Get the best [url=http://www.warehouseexpress.com/brand/?manfrotto&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=manfrotto%20tripods&utm_campaign=Tripods%20/%20Photography%20Tripods&cm_mmc=google%20Warehouse%20Express%20-%20Bags%20%26%20Tripods-_-Tripods%20/%20Photography%20Tripods-_-Photography%20Tripods%20/%20Manfrotto%20Generic-_-manfrotto%20tripodsManfrotto[/url you can afford

Think the deal is £500, for an 18-55mm and 75-270 or 300mm lens, with a carry case, memory card, filter and something else. Thats on the 1100D. Entry level would be perfect, I just don't want him spending more than he needs to really.

Either would be a decent buy at that price, not an earth shattering deal but good all the same. Personally I'd go for the 1100D due to its newer tech but they are both great cameras.

How does that work?

BG quotes a post before it's been made?

I have a Giotos MTL9351B which with a head would be in the £120-130 range if you can afford the extra. It's legs are independently adjustable in three positions and the column is two way adjustable. This makes it great for macro work as it allows you to get low down and close up to your subject like in my bluebell shot below.

I've noticed BG do that a few times, psychic innit.

Thanks, will take a look.

Excuse me a moment.

What's a "Night photography course"? I've visions of a course aimed directly at taking photos at night time although it's probably just a photography course, ran at night.

In answer to your question, I used to have a manfrotto that I'd paid good money for, It got stolen at a classic car show so I replaced it with Jessops own, was about £90. I've also a £15 one I picked up in asda in desperation that I don't mind leaving about at car shows, It's not half bad actually.

Quote ="rover49"Can anyone recommend a good tripod for around £100 (with a head !!), got a night shooting session with a pro bought as a prezzy.'" If you have a Calumet near by then their own brand are made by Monfrotto, if not you can pick up a decent Manfrotto or Giotto and head for around £120 new, less on eBay. tiny.cc/tripodsonebay

Quote ="rover49"Can anyone recommend a good tripod for around £100 (with a head !!), got a night shooting session with a pro bought as a prezzy.'" If you have a Calumet near by then their own brand are made by Monfrotto, if not you can pick up a decent Manfrotto or Giotto and head for around £120 new, less on eBay. tiny.cc/tripodsonebay

Its a session with a pro photographer taking photos of the sights of Liverpool at night.

I think the Manfrotto is a bit too much for me at the moment, I looked at several review sites and there are some good reports on other brands for around £100 to 130 (including heads), which would be around the £250 for the Manfrotto. I don't know if I will use it often enough to justify the extra, but they do look the biz

If you are paying £250 for a Manfrotto you are shopping in the wrong places.
A second hand one would be great value, they are built like tanks.

The cheapest ones don't get very good reviews for robust use, I based the £250 on an article which was looking at similar tripods by different makers and a Velbon was given very good reviews by the article (£79.99 ish), it was just pipped by a Manfrotto costing around the £250 mark. There are some Manfrottos at over £600.

Quote ="rover49"The cheapest ones don't get very good reviews for robust use, I based the £250 on an article which was looking at similar tripods by different makers and a Velbon was given very good reviews by the article (£79.99 ish), it was just pipped by a Manfrotto costing around the £250 mark. There are some Manfrottos at over £600.'" You are looking at carbon fibre pods mate... Decent legs - www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MANFROTTO-190 ... 1c1f961b32 Decent head - www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Manfrotto ... 3cbd9daa47 If you shop around there are better deals to be had and there are some decent second hand ones around too.

Quote ="rover49"The cheapest ones don't get very good reviews for robust use, I based the £250 on an article which was looking at similar tripods by different makers and a Velbon was given very good reviews by the article (£79.99 ish), it was just pipped by a Manfrotto costing around the £250 mark. There are some Manfrottos at over £600.'" You are looking at carbon fibre pods mate... Decent legs - www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MANFROTTO-190 ... 1c1f961b32 Decent head - www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Manfrotto ... 3cbd9daa47 If you shop around there are better deals to be had and there are some decent second hand ones around too.

ND Filters. Individual filters or a single variable density filter?
Have read that with a variable one you need to be paying a fair amount of money to get a decent one yet i've seen them for around £8.99 on fleabay. Is it a case of you get what you pay for?
Cheers

I paid about £15 for one from [url=http://bit.ly/zFjUeB7dayshop[/url I have no complaints, right at the very dark end it distorts a bit (but then so do cheaper fixed ND filters) but I've paid about an 8th the price of a Lee big stopper.

Thankyou for the quick response BG. Just ordered one and will use it to experiment with. I guess that's what photography is all about.

I'm being sorely tempted by a very good offer to buy some image enlargement software called Benvista Photo Zoom Pro 4. When i read about this first, I assumed it must be largely BS, given that (you'd think) the ultimate resolution of an image is limited by the pixel size.

I was very sceptical but found that on the Benvista site you can download a free trial, and after just a first effort, i must say I'm pretty gobsmacked.
Here is an original image, an enlarged eye as best as my existing software can do it, and a Benvista enlargement. There are many fine tunes and I'm sure i could therefore do better.

I'm gonna have a play around this weekend but wondered if anyone has come across this, and is it as good as it seems? Or if not, anyoine fancy having a play and telling us what you think?

Back in 2008 I got a copy of Benvista Photo Zoom Pro 2 free with some other bundle. I've used it on a number of occasions, mainly when I have wanted (very) large prints, and found it to be very good.
The only likely reason I haven't updated over the years is that I don't use it frequently enough to justify it.

I'm looking for a simple (and free) photo template plug-in or whatever to give me three images on one canvas. I've got CS4 and ever after downloading the suggested plug-in, I keep getting an error message - 'Cannot find layout files in Presets/Layouts'

It appears I'm not alone in having these problems but I'm buggered if I can find a fix in CS4.

Basically what I'm after is the ability to place three images in one canvas: Imagine an A4 landscape, I want an A5 portrait image on the left and two A6 landscape images on the right (one on top of the other).

Any ideas guys?

Can you not do it in PS?
Resize the two pics to A6 landscape, resize the other to A5 portrait, open a new file in PS with the sizes of A4, new layer, drag and image in and lock it, repeat with the other two.

TBH mate I find PS a friggin pain to use for anything relatively simple, I only tend to open it when I want to do something special. I was just looking for any easy work around. Sonething along the lines of:

1) Open template
2) Click insert in frame one, then two then three
3) Save as

I'll have a go at that though

One very easy solution is download a free copy of Serif Photoplus
[urlhttp://www.serif.com/free-photo-editing-software/[/url

Create a blank canvas whatever size you want. Select view to fit screen (so you can see the whole canvas)

Paste the images in, one at a time, as new layers

Resize each image, on the fly, position it wherever you want

Print

Er, that's it.

Which is exactly what I've told him to do in Photoshop...

Thanks guys but as I said, I'm just looking for a simple template. Click, click, click, save as.

I don't need any other editing facilities and I'm not going to print anything out, it'll just be saved as a jpeg and then included on a web listing.

It seems to me that if you do what BG has suggested then you will have produced the template you require in the process.

Take great care with your first go so that it's exactly what you want and then any subsequent uses will simply be a matter of putting the new images over the old, deleting the layers no longer required and SAVE AS.