Melbourne Meetup

[David W]

Robert, by "the giant red steps" I assume you mean those red things across from the front entrance of the casino on Queensbridge St between it and the Old Sandridge Rail Bridge? See you there at 2PM.

I shall be at the exhibition beforehand and if you see a grey haired bloke with a brown and orange Crumpler camera bag and a monopod (hopefully they'll let me take that in) do say hello.

It does look like showers on Saturday so I'll also probably be wearing a blue waterproof jacket.

[arthurking83]

The street separating the the Crown Casino and Jeff's Shed is Clarendon St(technically South Melbourne(or South Bank.. same difference).
Batman Ave is much further along the Yarra, on the other side of the CBD area.

I'm not 100% sure but I think the name of the strip along the south side of the river towards the SouthBank/Flinders St station area may be called SouthBank Promenade or The Promenade .... or something

Considering the weather condition forecast, to keep out of the cold it may be best to meet up at the MEC entrance. It may be busy, but it'll provide shelter from both the expected rain and the cold southerlies too.

There is no reason we can't do multiple meets too.
Members may want to PM details to each other and arrange common transport, or to meet up somewhere convenient into small groups and subsequently meetup into a larger group.

I can PM my mobile number to anyone interested, as a point of reference, where we can all catch up in the hustle and bustle of the show itself.
Some folks may already have my number from previous meets .. I know I have a few from over the years.

If anyone requires transportation to or from an accommodating location, I may be able to provide this(not sure what I'll end up doing after the meetup tho), so this offer is not set in stone .. just a possibility.

[Terri]

Haha! I've been trying all day to think of where there are giant red steps - but now I know what you mean! I'm good to meet there at 2pm if that's the concensus - or even if it's not

I have a ticket for the digital show thingy, but probably won't go ... just not into digital stuff ... wish we all still used polaroids. (OMG! I just googled polaroid to check the spelling - it seems they're back! )

Edited to add: Actually, maybe they will be selling Polaroid cameras at the Digital Show? This may cost after all!

[Terri]

Ooops! Cross posted with Arthur... MEC entrance is good for me too

[Terri]

Good Morning Everyone!

Are we still meeting up today? What time is everyone thinking?

[Eberbachl]

Me too... Currently sitting on the tram wondering if there's a meet and if so, when and where.

[Terri]

Maybe everyone is still at the digital show? I don't live far away, so if it's a go I can get to the city pretty quick

[David W]

Well, I was outside the Digital Show at 11:00 am. There where lots of people standing around but of those none had camera gear, apart from me, so I didn't approach anybody to give them the secret AP handshake. Seriously, obviously a waste of time standing there not knowing what anybody looked like.

I decided to go into the show (it was great) and meet everybody as had been suggested at 2:00 PM at the red steps on the Southbank. Stood there for 20 minutes, nobody showed. How disappointing!

I think twice about whether it's a waste of time before I try another meet.

[Eberbachl]

I enjoyed the show very much, but it's unfortunate a meet didn't eventuate. Maybe next time.

As expected, Nikon and Canon had a huge presence. A great pity about Pentax's poor excuse for a stand. I went shooting my K-5 and 18-55mm WR in the rain and loved it.

[Terri]

David, I hope you decide to give it another go. In hindsight, I should have gone to the red steps at 2pm - obviously there was somebody there! I wasn't sure about final decisions, what with the digital show / weather / etc.

Eberbachl, glad you liked the show and looking forward to seeing your pics. There's something about Melbourne city shots in the rain - they're my favourite shots, but unfortunately it does involve going out in the rain!

Well, I'm up for trying again for another meet. I've been on a couple over the years and enjoyed them immensely.

[David W]

Thanks Terri. I'm sure I will join the next one where hopefully we'll have some great weather and a good turnout. I was just disappointed as I was so looking forward to today to meeting some like minded people with more experience than me.

The Show was really good. In fact I'm going back tomorrow to do a little shopping that I wish I'd done today.

[Terri]

The Show was really good. In fact I'm going back tomorrow to do a little shopping that I wish I'd done today.

Well I have a ticket but haven't been yet, I think I'll go have a look tomorrow. I'm trying to decide if the budget can stretch to one of those new polaroids - I wonder if they have them at the show.

[David W]

I'm trying to decide if the budget can stretch to one of those new polaroids - I wonder if they have them at the show.

I'm pretty sure I saw them however I got side-tracked and didn't get on the stand. Polaroid (the company) aren't exhibiting but a distributor may be at there.

[fastr1red]

I'm going to be there tomorrow. I was actually on my way today and got side tracked and ended up on a photo shoot LOL. Pics going up shortly.

[arthurking83]

Sorry guys for not actually arranging to all meet up properly.

Andrew and I were also at the show .. about 10:30ish.
It was a bit annoying having to queue up to get a pass to get in.
Even tho you were registered, you still had to queue up to get this 'other' entry pass .... so that they could scan it as you entered.

I didn't see anyone paying to get in. There was also a registration booth where you could simply get this same registration pass as you got from online, and then walk to the opposite end of the entrance to then use this reg paper to get your registered pass.

So, this online registration slip you get is only really going to save you a minute or two out of the process of getting in.
Even tho you had this registered slip of paper, you then had to queue up to get this register slip scanned, so that they could give you the pass you needed to get in!
Why not just give you a printable copy of the register slip, that allows you to get into the exhibition hall in the first place?

If that's not the most convoluted method of allowing people free entry, I have no idea what is?

Anyhow, once it, it all seemed fairly reasonable.
I forgot my phone, so of course couldn't see what was happening in terms of the meetup in real time, and who was where and so forth.

Played with a few nice lenses(mostly Nikon of course) got a bit disappointed in that Sigma and Tamron didn't have the Nikon versions of a few lenses I wanted to try out.
Andrew had very good go at one of the Olympus reps about the validity or worth of their claims... made me laugh, and many of the onlookers seemed to agree about what it was that they were trying to prove.

It was all good .... found lots of info about printing processes, some of the pitfalls and some of the hidden facts that are always nice to know beforehand.

Some hilarious gear to get a feel for too.
Found some completely unknown brand of tripod that looked quite sturdy at first appearance. It looked quite slick in it's apparent build quality, and finish.
It had one of those long lens gimbal heads, which made it hard to assess properly, but just seeing the way the top plate flexed and twisted just using a small amount hand force almost made me burst into laughter... Andrew was suitably amused by my amusement.
Thanks .. but NO thanks basically.
Just some stuff to look out for when trying to assess peripheral gear I suppose.

While Andrew was busy with some chatter about stuff I know nothing about with a rep, I watched for a few minutes as this poor lady was trying to mount a D3s onto a completely inadequate tripod and ballhead.
The quick release plate had to be the most ridiculous fit and removal process I'd seen in any tripod gear, and once she finally had it fitted to the ballhead, the level of instability had even me worried that it was going to fall off the ballhead. It had the solidity and rigidity of a bowl of porridge!

Even tho the bulk of the show was more to do with printing services, and way too much space was allocated for 'processing seminars' and photography exhibitions and competitions.

Sony didn't have a stand, neither did Panasonic(the two notable absentees that I noticed) and there may have been others, that I didn't notice either.

Had there been an entrance fee, I'd have been disappointed in the show in an overall manner.
Suffering the queuing up for a free show was a mild annoyance, and an easier method could have easily been applied .. but once through that hurdle, it was quickly forgotten.

Once again, apologies for not planning for the contingency of ill planning!

Any next meet will surely be easier and more thorough in it's planning and execution.

[Eberbachl]

It's interesting about what you mention regarding the queuing up process and having to get some kind of entry pass after registering.

I just printed my free ticket received via email with the barcode on it at home, and walked straight through the doors when I arrived. They scanned my ticket as I passed - I didn't even have to stop walking. I did arrive later though, but there was still a steady stream of folk entering.

Eberbachl, glad you liked the show and looking forward to seeing your pics. There's something about Melbourne city shots in the rain - they're my favourite shots, but unfortunately it does involve going out in the rain!

Thanks Terri,

I'll post some in the critique section in a few minutes. Nothing award winning I'm afraid - all hand held walk about snaps, mostly in low light and all with the slow kit lens on my K-5, but a few I'm happy with.

Cheers,

Luke.

[I @ M]

Was a pleasant day for a drive, in the doors of the show at 10.30 am and home by 10.00 pm and didn't even manage to dent the credit card -- much.
Sorry we didn't get to meet a few people, it was only around about 11.00 that his lordship and I woke up to the fact that the others might be outside.