Hiro

Budget (for the DSLRs/MICLs) would hopefully be around the $1k mark with 1 or 2 lenses

For the D90, does this look like a reasonable kit?. Obviously saving a few coins by going second-hand

As I said, no real bias towards Canon or Nikon, except I tend to like the look of Canons more, and that is without holding either of them (I'd tend to gravitate towards the larger one due to Big Hand Syndrome)

Firstly, I know there are a couple of threads out there already about DSLRs, but they're all a couple of years old and the camera world moves pretty quickly...

So I've just got back from a 2-week cruise to NZ, lots of perfect opportunities for great scenery shots etc (the weather was especially kind for Milford Sound), and I'm going through my photos now and I must say I'm a little disappointed with how a lot of them have turned out. I've been using a 4-year old Panasonic FZ28 bridge/superzoom, and whilst it is a pretty good camera I've never really been able to get photos just the say I like them - part of that I'm sure is down to laziness in not learning how to use manual PASM settings and so on, but I'm thinking now that it might be time to get a bit more serious, especially since I'm wanting to start getting some better photos of the cars as well as scenery, plus dabble in HDR/effects/creative shots.

The problem is that this leaves me smack bang in the middle of a very contested group of cameras. Do I stick with a bridge/superzoom and save a bit of coin or make the jump to a mirrorless ILC or full-on DSLR, which may well save me money in the future? Go for brand-new entry level or get a second-hand mid-level for the same price? I've listed below what I would want in a camera, as well as a couple of different models that I have come across.

Panasonic fan-boy (but Panasonic don't make full-on DSLRs anymore) but willing to try new brands, obviously don't have any lenses so not really tied to a particular brand if I go to MILC or DSLR, but I would want good prices and availability on lenses.

Prefer SD memory cards rather than CF (as I've got ~20gig of SD cards running around already)

Decent HD video with AF and zoom-whilst-recording

Image stabilisation and good performance at high zooms

Viewfinder (either EVF or pentamirror/prism)

Built-in flash

Nice vibrant colours and contrast off-the-gun without the need for post-processing

Live preview, big LCD screen

Onboard HDR

Good night-shots for car photo-shoots and scenery etc

New cameras that have caught my eye/hip-pocket:

Bridge/superzoom:

Panasonic DMC-FZ200

MILC:

Panasonic G5

DSLR:

Canon EOS 6xxD

Nikon D3xxx/D5xxx

Thoughts? Am willing to look back a model series or two if a good cheap used one comes up, but at the same time I do like to have latest/greatest for a price-point...

Mini-Camry rear end, actually liking it more than the hatch...

Home servicing will only void your warranty if the damage is caused to or as a result of the work you have done. Obviously changing your own oil will not impact a warranty claim for rear suspension failures, for instance.

Lower another window a little bit - the noise you are hearing is the air inside the car resonating (like when you blow across the top of the bottle) - it is trapped and has nowhere to go so there are pressure waves building up. To relieve the pressure, lower another window (usually the same window on the other side of the car) a couple of inches and the noise should go away.

By no means is this an Aurion- or even Toyota-specific thing, it happens to all cars. Weather shields help as they allow you to open the windows slightly without direct air flow (as well as smoothing out the airflow around the doors) but do not completely fix the problem.

Spotted silver-ish Aurion at Thornleigh Maccas this morning, had a TOCAU sticker on the rear quarter window, TGV-013

Sure it doesn't have an aftermarket security system? Our ST162 SX ('88 model) didn't have a key-fob or anything just a plain metal key, you opened the door with the key (had non-remote central locking though).

Immobilisers weren't standard fitment on cars in Aus until the 90s anyway...

Coasting in neutral in a manual car uses more fuel than if you left it in gear (at least in most EFI cars)...

hmm could you explain?

from my personal understanding is whether it's in neutral or it's in gear, so long as you are not pressing on the accelerator and you are letting it coast, it should use the same amount of fuel.

In a modern EFI car, when you take your foot off the accelerator the ECU cuts fuel to the engine. Because you are still in gear, the wheels drive the engine (which is what engine braking is, and how regenerative breaking in a hybrid works) and the engine doesn't need fuel to run. Once the rpms drop enough though, the engine will want to stall and the ECU will start injecting fuel to keep the engine running.

In neutral, the road wheels aren't connected to the engine so there is nothing stopping the engine from stalling apart from the idle. Hence, you use fuel.

Coasting in neutral in a manual car uses more fuel than if you left it in gear (at least in most EFI cars)...

You've got some tree and cloud stuck to your bonnet, bit more elbow grease next time should fix it.

3 seconds is hardly a "long" time to crank before firing, especially when the car is cold.

Like ian says it dosnt matter where the sub sits on the shelf. It's designed to make sub sound not directional higher frequencies.

Same reason why you can get away with plain woofers in the door panels but tweeters need to be mounted up high in the dash or on the pillars - the higher the frequency, the more "directional" the sound is.

Subs are generally direction-less, thus they can be offset to one side of the car and not change the sound too much (think of how many people have their sub mounted to one side of the boot, or home theater systems with the sub off to one side/in the corner).

As for counting components as individual speakers, this is very common in car setups, since there are only so many places you can put speakers. In theory, a 2-way speaker is no different than a seperate standalone woofer and tweeter, both have two components but the 2-way just has them in a single mount, so it is easier to just refer to the number of components (which u54mot broke down on the first page)

Yes, a working horn is normally a requirement for roadworthy

There's even a tiny little horn logo on the steering wheel telling you that the horn is indeed behind the steering wheel pad just like just about every other car made in the last 80 years

My First HDR Image :P/> Got a tripod the other day (going on a cruise to NZ next week and I want to take some good deck shots of the sounds + harbours), decided to test it out in the uni carpark (I live a couple of blocks away)

An OK effort I reckon, a little too soft/cold and the whites are a tiny bit washed out (didn't adjust picture position at all, plus the resize meant that resolution + some sharpness was lost) but not too bad, better that than the opposite of a heavily saturated, un-natural colour look, and it can only get better from here

Just go out to Supercheap/Repco and pay the man $50 and get a Gregorys, much better to have a paper copy in your hand when you're arms deep in the engine bay rather than running back to the computer every 5 seconds.

If you're only after 1 or 2 things let me know and I'll look them up in mine, otherwise a workshop manual is probably the best investment you can make for your car.

Me likey those washers, I hate the ones I have at the moment. Had an VEII SV6 as a hire-car the other day and it had the washer jets built into the wiper arms. which is an ingenious idea (very rarely drive new cars so not sure if this is now common or not)

thats a surprise considering how close japan is to you guys

We have fairly strict import laws, one of the big problems is that we got the standard EP91 Starlet here and that makes importing the performance version much harder.

Doesn't matter to me, I'll be in NZ anyway :P

Can I put a 1989 S-6 DOHC / 24 valves 3.0 L out of a Cressida in a 1990 r31 sillouhette??

http://performancefo...der-constuction

Thats a 2JZ, so yes, a 1JZ would fit.

Engine in OP's post was a 7MGE, not a 1JZ (despite the user-name). Why you would want to put a 7M in an R31 though I have no idea (JZ though is perfectly acceptable)

Press Release:

TOYOTA RECALL DUE TO POWER WINDOW MASTER SWITCH

Toyota will commence a mailout to owners of affected vehicles at their last known address from mid-November asking them to make an appointment with their preferred Toyota dealer.

I've still not receive my letter yet? Has anyone else not receive their letter as well?

Amazing what you can learn when you actually read the article...

I am at a loss as to why someone would squirt WD40 or any other lubricant in to an electrical switch...

Cara sprayed degreaser on the dash to try and kill a spider once....

I'm guessing it's a dig at the whole blinged-up SUV scene that a lot of sports stars seem to subscribe to...