So what did you get?

Well, what nice (or nasty) gifts did you all get?

I got a dressing gown (needed one for years) and some money, to which I added some more and ordered myself a decent carbon fibre tripod (photography... a hobby that makes hifi look cheap )

Nothing hifi related.... oh well.

 

A nice deLonghi coffee machine :MILD: .

Should keep me up for those long listening sessions .

Isaac, is that a tripod in your pocket........

 

Didn't do too badly, some money which will go on either more music or concert tickets, or maybe even towards funding a MD recorder for the home system, to save plugging in the portable every time I want something new to hear on the move.

A new tea cup, or bucket, to be more precise. Very useful as I managed to break the one I had when I got back from the pub on Christmas eve. The only CD I've been given so far was the new Pearl Jam B-sides/out-takes compilation, Lost Dogs, which I've not yet got around to hearing. A few bottles of ale which I can get stuck into while listening to the PJ CD.

 

Doctor Who:The Three Doctors DVD
Couple of sword and sorcery books, chocolate and CASH!!!!!!!!!

Merry chrimbo everyone!

(Even though we did have a sodding powercut for an hour at lunchtime today)

 

Check out my brand new Wharfedale Tuner!

 

new amp, lots of cash, cd's, vinyl, thats about it. Good day allround now to the drinking

 

a george foreman grill - adkins diet here i come... a scarf - goodbye chesty coughs and the latest clarkson dvd - hello xenophobia.

cheers


julian

 

From other people?
uhm. A promise for something which I never got.

From me?
A quartz metronome with beat, pitch and sound. :MILD:

 

Ah the lean green taste reducing machine. Guaranteed to turn the nicest food into the most tasteless junk!

 

You can't be serious Isaac Photography is waaaayyyy cheaper than hifi! Of course it depends at what level your playing at in both hobbies but as an example, the money I spent on just my DAC (£1470) is more than I've spent on all my photography kit put together, and the DAC was s/h whereas my photography kit was new.

Admittedly I don't have loads of photo gear but it's more than adequate:

Olympus E-10 digital camera
TCON-300b (x3 teleconverter) for above
cheapo tripod that works
ancient flash unit from my 35mm days - works though.
various little accessories like batteries, chargers, cases etc.

When/if I eventually upgrade to a "proper SLR" Olympus E-1 setup it won't cost me more than £2500 tops which is what I'm considering spending on just a new amp!

...and if you're talking 35mm (not digital) photography then prices of top quality SLR bodies are absurdly cheap (in comparison to digital).

Even if you go for a top of the range setup:

Canon EOS 1D $3000
+ couple of top quality zoom lenses at $1500 each

...and let's add $1000 worth of accessories like flash, tripod etc. and we're still only talking about $7000. Call it £4500. OK, not cheap but for £4.5K you're only nibbling at the toes of a hi-end hifi system (BTW I'm not making a value judgement here, just stating the facts: You can easily spend £50K on a hi-end hifi). To spend anywhere close to £50K on camera gear in a realistic setup you'd seriously struggle.

Michael.

 

I got some clothes, some money (around £120), loads of chocolate, a dymnao LED torch, some cheap useless screwdrivers, some books including a rather amusing DIY FIX IT book. I also got a powerful 600W Bosh Jigsaw the only problem is it has no speed control on it

 

Michael-

My comment on cost is based on in hifi, you can things that do the basic job very cheaply (cd player, amp, speakers, cables). After that, it's just a question of how well you want it done.

In photography, it's different. If you want a 600mm F4 lens, you have no option but to spend around £8000 to get one. There is no cheap route to the big glass.

And Canon's 1200mm F5.6 comes in at a cool £120000....

Both are indeed expensive hobbies. And I'm afflicted with both My camera gear presently easily outstrips my hifi, comprising of Canon EOS 3 and D30 bodies, 20 F2.8, 24-85 USM, 70-200 F4L, 300 F4L IS, 50 F1.8 lenses, 1.4X and 2X Teleconverters, 550EX flashgun, Manfrotto monopod and tripod, etc.... around £6k worth there, and I want to replace the 24-85 with the 24-70L, for another grand.

OT, the E1 system looks very promising indeed. The only issue I see with it presently is lack of any image stabilised lenses. If they remedy that, it will likely prove a very strong competitor to Canon and Nikon.

 

i got evrything i asked for


























































nothing

 

BLOODY HELL - my parents' P75 is slooooooowwwwwww!!!!

I got £15 of Next vouchers, some M&S jeans (which need exchanging - why can't they measure the damn things properly before labelling them!? - bummer though 'cos they're lavish - far nicer than 501s!), the Alicia Keys CD (how DO you defeat Cactus - I can't play it on this PC - tried a sticky label and left-shift and neither worked!) and some munchies. Got two more days' of visits and thus presents to go though - cool as!

So Ian - how plastered WERE you after the Wellhouse? Kelly texted me back dude - the Alicia Keys CD'll help there I reckon

Merry chrimbo dudes!!! Don't forget The Office tonight!!!

 

Cat food?!

 

Been a lucky guy, lots of cd's, cracking leather jacket to replace one I lost nice bottle of port & the new transport mech for the wadia I've been waiting for, plus a great day with the kids, spot on really Wm

 

How plastered was I? Well, not too bad when I left the Well House at about half six, few more in Vines, got the 9pm train, managed to neck a couple of cans of Grolsch on the train, and finished the other two off when I got home. I slept quite well...

Know what you mean on the clothes measurements thing, think half these shops just randomly stick a label on and don't even consider that it may be the wrong one.

Off to watch the Office...

 

The highlights were about half a dozen bottles of malt, a couple of Frank Zappa CDs, a pile of books, an ace Sun Ra video, and a donkey that shoots cigarettes out of its arse.

All in all, not a bad haul.

-- Ian

 

but can you catch them in your mouth the right way round?

nb
I got a kettle, a toaster, and the strokes new one on LP

my toaster has a ''bagel switch'' which is going to make me very fat. mmmmmm toasted bagels with cream cheese and salmon

 

Is that 120K ? Maybe the hifi cable companies still have something to learn about profit margins after all....

OK, there's no cheap route to the big glass but I'd argue that you can get something that does the basic (photography) job cheaply and after that it's just a matter of how well you want it done

For $1000 (probably £1000 in the UK) you can get a Canon EOS-300D kit with EF-S 18-55mm lens which will do 90% of what 90% of good amateur snappers will ever need it to do.

To me a 600mm F4 lens for £8K is like an £8K Teac P-0 transport and equally unnecessary. A sports pro will probably have one but I would make do with a less bright (and massively cheaper) Sigma equivalent and have to use higher ISOs and have noisier pictures but 95% of the time it would make no significant difference at all.

They're both expensive hobbies though when you start taking them seriously

Michael.