Should be just a case of removing and replacing.

Re swinging arm and chain. If your new chain is endless, put it on the swing arm before refitting.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/DJI-Phantom-Professional-Aerial-Quadcopter/dp/B00X9OYDD4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1445243676&sr=8-3&keywords=dji+phantom+3

Is this the same or cheaper copy?

http://www.banggood.com/DJI-Phantom-3-Professional-With-4K-Camera-Advanced-1080p-HD-RTF-p-973201.html

Looks like you made a good choice and 18mp isn't to shabby. Only one thing that I would maybe comment on and that's the AF assist being in the flash. Apart from that it looks like a good choice.

Now I need to warn you about a severe illness that inflicts most DSLR users.

In your case it will manifest itself as Canonitus. In may case it's called Nikonitus. Symptoms come in the form of cold sweats when searching the net and camera shop windows looking for your next fix. These windows and web pages will draw you in like a magnet. You leave the house early in the morning looking for that perfect location or shot, often not returning until late in the evening. You'll sit in front of your Lightroom or Photoshop for hours trawling through thousands of photos, deciding what to bin and what to keep.

Welcome to the world of DSLR's and happy shooting

 

I use a Nikon D7100 as my main work horse and have always used Nikons so can't speak for other makes. IMO a DX sensor and something in the region of 24mp is fine. Word of warning your picture image will depend on the glass you put in front of the sensor. My back up bodies which are 12mp are still pretty sharp with some Nikon kit lenses fitted but stick the kit lenses in front of 24mp you can see their shortcomings. I'll add that if you are just printing out at up to A3 then 12mp and kit lens... depending on type of lens should be fine as long as you're not a pixel counter. Some kit lenses are sharper than others. With landscapes I would go for the best glass you can afford.

I've just finished upgrading all my kit glass for Pro glass and the difference is noticeable. A prime lens (fixed focal length) will mostly always give a sharper image than a zoom... even pro zoom, though pro zooms are far better than kit zooms.

As mentioned tripod, plus remote trigger come in handy as do neutral density filters. And yes, shoot in RAW and save files as TIFF if storage is not a problem. Only convert to JPEG if posting to web or storage is a problem. Tip. Most printers are optimised for output at 360dpi and not 300dpi. So before any editing convert files to 360dpi at the correct file size for printing.

With landscapes also look on web for Back Focus techniques, settings and camera set up. Useful when composing shots on and off tripod and for shooting moving wildlife.

Lightroom is good as is Photoshop, the later being a bit more expensive but you can hire both on a monthly basis if you don't want to buy licence to use outright (You don't get a hard disc anymore with Adobe software). Doing this may also give you chance to try out both software.

Re books. I often refer to "Complete Guide to Digital Photography" by Ian Farrel (ISBN 978-0-85738-548-2). It cover all aspects of digital photography that you could think of, and even though I've been using Photoshop for about 30 years I still find it a brilliant book for quick reference if I haven't use a filter or something else related in a while. Photoshop is a vast leviathan of a programme and I still can't get my head around all the things this software can do. There are also lots of tips and tutorials for editing software on the net.

How to cheat in Photoshop is also a good book but aimed more at digital illustration and manipulation.

I've got all I need pretty much and lots of bits from other foccers.....


Clutch cover.......Lord Kosmic of the manor (last seen playing croquet on his vast lawn)

Croquet 

It's Bowls dear boy.

Good tools but that's not much tool kit for £70.

Also look at Halfords Pro tools. Take note... I've had more Snap-On tools brake in my hand than Halfords Pro tools. Both are free replacement. Come to think of it I've not had a Halford Pro break to date.

As the title says. I've fucked up and lost one so if anyone has a spare that they could pass my way I'd be happy bunny.

Don't mind paying.

Cheers

Some nice work there Ade. Can't make the exhibition alas, but would love to see some more of your paintings. Did you finish the last one of the Barn Owl?


Who knows, maybe I'll pick up the brushes again once I'm settled into my new life up north, but doubt I'll be posing any major competition for you 

Cheers Fella.

Yes, the barn owl got finished. It's on my website in sections 'canvas prints' and also 'original art'.

Cheers YamFazFAN

I used to play a lot in my youth and once beat a snooker player called the Silver Fox (David Taylor) in a five game match (3 games to 2) at Butlins, Bognor. I didn't have a clue who he was at the time. He had just won the snooker competition there and asked him if he wanted to play a game. I also won the disco dancing competition that week, and took the virginity of a Scottish lass called Debbie. Like a scene from That'll be the day.

What a week that was!

Cheers never done it before just checked and it was f11 10th second 1250 iso
looking at yours at 1/2 second showing no transition my movement must be my wobble
I did photoshop to get the building out of the blackness of the sky and the image is cropped down about as much as the nebula one

Here's the full low down from the EXIF data: R-L
Shot 1: F/9, 1/1400sec, ISO-800, -0.7 step.
Shot 2: F/8, 1/400sec, ISO-2000, -0.7 step.     
Shot 3: F/8, 1/400sec, ISO-3200, 0 step.   
Shot 4: F/8, 1/3200sec, ISO-3200.     
Shot 5: Same as 4.
Shot 6: Same as 4.     
Shot 7: F/8, 1/20sec ISO-5000.     
Shot 8: F/8, 1/15sec, ISO-5000.     
Shot 9: F/8, 1/4sec, ISO-5000.   
Shot 10: F/8, 1/2sec, ISO-6400.
Shot 11: F/8, 1sec, ISO-6400.

All the shots had some kind of adjustment in Adobe Camera RAW for balancing in the combined image and then finer tweeking in Photoshop. These are just 11 of the 100+ images shot. Shooting was by the seat of the pants and checking in camera before making adjustments and re-shooting. Digital cameras make it a lot easier than the old days of film. You couldn't open up the back to check if your photo was going to come out.

Fazersharp. That first pic isn't that bad. I've seen worse on photo forums.

Brilliant sequence image there.
What were the exposure details for the fully eclipsed shot?

Exposure was f8, 1/2 second, ISO 6400.

PS thanks for comments.