[A. G. Maisey]

Thanks for the wrap, Bill.

I remember your pics, and you`re no slouch with the black box yourself.

I agree:- for the general run of photography that anybody is ever going to do, you do not need $2000 worth of camera. My wife takes really great pics of bonsais with a little old Nikon point and push. I`ve taken plenty of good scenery shots with a Pentax.I`ve even got some really great scenery shots that I took with a box brownie when I was 12 or 14 years old.

However---90% of what I take are pics of keris and similar things. Maybe 5% are pics of Javanese temple carvings and statuary. The other 5% is bits and pieces. I`ve tried a number of other cameras on the keris and the candis, and I can only get the results I want with a Nikon + macro. I have no doubt other cameras can also produce pics at least as good, maybe better, but I just haven`t tried them yet.

Here are two pics. They are not keris or weapons, but they are a subject that poses similar problems to photographing a keris. Both were taken hand held within 60 seconds of one another. One was taken with a Nikon D70 + 18-70 Nikkor; the other was taken with Sony cybershot.Both on automatic. Which is which?

Incidentally, I do not like the keris pics I can produce with this Nikon lens either. I personally think its a piece of garbage, but I reckon its still better than the lens in the Sony, which is some prestigious German brand.

I agree fully:- good photographers can take good pics with anything, but for some subjects you do need a bit of an edge with equipment, if you want decent results.