Nice. What camera did you use?

If you can afford it, buy the f/1.4. The f/1.8 is sharp enough, but bokeh is strange sometimes, it's difficult to focus manually, and it gives a distinct feeling of plastic. In addition, the new f/1.4 has AF-S, which means that it will focus faster and less noisy, and it will autofocus on the D40/60.

Use a tripod.  If you need to have image stabilization below 100mm, then you dont' have a steady enough hand or anywhere near enough light.  Tripods are cool.  And they don't cost nearly as much as a camera

If in-camera IS would make it possible for me to take photos without a tripod, why would I want to carry the extra weight of one (I own several)? Many places, a tripod isn't even allowed. And what is not enough light? If I want to do street shots at night, or indoors photos at churches, museums etc., there certainly won't be enough light always, unless I have IS and a fast lens. If technology can help me get those shots, all the better 

Having more opportunities is a good thing. Not having to carry extra weight also. I fail to see the negative aspects with in-body IS.

I find the video disgusting. Western fast-food, plus sugar products in general, have become huge health problems in many countries here in Asia where people have traditionally been eating a low calorie diet. When I arrived in Thailand for the first time, some 30 years ago, weight problems was something almost unheard of. Now, in the cities, it's so common, particularly among young people, that I hardly notice anymore.

You can always claim that people make their own choices, but with the help of the ultra efficient marketing machines of conglomerates like McDonald's and KFC, and little or no information about the health effects, people are easily convinced that this must be good, like most things coming from abroad.

So making fun of people who haven't seen a hamburger before, which is what the video is doing, only serves one purpose: get the junk out to those poor, uninformed souls before they die of old age.

I do eat a Whopper now and then and actually find it tasty, but I come from the Europe, and I've been informed about the importance of a varied diet all  my life. In very many countries, people don't get that information, simply because this has never been a problem until they got invaded by the junk industry.

I wonder who financed the video, and what is the ultimate purpose of it.

Edit: Now I know. Burger King financed it, so obviously the purpose is to sell more hamburgers. What a surprise   

Adelaide,
I very much agree with you in the principles, and I'm very much opposed to subs. Still, it looks to me now as if most of the sites offering subs has not increased subs sales. For me, they have actually gone down. It may have to do with economy, as I mention above, but it may also be because, at SS, customers were locked into subs (until they offered their own PPD solution), while at other places, they can switch around easily, a few months with subs, building a collection, and a few months without.

Just a theory of course, and there's no scientific evidence, other than how sales are developing within my portfolio. First 15 days of January this year, I had 36% less subs downloads at SS than the same period in 2008, with a 50% larger portfolio this year. Subs sales at other agencies aren't even close to compensating for that, but regular sales are up, particularly at FT, DT, BS and 123.

You can't compare December with January that way. December ends with a low, while January starts with a low. The only thing that makes sense is to compare with January last year. In my case, I'm around 20% ahead so far, but there are some surprising developments.

I opinion now is pentax for primes (or voigtlander but tamron for the zooms.

Phil

I agree. The Tamron is just great, and so are the Pentax primes, particularly the Limiteds. Best of each world does it 

Anybody else thinking this?

No, apart from the pixel count, the D700 is a much better camera than the 5DII, and with a lot of Nikon lenses, there's no way I would take the cost of changing to Canon. So far nobody knows what a D700X would cost anyway, so it's really not a very useful discussion.

If I should consider changing system, it would be to a Sony A900, to get access to the very nice Zeiss lenses and in-body IS.

I've had more sales at StockXpert so far in January than all of December. I try to understand, but it isn't easy   

I would not ask for interest, but it would be fair enough if they paid us every 6 months if we don't reach the minimum payout (Stockphotomedia does that, don't they?). 

Yes, they do (Stockphotomedia, I mean), every three months actually. I'd forgotten, so thank you for reminding me. Payment requested. 

Almost congratulations, Adelaide   

I also noticed that, when they at last paid through Moneybookers last month, they didn't update the payout to the accumulated sum, but paid what I had asked for three months later, leaving me with 16 dollars that I have to wait for another year or so   

Canon and Nikon are both good, but if you are used to a D70, you may find yourself "at home" more easily with a D90. And it can't be repeated too often: lenses are much more important than cameras. As a good, reasonably priced standard zoom, I can recommend the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8. Great lens, and it's available in any mount.