This could be an official trip if enough Nikonians join in.
Let us know if you're interested in meeting other Nikonians in London early December this year.

Just say so here

Greetings,
Bo Stahlbrandt. Administrator and Nikonian in the Black Forest/Germany. My Gallery and profile.

Bo Stahlbrandt. Founder and Administrator located in Bratislava/Slovakia and in the Black Forest/Germany.
Find out more about The Nikonians Team -- See the latest, hottest posts

Bo,

If we set dates at some point, I could probably arrange for a business trip to London around that time and then join the Nikonians for a day or two. I would know for sure within a month of the trip.

Chuck

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

I'll be there. I'll also give a hand with any planning etc if required.....

Paul

The Dublin Nikonian

Paul

The Dublin Nikonian

Dublin, or the West would be nice too.
Especially Galway and in/around Ennis in Clare.

Chris

_____________________________
For All Your Special Functions
Http://MyersPhotography.com

Chris, now a complete digital convert, but still miss my F5, Myers

Http://MyersPhotoImaging.com

My Profile
View the rest of the Nikonians Team Here

I'm in...

Szen ARPS... A London Nikonian

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Sure I am interested. If we could meet in the first week of December, I could be there no problem.

Hope to meet many of you there

Pablo

1st week of December sounds fine.... would be nice to meet up with everyone and put faces to names!
But what could we Londoners photograph in boring old London?

jin

ArtemisWorks Photography

"Whatever debases the intelligence degrades the entire human being."
- Simone Weil

Oh, this sounds interesting, last time in the UK, I ended up missing the opertunity to get to go down to London, and I've kickin' myself ever since.

Aaron J. Heiner
Team Coast Guard Photographer
US Department of Homeland Security

Bo,

Just figure out a date and let us know. I'm sure I could get there with this much early warning.

Chris

______________________________
For All Your Special Functions
Http://MyersPhotography.com

Chris, now a complete digital convert, but still miss my F5, Myers

Http://MyersPhotoImaging.com

My Profile
View the rest of the Nikonians Team Here

I'll be there ... just let me know the dates well-in-advance

Thanks,

Nick_On

( The Corkonian Nikonian from Ireland )

Sounds interesting, especially if hotels can be gotten cheap (London hotels are extremely expensive. Might even be cheaper to fly back home every day ).
Not quite sure if I'll have time yet, but a long weekend should be possible.

any size is fullframe for a given definition of frame

Hi,

I am definately up for it! So count me in!

Neill
http://www.epicdream.co.uk

Neill

Website: www.epicdream.co.uk

I might make it. Haven't heard about these official tours before. Could somebody please fill me in with some more details?

Thks in advance - Karspoul

Won't make it - sigh... Well, the rest of you will know if Santa (the real one) really lives at 40 Churton Street or in Greenland.

Karspoul

Okay Kids,

It's time to rock and roll on this one so I've taken the jump and booked time off work for the week of November 30th - December 8th . I'll be arriving in London on the 30th and heading out again on the 8th. I'll be in need of a break by then so I'll be in London at that time anyway, but I'd really like to get together with some other Nikonians and see if we can make a real holiday from it.

I'd love to see a little more of the UK so possibly a trip up to Scotland for a couple of days during the week could be slotted in there?

Can we get a list of parties who will DEFINATELY be there so I can start looking into accomodation requirements, transport and sites to visit etc? Also, in the case of London based Nikonians (Szen for example) you might indicate whether or not you'll be residing at home or would like to crash with the rest of us.

Time's ticking fast so I'd really appreciate prompt responses.

Thanks,

Paul

The Dublin Nikonian

Paul

The Dublin Nikonian

That's me off the rocks and into the water as well now...

For all interested, I can supply a list hotels with their relavent rates in a pdf format. These are hotels my company uses for visitors when they come over to central London. Most are decent, I think!

As for myself, I'll most likely crash at home... or on the floor, which ever the case might be.

By the way, I don't have any problem if anyone wants to sleep on my downstairs sofabed for the duration of this get-together. Give me a shout if you're interested. My place is a 15 minute train ride into London Bridge station and realistically my living room should be fine for two fellow Nikonians (I guess it's gonna be a first-come-first-secure case here!).

As for a possible stop on the London walk-about, do you think you fellas and gals would be interested in a visit to Grays? I can try to give the fellas a call to warn them of the impending Nikonians' invasion if need be!!!

Szen ARPS... A London Nikonian

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Good man Szen,

I'd take a place on your floor for sure but I'm gonna wait and see who else is coming. Maybe a visitor from further afield with a more expensive plane ticket would appreciate it more! I've family on the outskirts of London I can kip with anyway so I'll be okay. Greys should certainly be on the hit list.

Come on folks, get the credit cards out and book some tickets! If you're dreading the significant other half and their response, why not tell them you're bringing them Christmas shopping in London? .....He He.....Shopping in Greys.... It can't be all that bad, even Santa's a Nikonian now!

You gonna make the journey Bo?

Paul

The Dublin Nikonian

Paul

The Dublin Nikonian

hi,

i'm interested in this! it sounds like a great reason to go to your part of the world. if i do join i would like to stay outside of the london area. will that be allowed? i have been to london several times but have mainly stayed at hotels in the kensington area (typical tourist).

so you say you live 15 minutes by train from london... do you (or anyone) know places to recommend that i could stay at possibly with one of my kids (23 years and older). when i travel,i find that staying where the locals are is more fun than with the tourists. one can eat and go where the locals go which is more authentic than the tourist-beaten paths. i especially like to go to the local supermarkets wherever i am! getting there is half the fun since then i'm in local country!

around what date in december is this going to happen? i will be coming from los angeles,california possibly spring boarding it from new york or baltimore. by the way,what's the weather like there in december?

Hi,
I'm a Nikon newbie, had my F80 fo about 3 weeks and only took up photography beyond point+shoot at easter with my Mum's P30. I'd quit like to meet up with some other Nikonians, who could perhaps throw some friendly advice my way?
I live in Oxford and have family in London so I could crash with them. How do these meetings/tours work? Does everyone just get together and go out a take photos of things? I'd love to meet up over one weekend as long as you don't mind having a novice tagging along. If you want to see some of my photos, mainly of Oxford, I could post some up.
Cheers,
Tom

Hey Tom,
We are all still learning new things everytime we "play-around" with our cameras so you are definitely more than welcome to join in with us as we fumble along the road to self-enlightenment!!!

As for the plans for this get-together... we're are still trying to firm things up but watch this space for more updates soon.

Paul - the ball's rolling now...

Szen ARPS... A London Nikonian

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

hello,

ive been thinking about a trip to london for some time ago...
so i'd really like to come, but i can not confirm now as i have to deal that with wife (i'm not sure she wants to spend some - more - days hearing talking photo ), and we are already planning a trip to visit some friends in spain...

anyway, i hope to see you all at photokina !!

(by the way, who can bring me a 85 1.8 from usa at photokina?)


belgian not only eat mussels, they take pictures too, and will be at photokina

regards,

lucd.

Only an idiot never changes his mind...
check my galleries at : http://www.inzenet.com/photography

Luc,

Just a hint: The great 85/1.8 is available at technik direkt for EUR 539,-

http://www.technikdirekt.de/main/page.asp?DS=1&TS=D5YAS9SJ&pageid={A0472D76-FFF0-430F-A9D3-8FFB807AF558}&type=focus&doctype=article&focus=591149

Greetings,
Bo Stahlbrandt. Administrator and Nikonian in the Black Forest/Germany.
Find out more about the Nikonians team on the Team Page. My Gallery and my Profile.

Bo Stahlbrandt. Founder and Administrator located in Bratislava/Slovakia and in the Black Forest/Germany.
Find out more about The Nikonians Team -- See the latest, hottest posts

thanks bo,

but it costs EUR 315,- at adorama, then if i add EUR100,- to the difference, i get a SB80DX

for german online shop, have a look at http://www.ac-foto.com/ger/produkte.php (the 85 is at 515)

regards,

lucd

belgian not only eat mussels, they take pictures too, and will be at photokina

regards,

lucd.

Only an idiot never changes his mind...
check my galleries at : http://www.inzenet.com/photography

Hi, I would be interested in coming down to London for a day or two and meeting some people.

Cheers
Mike

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

I am in London every other month...
Just give us dates...

We will be there,

LucVN
One of the Belgian Nikonians

Kind Regards,

http://users.pandora.be/LVN/images/NikonD2.jpg
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LucVN
One of the Belgian Nikonians

is there anyone in charge for yet ? WE need to have someone in charge to put down a list of people go and where to met and at what time to met also bring up some agenda like where we all go and etc.
Please post it up so other people can see and join . I really want to go on this but i never travel to UK before so I crutially need information such as place to stay and all others. Please post it up. Time is ticking here.
Olivier

DEADCPU

i will be there !
i convinced her (wife) that you are not so bad guys , and she agrrrrrrreed...
i will certainly make a trip for one day to join you...

is there possible to put some dates on the trip ?

regards,

lucd.

regards,

lucd.

Only an idiot never changes his mind...
check my galleries at : http://www.inzenet.com/photography

Hi fellas,
I guess I'd be one of the obvious "helpers" at this gathering... considering that I live here!!!
I have suggested to Bo for the first weekend of December, (6th,7th & 8th Dec) but have yet to get an official confirmation on this. But in the mean time, I've attached a few London Hotel contact numbers below for general reference. My company normally use these hotels because they are situated very close to us and they are also right in the centre of London!

This list is in a Acrobat PDF file format and can be viewed or downloaded here.

Szen ARPS... A London Nikonian

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

for me it's ok for the 6-7-8th of december week-end

I can come only for one day, it would be on saturday 7th then.
I'm sure that i could find you easily with all the equipments you'll carry, but i would prefer to fix a meeting point.

see you,

lucd.

regards,

lucd.

Only an idiot never changes his mind...
check my galleries at : http://www.inzenet.com/photography

Hi,

The 6th, 7th & 8th December is great for me. As I live in the UK accommodation and travel isnt a problem, so I can definately make it....

Thanks,

Neill
http://www.epicdream.co.uk

Neill

Website: www.epicdream.co.uk

Okay Boys'n'Gals,

It's been confirmed! Our first official Nikonians Gathering in London UK will be over the weekend starting Friday 6th to Sunday 8th December 2002. Anyone else wanting to help organise this please contact me personally.

My take on this so far will be a meet-up drinks sessions for anyone interested on the Friday evening in a London pub, but note that all pubs close at 11pm so it won't be an all-nighter. Our actual gathering will be on the 7th Saturday, say 10am for a mid-morning start, hoping for the rest of day shooting around London venues (to be decided), possibly finishing the day with a not-too-expensive meal in London (I believe people will be watching budgets with the up-coming Christmas presents issue... you know that new lens you've been wanting to get all year long! But we have quite a choice here... Chinese, Indian, Italian, Belgian, Greek?) Sunday is open to suggestions, so far its a rest and recovery day but for anyone still with an itchy trigger finger, I'm sure something can be arranged!!!

To date, the following members have shown interest in the gathering. Please contact me to confirm, cancel or to add your name to this list.

List updated 2 Oct 2002
People who have confirmed
SzennyBoy - Szen
TheSicilian - Lucia
epicdream - Neill
lucd - Luc
LucVN - Luc
Mike777 - Mike

People to confirm...
ChuckDiggins - Chuck
irishgil - Paul
Cmyers - Chris
andreop - Pablo
jrong - Jin
lordnikon - Aaron
Nick_On - John
jwenting - Jeroen
jaymor - Jay
Smirf - Tom
bgs - Bo
deadcpu - Olivier
CCD1 - Craig

Szen ARPS... A London Nikonian

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Hi Szen,

sorry, its a no go for me.

Have a great weekend!

That's okay Karsten.

Szen ARPS... A London Nikonian

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Hi Szenny,

I've been sitting on the fence on this one for a while, mentally rocking between a yes & a no, depending on the 'funds' available to me .... but, since I let you guys down on the last trip to London I reckon you can count me in on this one. My wife has scheduled a small winter holiday for both of us, towards the end of October ... so this could very well deplete the funds further ... but, I'd still like to meet fellow Nikonians in the flesh, and get some good shots from the occasion as well .

We'll need to firm-up on the dates and the agenda however, so that we get a more-concrete response from everyone else ? ... I know Irishgil was keen to go up-the-country, but with such a limited time available to our visit, I reckon there'll be plenty to do around London ? ... anyone know of any events / festivals / etc. on at that time ? ... I think this kind of info. should probably have a large bearing on the dates that we meet ? .. .what do people think ?

Nick_On

( The Corkonian Nikonian from Ireland )

If this is gonna be of any help... I'm on leave for the WHOLE month of December! Okay, I'll disappear from the 15th onwards flying over to Sicily but for the first two weeks of December I'm free to go shoot pictures!!!

Szen ARPS... A London Nikonian

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Hi Szen,

Count me in... add me to the list.
Most likely to be there on the first evening for the Pub closing (lol)

Rgds,

LucVN
One of the Belgian Nikonians

Kind Regards,

http://users.pandora.be/LVN/images/NikonD2.jpg
Portfolio - Profile - Team Page
LucVN
One of the Belgian Nikonians

Done!

Szen ARPS... A London Nikonian

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Yep, I'll be there. Depending on other plans I might only be there for the saturday, but will try and make it for the whole w/e.
Cheers
Mike

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Gotcha!

Szen ARPS... A London Nikonian

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

szenny & others,
we wish we could join you guys there, 'coz we have a trip to new york and we will just be stopping over london on dec 5 with my wife & kid, for plane transfer,
and maybe we can tour london on our return trip by mid january..

i just wish you all a great nikonian fun time in London!!!

:: e r c a b 1 ::

Szen,

One of my daughters will join us for this trip.
Julie is 14 years old and begins photography at school.
Her equipment is an F80 and she is very interested to come to London.

I just hope her end of year exams will allow for this !#?<>$

Kind Regards,

LucVN
One of the Belgian Nikonians

Kind Regards,

http://users.pandora.be/LVN/images/NikonD2.jpg
Portfolio - Profile - Team Page
LucVN
One of the Belgian Nikonians

hello,

i just add an idea about our trip...
As we will bring lot of lenses to this trip, isnt'it a good occasion to prepare a big comparative test between some lenses (i especially think about the 17-35 | 18-35 | 20- 35 which often comes "on the table" into forums...)
also possible are some specific tests around a focal like "all at 35 mm", all "50 mm", and also distorsion and vignetting tests...
i checked profiles of participants... the only big missing lens actually is the 28-70 afs...

I am volunteer to prepare sheets whith lists of all focals / apertures to shoot by lens (to determine) and after to scan all slides (thanks feeder) after the trip...

waiting your impressions,

lucd.

regards,

lucd.

Only an idiot never changes his mind...
check my galleries at : http://www.inzenet.com/photography

Hi,

Sounds like a good idea to me, I am up for a bit of compare and contrast.

Neill
http://www.epicdream.co.uk

Neill

Website: www.epicdream.co.uk

This message to all the people (& the others too!) who have shown some interest in having this gathering and have not yet confirmed!

Move your buts & Nikons -> confirm your attendance to SZEN!!!

All of us who have met at the Photokina will confirm that it was fun!
Not all of us can make the MOAB but LONDON could be fun in this part of the world => come on guys!

We know we can count on you,

LucVN
One of the Belgian Nikonians

Kind Regards,

http://users.pandora.be/LVN/images/NikonD2.jpg
Portfolio - Profile - Team Page
LucVN
One of the Belgian Nikonians

i hear ya! i hear ya!

i watched this all last august and when nothing broke made other plans. i'm now trying to weasel out of a commitment that weekend. if i go, it will be a last minute thing on this one, so right now i am out until i'm in.

yogi berra said something to that effect didnt he?

Jaymor,

We have full confidence in your weaseling capabilities when it comes to join a Nikonian trip...

Thanks,

LucVN
One of the Belgian Nikonians

PS: What about all the others?
Szen could we have a status here?

Kind Regards,

http://users.pandora.be/LVN/images/NikonD2.jpg
Portfolio - Profile - Team Page
LucVN
One of the Belgian Nikonians

Okay, here's the latest updated list of participants...

List updated 10 Oct 2002
People who have confirmed

1. SzennyBoy - Chuon-Szen Ong
2. TheSicilian - Lucia Burgio-Ong
3. epicdream - Neill Phillips
4. lucd - Luc Debliquis
5. LucVN - Luc VN & Julie (daughter)
7. Mike777 - Mike Marlowe
8. jwenting - Jeroen Wenting


I'm definitely all for the lens comparative tests. If there are any other specific lenses any of you are interested in, please post it here so that between the lot of us, we can make sure that we have one amongst us! (lucd - the 17-35 will be in the bag & I'm working on the 28-70 AFS )

Jaymor - weasel away...

Szen ARPS... A London Nikonian

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Just booked my flight over.

I don't have any highend Nikkors to bring, but I do have a Tokina 28-70 ATX-Pro for comparisson.

any size is fullframe for a given definition of frame

I have one of the new 24-85G AFS lenses.
Cheers
Mike

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Hi,

Wide angle range:

I can bring
AF-D 14mm/2.8
AF-D 24mm/2.8
AF-D 20-35mm/2.8
AF-D 28-105mm/3.5-4.5

Kind Regards,

LucVN
One of the Belgian Nikonians

Kind Regards,

http://users.pandora.be/LVN/images/NikonD2.jpg
Portfolio - Profile - Team Page
LucVN
One of the Belgian Nikonians

In order not to confuse users, i propose to start another thread concerning the mega lens-test we plan to do (i hope that guiness will not cause too much distorsion on lenses

here is a link to that discussion

http://www.nikonians.org/dcforum/DCForumID30/225.html

regards,

lucd.

regards,

lucd.

Only an idiot never changes his mind...
check my galleries at : http://www.inzenet.com/photography

Guinness causing distortions... nay!

Szen ARPS... A London Nikonian

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Szen,

I feel like bringing some good beers from Belgium because all of this non-European (UK) stuff seems to be distorting...

... Just kidding...

Kind Regards,
http://users.pandora.be/LVN/images/NikonF5.jpg
LucVN
One of the Belgian Nikonians

Kind Regards,

http://users.pandora.be/LVN/images/NikonD2.jpg
Portfolio - Profile - Team Page
LucVN
One of the Belgian Nikonians

HaHaHa... well there's always Belgo (Belgium Restaurant chain in London) which serves LOTS of Belgium beers...

Szen ARPS... A London Nikonian

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Szenny & others,

just a bit off topic here...
what is the weather like there in London during mid January, 'coz we will be touring your place by that time, i'll be with my wife & 4 y.o daughter...
any tips from you will be much appreciated...
thanks in advance...

:: e r c a b 1 ::

Dress up your daughter warm! You'd be looking at temperatures between 0-10 degrees Celsius (32-50 degrees Fahrenheit) not counting wind chill and it tends to be wet as well, so a brolly would definitely come in handy. Not much daylight time as well as we're in the middle of winter at that time and it doesn't help with it being gray and overcast most of the time.

November thru' to Febuary is when most people take it for granted that they'd be going to work in the dark and come back from work in the dark!

Oh... bright side of it is that its great for night photography!

Szen ARPS... A London Nikonian

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Szen, about night photography (now that you brought it up)...
Will there be enough tripods if needed (probably if all the Londoners and near Brits bring theirs) so we don't have to scare those airline people with potentially lethal weapons (I plan on travelling with hand luggage only so packing it in a suitcase is out).
A monopod can pass for a walking stick, I've flown with one before without problems, but a tripod might be tricky (especially counting the number of bags it would lead to

any size is fullframe for a given definition of frame

Jeroen, I was gonna e-mail nearer the time but now that you've mentioned it... I do have a spare tripod which you can use for the day. Also, don't bother with your flash (if you were planning to bring one...), I've got a few lying around! Umm... but you'll have to carry these yourself though. We can sort the logistics out later since you're crashing over at my place!

Szen ARPS... A London Nikonian

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

I second what SzennBoy said about the weather that time of year. I was in London for the week following Thanksgiving in 2001. The sun starts going down around 3:30 or 4:00 PM and it is totally dark by 4:30 or 5:00. And it is quite windy, very overcast, and wet most of the time. I think we had perhaps one day's time total worth of good, clear weather for the entire week we were there.

The good thing you will find though is that tourist traffic is down so you can get into most everything with little or no lines. Some places will require you purchase a ticket for later in the day, but there is so much to do and photograph in London that you can easily kill the time.

Pay close attention to the places that request no photos inside. In particular, St. Pauls and Westminster Abbey both prohibit photographs while inside. Outside is fine for everything.

Hope you all have a great trip!

--
Walter Rowe
Music, Travel, Outdoor, Nature & Wildlife Images
Columbia, MD

take a monopod :

picture first half-day
walking stick after guinness break

lucd.

regards,

lucd.

Only an idiot never changes his mind...
check my galleries at : http://www.inzenet.com/photography

Aww, Szen, that's a bit harsh... considering that there have been Januaries in the past with some weeks of very bright, dry and sunny (but bitterly cold and crisp) weather! Perfect light for photography actually, even though it gets dark early. The general rule of thumb is, if it is very cold, chances are that it'll be dry, and if it's raining, it won't be THAT cold.

Suffice to say that the weather in London is difficult or impossible to predict, especially so long before January!

Here's hoping for more sun and less cloud in January.
jin

ArtemisWorks Photography

"Whatever debases the intelligence degrades the entire human being."
- Simone Weil

Well, London weather is known to be predictably unpredictable.
Whatever people predict, it WILL be something else

any size is fullframe for a given definition of frame

so i'll predict a very cold and very rainy weather during our w-e

(if it really happens, i'll run fast so you don't kill me)

luc - with raincoat and umbrella

"don't you think it's better to look into the viewfinder in place of looking at the camera itself !..."

regards,

lucd.

Only an idiot never changes his mind...
check my galleries at : http://www.inzenet.com/photography

Londoner's Observations #189:
A very good way of preventing rain is to wear your raincoat and bring your brolly. Then there's a 99% chance of fair weather.

But do be careful. The moment you leave your brolly behind in a cafe or restaurant, barely an hour later, there WILL be a massive downpour.

jin

ArtemisWorks Photography

"Whatever debases the intelligence degrades the entire human being."
- Simone Weil

Szenny, Jin, & Walter

Thanks for the tips!
I will surely wrap my daughter when we get there. coz she havent experience what is "winter" like - she grew up in a tropical country (philippines), and now living for a year on one of the hottest place (riyadh)... and she will now experience what is like in London in Winter!

btw, what is a brolly?

thanks again,
any additional tips will be much appreciated...

ps. sorry if i posted my queries in this thread,
its kinda irrelevant, i think...

:: e r c a b 1 ::

Oops... sorry for the slang...
Brolly as in an umbrella.

Szen ARPS... A London Nikonian

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

so, we'll be expecting a bit rainy january....
we will surely bring bring a brolly!

:: e r c a b 1 ::

Hi all,

I just found this message and was wondering if there's room for a Newbie to join in. I came across information about the date, but don't see any mention of times or location. Can someone please fill me in.

I don't have any high end gear, but everyone is welcome to use my 75-150E lens.

Thanks,
Alan

Hello and welcome Alan !

the trip is planned for 7-8 december, we still have to fix meeting time and place (time to do it now, boys ?)
You can find this dates and a list of participants in a previous SzennyBoy's message in this thread.

concerning your gear, i remember from a guy who owned almost the whole nikon "collection", he said : "with all that, i've never been able to take a good picture"
the photgrapher makes the picture, not the camera...

hope to see you,

lucd.

i tried to sign in this blank box, but i just have some pen on my screen now, and my signature doesn't appears in my messages !

regards,

lucd.

Only an idiot never changes his mind...
check my galleries at : http://www.inzenet.com/photography

Hi Luc,

Thanks for the message. I just read Szen's new posting with all the trip details. During my visit to the UK I'll be staying with family who are located in Colchester...a couple hours from London.

I'm going to look into weekend timetables for the coaches/trains, and shall confirm with Szen ASAP. Even if I'm a little late, I suspect that finding a group fully armed with an arsenal of Nikon gear and tripods shouldn't be too difficult

Looking forward to meeting you all.

Alan Li
Nikonian from Mississauga, Canada