[fingerz]

Cheers CT. Always wondered what that little circle with the line through it actually meant.

Thanks CT, I wondered what that marking was on my 350D.

[Arkady]

We were photographing circuit boards at greater than 1:1 - it's unbelievably tricky when your DoF is less than 1mm. We usually made stands out of bits of cardboard or plywood and measured it all with spirit-levels before sticking the circuit on with blu-tac. Even stopping right down to f/64 was sometimes only just enough to get a bit of circuit measuring 2mm front-to-back fully sharp.

I hated it BTW...but it was all good experience.
Slightly better was the in-situ 'defects' photography - photographing cracked turbine blades on Tornado engines in a hangar - try getting a Bowens set inside a Tornado - we used Metz hammerheads on manual with multi flash worked around the subject to get rid of all the shadows. Sometimes it took a 3-minute exposure and about 40 flashes. Had to cloak the engine in blankets to exclude all the ambient light...

[dazzajl]

Goodness Arkady, you almost make it sound like being a snapper isn't glamourous.

[Arkady]

Ahhh that was just the training - because it's a Tri-Service school (DSOP at RAF Cosford in the W Mids) we had to do all the bone RAF and Navy stuff as well in the full knowledge that as Army Phots we'd almost certainly never put any of it into practice.
However, the techniques are applicable to other subjects, so it was all good practice.
Having a civvy BA Hons in editorial photography helps matters when arguing the point with dyed-in-the-wool RAF examiners there as well...
We used to wish they'd step out of the Dark Ages sometimes...