Comments for Jon Bradbury

Comment on Sixty minutes with the Panasonic Lumix G3 by Jon Bradbury

Jon Bradbury — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:44:29 +0000

Yeah the Ricoh are a nice camera (biased I grew up on a Ricoh XR-X film SLR), definitely like the fixed bright lens. Whilst still not a perfect solution I’m rather interested by the upcoming Canon G1X, decent zoom, almost DSLR sized sensor in a package not much bigger than the outgoing G12. Only negative on that is that it’s not got the brightest lens, but then neither had the typical zooms with these EVIL camera either. I could see that being a decent backup camera for in the bag & something to finally oust the spare DSLR.

Comment on Sixty minutes with the Panasonic Lumix G3 by Dave Wild

Dave Wild — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:34:12 +0000

I recently got hold of a Ricoh GR Digital IV. I wanted a new “small” camera for using when I wasn’t using my DSLR. I did look at some of the mirrorless interchangeable lens system cameras but once you start having lots of parts to swap you’re back where you are with a bag full of DSLR gear – even if all of it is a bit smaller and the lenses seemingly very expensive at the moment which seems to be a premium for making them smaller.

The Ricoh GRD IV was picked mainly due to my experience with the earlier Ricoh GX100. It’s hard to express why I love those cameras so much – they certainly seem odd to some people if you just look at a spec list or feature set – everything just seems to be in the right place and easy to get at – it’s just so fast to pick and change settings – overall though, there’s just a feeling of joy you get from these things just feeling so nice!

Comment on You Park Like a C*nt by John Glynn

John Glynn — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:51:00 +0000

Love this – have tweeted it. VAG by name, VAG by parking LMAO

Comment on You Park Like a C*nt by Dave Wild

Dave Wild — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:59:28 +0000

Hugely entertaining Nice find.

Comment on 2011 Ford Focus Zetec TDCI Road Test by Tony Sargeant

Tony Sargeant — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:38:32 +0000

Thanks Jon for your words, giving this more thought it came to me. How big is the ‘real world’ as Ford talks about in their fuel figures where they test these cars that are returning the same fuel figures as some cars were ten years ago. Have we really moved on.
How massive is this drain on the public purse. I have done a quick calculation that if in the UK car market sells 250,000 a year and this would equate to an over spend from the public sector over and above their estimated budget, ‘if these car makers figures are all incorrect to the same as Ford, it comes to £125,000,000 yes one hundred and twenty five million pounds extra than we bargain for. Who stops this, Ford says they are just complying with EU derivatives. That EU word again.

Comment on 2011 Ford Focus Zetec TDCI Road Test by Jon Bradbury

Jon Bradbury — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:44:15 +0000

Thanks for the comment, great to hear not only one struggling to match quoted mpg figures. I believe it’s all down to the newer ‘standard’ test route, and cars built to favour those tests. Back out in the real world…

Comment on 2011 Ford Focus Zetec TDCI Road Test by Tony Sargeant

Tony Sargeant — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:25:44 +0000

Great road test and very honest. it is a pity some of the other top mags and testers only re-produce what the manufactures give out in their blurb.
I own a new 61 reg Focus Estate and i like the car very much but sadly i only got one because i read the fuel figures of the 1.6 Diesel saying 67 to 76 mpg i cannot get anything over 48 mpg on flat East Anglia roads, so with fuel so expensive how can the general public ever win. Trying to be sensible and going for high fuel figures with a good speck should be easy; far from it while Ford and others keep misleading us with their adds of high fuel returns that can never be obtained. Why do we put up with this? The cost is over £500 a year on top of what it should have been for fuel. How do we make them tell the truth? Anyone big enough to take them on?

Comment on World Championship Hen Racing by clairetweet

clairetweet — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 17:19:33 +0000

I LOVE this! How did I NOT know about Bonsall hen racing? How gloriously mental. We must get ourselves down there next year. Fab photos, Jon.

Comment on Tokina AF 19-35mm vs Vivitar S1 19-35mm Pt1 by Jon Bradbury

Jon Bradbury — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 21:38:09 +0000

Hi Vic, thanks for the comment. I believe they are optically better but never got round to testing it, and even if not I think they’re worth the extra money for the build quality alone. I was very happy at the price I paid for my Tokina (£60), and even happier at the price I subsequently sold it for a few years later (£100 thank you eBay), ultimately one autumn days shooting with the sun in every other frame ghosting out the shot (I like shooting with the sun in the frame) subsequently followed by a 6 months 0% offer dropping in the post a few days later, I actually replaced it with Canons own 17-40mm, which doesn’t ghost with the sun in the frame, but that’s still the only thing I could really fault that Tokina 19-35mm lens on.

Comment on Tokina AF 19-35mm vs Vivitar S1 19-35mm Pt1 by Vic

Vic — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 20:30:09 +0000

Hello Jon.

I have had the Tokina branded version for a couple of years, in Pentax mount. I am very pleased with it. It cost £100 brand new and came with the dedicated lens hood.
Having done a little research before buying it, I discovered that the Tokina lens is a little different from the other brands. The Vivitar, Cosina, Tamron and others are made by Cosina and are identical. The Tokina is made by Tokina themselves, using Hoya glass and has Tokina’s own multi-coating system.
I don’t know if it is optically better than the others, or not. but it would explain the different look, weight and construction method.

Regards.

Vic.