All Activity

Trump's deficit calculations are only about goods and completely ignore services. For example, US has a trade surplus in services with the EU that is twice as big in value than the deficit in goods trade with the EU. Yet tariffs were placed on goods coming from the EU. I think the EU could simply respond by placing a 30% tariff on Google, Meta, X, etc. and it would be fair. I would guess that the EU has a better chance of creating its own IT services than the US has of industry returning. Somehow Trump likes physical industry and doesn't care about all the pollution that comes with it. It has been argued that there is a defence motivation behind this, as although currently US has a lot of military equipment, they lack the capacity to build more of it quickly to fight a world war. Another factor is that a lot of Trump voters live in the (formerly) industrial areas of the US. I can see SNL comment "I restored a beautiful smog, so much thicker than in China, and much more beautiful, America has returned to a new Smoggy Era. And the rivers have beautiful white foam, unlike anything seen before. The fish are dead, and we can have beautiful and proper beef burgers at McDonald's."

Have you checked with Richard Gale? He did a new run of DSO lenses in November or December of last year. Maybe he has plans to do another run sometime this year. Also, if you aren't already a member of the Richard Gale Optics facebook community, you might consider joining. They come up for sale every so often and if you ask there, you have a decent chance of finding somebody selling theirs. That's where I got my first DSO lens and the 38mm and 88mm converters.

Looking to buy if anyone wants to get rid of theirs.

Very good point about services. So when Dump talks about terrible trade deficits with certain countries, did he forget about Amazon Web Services, Apple App Store, Netflix, VISA, Master Card and Cloudflare? More to the point.. does he even know what they are? 🙂 Best way to fight fire with fire is for the rest of the world to kick out VISA and to sell all their reserve currency (USD) Then the Americans would come grovelling to us instead of the other way round.

i don't understand what you attach to the body, the battery?are there a model with screwing option then? best solution for me would be a couple of extra batteries, as long as i can buy them 3rd party to save som emoney. Otherwise a powerbank, a slim one could do the job without adding lots of weight/bulky and at really reasonbale price. I don't remember where i read about dummy batteries to be not really safe in fx30 though

While I agree that buying fewer things that you don't really need (only may want) is good for the environment, it's not the main result that will come out of this if the trade wars and tariffs continue. The main effect is that people who have low incomes will not be able to afford what they need to continue living, and the rich are comparately less affected (which is why a government led by billionaires is doing it). It's a move from progressive income taxes to a flat tax that mainly affects the poor and middle class. The billionaires know when to buy and when to sell because they have inside information of Trump's moves. So the billionaires sold stock before the tariffs came into effect and the common people sell in panic after the tariffs have crashed the stock market. After the crash the billionaires on the inside buy stock on the cheap after which the tariffs will be cancelled and the rich will have made a lot of money and the common people have lost their retirement savings. That's what this is all about. The richest people can never have enough. Industry will never return to the US because the American people are not willing to do that kind of work for as little money as the people who live in the 3rd world are willing to do it for. Not even close. Tariffs would need to be something 500-1000% for the manufacturing to actually return to the US. And that would make a lot of the American people poor in terms of what purchasing power they have. Instead, US sells services such as software and financial services to other regions, balancing the trade. This is of course not going to help them fight a world war because for that they would indeed need a manufacturing industry, which led to this dilemma.

Use the screw attachment holes on the body. I recommend Hawk-Woods batteries because they are cheaper than Sony but are reliable. There are all sports of options but only you can decide if you trust them. I didn’t find any issue with the open battery door (sold mine because I didn’t get along with the fiddly ergonomics). There is no magic solution - adding power to the camera will add bulk and cost!

I saw that! I appreciate you coming back to this thread to let me know!

the problem with 3rd batteries in sony fx30 is that they are warned as not original and you loose the battery percentage indicator. May be some model would still work though..this happen after a recent firmware updat ein sony fx30..so may be that some battery producers have updated ther batteries, but i don't know which one is good

do you use these batteries on fx30? they are big, cannot fit

To add to the buy local theme, with food it’s quite easy in some countries but very difficult in others. Here in Spain we can grow stuff all year round, it’s a big empty space and food is relatively cheap and easy to source locally, even in a big city like Madrid. Try that in Scotland, Malta, Egypt, Pakistan or many other countries that rely on global trade to feed their population or provide variety in produce. And that’s just food, which is usually just grown in one place and shipped to another. It’s not like technology which has different parts that come from all over the world to be assembled somewhere and then shipped somewhere else. I have no idea how they are going to calculate how much something is “worth” with so much instability.

I just went out into my back garden and turned the lawn into a field of soy beans instead. Someone has to feed those estimated 440 million piggies in China and I reckon I’m gonna get me a slice of that piggy pie.

Well, he just announced that at midnight, the tariff on Chinese goods will raise to 104%. I just can't stand all this winning.

Not sure how this is going to affect Spain. What is true is that more expensive goods have increasingly held their value in the second hand market as more and more people can’t afford to replace them with new since Covid. I have a 17 year old Toyota Corolla that I bought for about 3500€ 3 years ago (great car by the way!). It’s got another 40,000km on it and it’s probably worth more now! The camera market is a bit different. 2nd hand cameras have been getting cheaper (apart from some “must have” internet phenomenon cameras) and I’d expect a flood of people selling off gear if the economy starts tanking and prices will initially go down then shoot up when people realise they can only afford second hand gear. Unless Asia dumps all their cameras here at a discount! Spain’s main exports to USA seem to be olive oil, wine and some other products. We could probably do with changing the vast areas dedicated to monocultures as sooner or later they will all be deserts but like everything, changing tack from one day to the next is going to be problematic. The real problem is that no one believes that Trump won’t change his mind again or once he has some beautiful deals, that he won’t turn the screw again.

In pictures of the bottom of the FX30, it doesn't look like it has a cable hole for a dummy battery. AFAIK the FX30 can be powered over USB-C from a PD-capable charger or power bank (the manual states 9V at 2A is the minimum spec). Otherwise just buy some more batteries. As MrSMW suggested, if you choose carefully (in my experience) decent 3rd-party batteries can be almost as good as the OEM ones and are normally much cheaper (but avoid the really cheap ones - they are cheap for a reason...).

https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0BMFV7H9M?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title As I stated, they are not Sony branded batteries but they are 'NP-F970'. I never buy branded batteries for any of my gear other than the battery that comes with say a camera and never had an issue in pro use. Actually, I lie, I had one battery for a Fuji camera once that got a bit hot and expanded so I dumped it, but otherwise, nada.

Did Sony stop putting the little rubber gasket on their battery doors? They used to have them just like most other camera vendors have them. The purpose of that gasket is to allow you to run a cord for a dummy battery and still close the door. And you don't have to put the battery in a pocket. That's just one place. You could put it in a backpack or hip pack. You can also attach it to the camera in a number of ways - that'll just increase the bulk/size of the camera which is what you initially said you don't want to do (thus the suggestion that you put it on your body instead). You really have two options available to you to power the camera: - You use the internal battery of the camera - You power the camera with an external source, either by USB or dummy battery (or by a DC barrel plug if the FX30 has one) and then you put that external source somewhere. If you don't need to operate the battery continuously, you can certainly put a power bank in your bag and plug in the camera when not in use so that it'll recharge from the power bank. That'll be a cheap option which leaves the camera the same size/weight when it's being used.

where do you attach it directly?don't understand

i don't fancy dummy batteries..they need to leave the door open, and carrying the battery in the pocket is something i prefer to do not do

i don't understand, you got 4 sony batteries + charger for 100?

Think you mentioned the C500 II... on B&H Deal Zone today for $4999. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1633519-REG/canon_3794c002_eos_c500_mark_ii.html

I just went for a set of 4 including quad charger, 'Powerextra' from Amazon for just over €100 delivered. Mine are to power my Amuran lights 'off grid' because finding a power supply and using extension cables is not always ideal.

I dunno, I just popped down to the local magasin and right there on the shelf next to (the school kids buying) absinthe and Gauloise, were some bottles of the stuff labelled 'extra long shelf life 235'. Being serious, they DO pay much more for groceries here if it has a 'Made in France' sticker on it. We're not talking especially 'artisan sourced local product', but just every day things that are exactly the same. They fill up on the stuff out of national pride and fair play if it supports the supermarket profits. Personally, being a Brit, I'll go to LIDL or ALDI.

I'd also say that statements like this are often fairly privileged. The people I know who would self-describe as "localvores" or similar end up spending more on things like produce because it also comes with buying organic/sustainable and with well-paid labor. These are all things that I support and like - and I try to be mindful of them in my consumption as well, but I also have a good income, no kids, and I've paid off my house and car. For the people living in the house next door to me which is government-subsidized housing for struggling families, I doubt that "pay twice as much for your produce to support local farmers" is as compelling as "have enough food that school lunch is the only decent meal your kids eat today." It turns out that transportation costs in the modern world aren't huge and are dwarfed by a number of other factors. And as the stock market is already showing. The whole "buy and use less" thing sounds great - but instantly shifting to it from more of a consumerist mindset means massive short-term economic chaos, some of which may be unrecoverable. "I'm sure that in 1985, plutonium is available in every corner drugstore, but in 1955, it's a little hard to come by!"

Good point. Well France is also well fucked in the new world order! Or maybe they need to stock up on uranium as I did on a few bits & bobs I needed for this season just in case the shit hits the fan. I bought 4 batteries, 3 used lenses, 2 filter adapters and a filter (not in a pear tree).