TomRC

What is amazing to me is that any company advertising their apparent flagship product could do a little better with regards to pictures, descriptions, yada yada so on and so forth explaining exactly what justifies the hefty price tag. That "spinning attachement" must be something else!!! My money in that price category would go to the Law, sure wish they were readily available on this side of the pond.

I’ve got an HMH which I like but want to add a rotary. Has anyone compared the Renzetti Presentation 2000 vs. the 4000. Other than higher quality materials is there any other reason to spend the extra money on the 4000. I like the idea of being able to raise the head angle on the 2000 which may infact yield my HMH obsolete since the one thing I really like about the HMH is being able to raise the head angle. I've played with the 4000 but have not seen the 2000 in person. Thanks!!!! Tom

Thanks so much!!!! Tom

Does anyone have a recipe / tutorial for tying a bass fly similar to the Orvis Gulley Fish? http://www.orvis.com/store/productchoice.a...;subcat_id=6522 Thanks!!! Tom

I just received the HMH Standard and I think it’s going to be a keeper. Have not had a chance to tie on it yet but the standard jaws do a great job on hooks down to 20. And I love the clearance to the rear of the hook as compared to the Renzetti’s and Dynakings I have used. My only gripe and its not anything serious is it does take a little more effort adjusting the jaws when changing from say a 20 to a size 12 hook. Just have to train my fingers to operate the rear disk a little more efficiently while hold the hook in my other hand. No big deal and it is certainly a finely crafted heavy duty vise. Tom

That is sound advice and I'll just try the regular jaws for a while. I'm really excited about trying the HMH Standard and found a "steal" on a used one last week. I've used nice Renzetti and Dynaking true rotaries before but rarely use the true rotary function. It also appears that access to the rear of the hook will be easier with the HMH which was my only gripe with the true rotaries. We shall see. Hopefully I'll like it!! Tom

Tom, Last time I checked the HMH Micro jaws were for hooks in the 16-32 range, and they do work for me in the lower band (18-16). That said: - The insides of the jaws are smooth, which means the hold is pressure/friction only - In order to clamp down securely on, say, a #14 hook I would fit the hook further back in the jaws, which starts to compromise the advantage of the fine tips on the Micro jaws. - For hooks larger than #20 I would use the standard jaws. Cheers, Hans W Thanks for the quick reply. I will be receiving the standard today or tomorrow and it will be coming with just the regular jaws but am contemplating buying the midge jaws. Since I mainly tie 14 and smaller I thought I would just use the midge jaws all the time unless it was a problem. It looks as if it will be a real "treat" tying small flies with those needle jaws. Tom

Anyone using the HMH midge jaw on size 14 & 16 hooks? Obviously they are made for small hooks but was curious if I would mess them up on a 14 or 16. Thanks!! Tom

There are three basic types of LCD Panels. TN, SPVA and IPS. IPS panels like those in the Apple Cinema Displays, some of the iMacs and the better NEC displays are clearly superior when it comes to viewing angles and color management (ie calibrating your monitor such that what you see is what you get). IMO the glare on the iMacs is distracting but the bigger issues with the new iMacs has to do with color calibration. For the most part all LCD panels, including the iMacs come with default settings that are way way to bright and have to dialed down for accurate color, contrast and brightness. Unfortunately the default monitor controls on the iMac do not allow you to turn down some of the setting low enough and an external software plug in has to be loaded to adequately calibrate an iMac. For consumer use the iMacs are quite acceptable but the vast majority of Pro’s have stayed away from the iMacs due to the glare and calibration issues. IMO the best deal going is to go to the Apple website and buy a refurbed 20” Apple Cinema Display. These are made with IPS panels, have great viewing angles and calibrate extremely well. If at all possible try to avoid a monitor that uses a TN panel. SPVA is better than TN but are still frowned upon by most that are serious about photo work. Unfortunately it is often times difficult to determine the type of panel being used but it is worth the effort to try to find out as you really want to avoid TN panels for photo work. The other option if you can find one is to buy a good CRT monitor. Although they are rare these days a good CRT (Sony or Dell) are excellent for photo editing and are typically better than most of the sub $500 flat panel displays. I'm a huge fan of the Apple Cinema Displays as mentioned above and they can be used with PC's as long as you have a dvi connection on your PC. Tom

For those that have used both are there any functional benefits to the HMH Standard over the HMH Spartan? Thanks! Tom

I’m a newbie to fly fishing but make a good portion of my living with a camera and over the years have owned and used extensively just about every Nikon and Canon DSLR ever made not to mention most of their better lenses. When picking a camera you really have to decide what you are going to be using it for. You can’t really compare a 5D to a 40D/50D/Nikon D300 as they were designed for different purposes. The 5D simply put is a portrait camera and oh boy does it shine. The 5D files blow the 40D files out of the water when it comes to making larger prints (ie 16x20 and up) particularly when you need to crop. Also don’t let the megapixel rating fool you although the camera mfg’s have done a very good job of brainwashing the public on what I like to call the “megapixel myth”. The sensor in the body (ie crop factor or full frame) and most importantly the glass is what really counts. I’d much rather see a newbie get a 40D which can be found for around $900 or heck even a digital rebel and put your extra $ into lenses than get a new 50D or Nikon 300D with a cheap kit lens. Always (if your budget allows) buy the camera body and lens separately. The lenses they sell as a kit are slow and of poor quality and in many cases will not produce images noticeably better than a nice point and shoot. Buy yourself a good fixed focal length prime (35mmf2, 50mm f1.4, 85mm f1.8, 100mmf2) which can all be had for under $400 if you want to make your DSLR sing. Then once you get hooked on these you can step up to the big dogs (135mmf2 or 85mm f1.2). Good zooms from Canon and Nikon run in the $1000+ range and actually are not as optically refined as the lower cost primes I mentioned above. I’m not a big fan of off brands lenses but there is one hidden jewel and that is the Tamron 28-75 f2.8 ($350 “ish”) which is optically on par with the Canon 24-70L ($1000). It is not weather sealed and focuses a little slower that the 24-70L but is fantastic from a optical standpoint…not as good as the fixed focal length primes but very very good for a zoom. Also, be aware that pixels are not all created equal. Pixels come in different shapes, sizes and quality. The pixels in a Canon 5D are not the same as the pixels in a Canon 40D/50D. The moral of the story is put your $ into lenses and not bodies. You will lose your rear end on a camera body as they depreciate about like when you drive a new car off the dealers lot but good lenses will deliver for years and years and they tend to hold their value quite well. Tom

I don’t view the HMH as an upgrade but rather offering potential benefits that I don’t get from my traveler. Just as in your wonderful avatar of the Law, the HMH will allow me to angle the head (which I can’t do with the traveler) to have better access to the hook.. I have large hands it appears (maybe I’m wrong) that access would be dramatically improved. It looks like another good option would be the Renzetti Presenation 2000 which allows you to adjust the head angle just as is the case with the Master. The Law does look like a thing of beauty and one day when the dollar is a tad stronger I might just take the plunge. I am amazed at how much I enjoy the “tying” aspect of fly fishing…..much more than I ever would have thought. Tom

I’m a relative newbie as I just started tying last February. I’ve found myself tying mainly size 14 Gold Ribbed Hares Ears, Prince Nymphs, Pheasant Tails, Elk Hair Caddis, Stimulators and some others dry fly and nymphs. I bought a Renzetti Traveler which has functioned flawlessly but have found that I rarely use the rotary features other than to look at the fly from various angles to trim and tidy up but not for wrapping hackle, ribs or other materials. What I do wish that I had was better access to the rear of the hook (ie working on scud hooks, tying in biots, etc). I also want to start tying midges and some others smaller flies. I also have found it interesting since I’ve started tying that rarely do I see on fly tying tutorials or videos the tier actually using the rotational feature for applying material but rather just to rotate the fly occasionally to see how it looks or for trimming purposes. Although I don’t need a better vise than the Renzetti Traveler I have decided to sell it and am really thinking about getting a rotation (non axis) vise like the HMH with midge jaws. This way I could still rotate the fly but because I could angle the head (which I can’t on my Traveler) I could set it up for optimal access to the rear of the hook plus those HMH midge jaws look “real cool" for tying tiny flies which will be my next endeavor. Maybe I’m missing the boat here but other than reading on forums about how “must have” on axis rotational vises are, rarely do I see tiers in instructional videos taking advantage of this. I’ve even watched quite a few video tutorials of people using my dream vise (Law Vise) and am not seeing the rotary function being used for other than what I mentioned above. I do however see that quite often people using the Law Vises or other vises that allow for the head to be angled upwards doing so to ensure better access to the rear of the hook and better hook access in general. Am I missing the boat hear???? Would I be disappointed moving from a Traveler to an HMH? Thanks for any input. Tom