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Ardesco

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Posts posted by Ardesco

    Yet another tax on the motorist...

    in 350Z General

    Posted

    They have bancrupt the country and need money fast.

     

    After the recent 10% balls up they cant put up taxe.

     

    People who have cars have money. People who have big cars are perceived too have more money. Stealth robbery is the only way forward for them.

     

    This will continue until they get well and truly hammered in the next election. Feel sorry for whoever is next when they check the accounts. :headhurt:

     

    Ah but they have put up tax in a very cunning way. They have given an increase of £600 to your tax free allowance, but they have also lowered the higher rate tax band so that anybody near that tax band will loose out by paying more tax.

     

    This increase of £600 to your tax free allowance has only been made for this year, so next year it will disappear (unless they do it again because it is an election year). Do you think they will raise the higher rate tax band again? I don't.

     

    The only people who are going to benefit from this are really low earners (think less than £10,000 a year low), and even then they are going to get screwed next year.

     

    They have borrowed a large amount of money this year to make it look like they are listening to us and are really nice people by reducing tax, I'm willing to bet that if you work it all out though they are probably breaking even this year and will be netting a healthy increase next year, or maybe I'm just cynical.....

    Carbon mad!!

    in Interior

    Posted

    DOH!

     

    It is a how to that shows you how to wrap carbon fibre around body parts. It details the steps required for covering them in resin, finishing off the resin so that it is nice and smooth and then lacquering it.

     

    Here is a picture of his finished product (shamelessly stole the URL from his post)

     

    DSC04338.jpg

    I know this is a car forum but... (Cameras)

    in Off Topic Discussion

    Posted

    Shamelessly ripped from another forum I frequent, but hopefully of some use. The guy that posted this is a professional designer so I would assume he has a reasonably good idea of what he is talking about:

     

    The Gimmick

    The Gimmick is a dressed-up compact that either looks a bit like an SLR, or has a handful of SLR features. This, IMO, is a bit like buying a supercar with a Peugot engine, or modding a Nova with bits from a Ferrari - it's inconsistent, and once you get a taste for the more advanced features you'll be quickly frustrated, as you'll already have hit the limits of that bit of kit, possibly within a week. Eventually, after having bought all the accessories, you realise that the only sensible way to upgrade is to buy a whole new system.

     

    Gimmicks are useful for: The holiday snapper who wants to impress people and take high quality snapshots.

    Gimmicks annoy: The holiday snapper, who, having toyed with the labyrinth of settings absent-mindedly for a while, wishes he/she had bought the lighter, smaller camera that does the job just as well (i.e. should have bought a compact).

    Typically: £250-£350

    Good example: Fujifilm FinePix S8000fd - faff, faff, faffery.

     

    The Argos Special

    The Argos Special is typically a stripped-down plastic copy of one of the big pro SLRs (think Olympus, Nikon, Canon, Minolta) with a fraction of the features, often mistakenly referred to as 'entry level'. You'll buy one of these and be able to fit most lenses in the maker's range - or if it's a Nikon or Canon, many 3rd party lenses - which will perform adequately (and cost far more than the camera body). The Argos Special is ideal for your first camera if you want to cheat and use the automatic settings, and aren't bothered about tasking yourself too much. If you buy one of these, try to buy one that allows you full manual control, the widest shutter speed range possible, and RAW image capture.

     

    The Argos Special is useful for: Holidays, the family, for getting a taste for the SLR experience without having to lug a kilo of equipment around and without worrying about it breaking - as it's cheap to replace.

    The Argos Special annoys: Someone who thinks he/she's buying a real, entry level SLR and tries-and-fails to use the techniques in the magazines because the features are limited.

    Typically: £300-£500

    Good example: Nikon D40 - brilliant value for money.

     

    The Serious Amateur

    The Serious Amateur is a bottom-of-the-range pro SLR, correctly referred to as 'entry level'. The Serious Amateur will often benefit from more features than you can shake a stick at, fully manual settings, the pro build-quality, compatibility with the (expensive) pro accessories, and excellent optics. The Serious Amateur is normally heavier, bigger and tougher than any of the above. The Serious Amateur will take about 3-5 months to get used to, and years to master. Unless you are a jobbing professional photographer, The Serious Amateur will suit all your needs for its lifetime. If buying, the quality of the optics and the CCD, and full manual control/widest shutter-speed range (pref bulb-8k), and focusing speed is paramount. Also - watch for depth-of-field preview, precise spot metering (small spot size) and a close min focal distance with a standard lens.

     

    The Serious Amateur is useful for: Pretty much anything.

    The Serious Amateur annoys: Semi-pros and pros who brought this one out instead of their workhorse as it's marginally lighter, also annoys wife/partner of person using this conspicuous, large camera on a holiday, pretending to be a pro and forgetting to enjoy the scenery with his/her eyes once in a while.

    Typically: £900-£1,500

    Good Example: Canon EOS 40D - Ideal

     

    The Puppy's Particulars

    The Puppy's Particulars is what you or I would call overkill unless we did this for a living. The Puppy's Particulars are usually slung over the shoulders of burly men nudging you out of the way at sports events, usually with a 4km mirror lens about the size of Saturn 5, smacking into people. These men are burly, and usually men, as this kit is heavy, really heavy.

    If asked nicely, The Puppy's Particulars will brew you a cup of loose leaf Assam tea, read your paper and wash the dishes while burning film or memory at 500 frames-per-second. They can be switched to auto as with any DSLR - so even the most catatonic Sun Pap can blindly click away while scratching his balls, or fully manual - requiring a PHD in astrophysics and several assistants to operate. Some Puppy's Particulars are so tough they've been run over by tanks and survived. Often the only thing left intact in a mortar crater.

     

    The Puppy's Particulars are useful for: Pro photography, particularly sports or photojournalism.

    The Puppy's Particulars annoy: Someone who lashed out a tonne of cash on it and will rarely, if ever, realise it's full potential, and who is sick of the weight of the camera and all the accessories.

    Typically: Make up a figure, and double it.

    Good example: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III - Hectic

     

     

    Lenses

    Fixed: 28mm (wide), 50mm (standard), and 90mm (portrait) equivalent 35mm focal length lenses are the most common. Fixed lenses are usually sharper and brighter and faster to focus. Fixed long lenses (300mm and the like) are faster than lenses with a focal range (telephoto).

    Telephotos: 35-210mm equivalent focal length is typical.

     

    Buy the lenses with the widest aperture (2.8 or below - large telephoto lenses may start at 5.6) and from a recognised manufacturer - take note: Canon (Canon EF) - fast focusing, wide apertures, large range, expensive; Nikon (Nikkor) - excellent optics, faster focusing, and very expensive; Olympus (Zuiko) - sluggish focusing except the top range; Leica - excellent optics, ok focus speed, expensive.

     

    I'd just like to add: If you're buying a DSLR - don't rely on that silly little pop-up flash - it doesn't cut it, and leaves shadows. Buy a proper flash with corresponding focal range for your needs. My Canon Speedlight (Around £300) is perfect for most applications. Remember to get a sync cable for off-camera portrait or studio work, and a diffuser (good models have this built-in).

    female z owners

    in 350Z General

    Posted

    Have we got more than 12 female members yet?

     

    Could do a calendar ;)

    Rats, I don't think there is. Such a pity. :p:p:p:lol::lol:;);):teeth:

     

     

    Could always stick a few wigs on some of the fellas :lol:

     

    As long as the wig makes them look like cousin it, I could handle that :D

    Where to get wheel alignment done...

    in Tyres

    Posted

    Slightly OT but I decided to get my tracking checked at one of the local tyre garages. They guy said sure no problem, walked out took one look at the car, all the colour drained out of his face and he said: "No way am I going to touch one of those mate, main dealer job".

     

    Any ideas why he had such a reaction?

    Hi! Jst about to Buy a 350z - any pointers?

    in 350Z General

    Posted

    Check the tyres. Lots of people can't read the arrow showing which way the tyres should rotate and put them on the wrong wheels. One rotational tyre put the wrong way round can cause it to pull to the left/right (depending which side it is on).

     

    If they are putting the tyres on the wrong way round don't trust them to do anything else to your car :)

    Lesson learnt- be careful!

    in 350Z General

    Posted

    I would generally do an HPI on every car I was going to buy (what's the cost of an HPI when you are spending a few grand), although I didn't with the JDM I just got. I have the documentation of it coming into the country and I am the first UK owner. I figured that if it did have any accidents in Japan will not be listed anyway.

     

    I just spent hours looking at panels and got the guy selling it to pull up the carpets and the trim so I could see the metal inside and out to look for anything that looked like dodgy repair work.

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