested members,

Here are some photos to show you what to expect when perhaps seeing for the first time, the tuber of the Dactylorhiza type of orchids.

Dactyl = finger like. Remember the pictures of the flying dinosaur, 'Pterodactyl, and of course rhiza = rhizome. And they are often called 'Palmate tubers' as if you can imagine someone's hand hanging downwards the palm is the main body of the tuber and the fingers are the roots. The photos will show this.

I hope the photos will explain a lot of your questions and thoughts.

As you can see, they are only just under the surface of the soil.

Regards, Rocky.

From: francis quesada pallares
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Tubers.
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 12:15

Hi Rocky,

Thanks for that,

I did not get an Ophrys, but an Orchis italica.
Although I really would love to get hold of the Bee
orchid!

Thanks for the clarification about the tuber's size.
That makes me even happier (they might even flower
this year, then).

I will email you privately later with the details of
where we are staying.

Thanks,

Francis.

From: Beccy Holmes
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] U.K. Native Wild Orchids.
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 23:00

I've been hunting - successfully - for carnivorous plants in the New Forest
but despite frequent trips through it, I've never thought of it as being a
site for orchids before this thread started. I can see myself moving down
there in a few years, this will definately be a(nother) plus point to look
forward to! Thanks

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