Tommy found this fun video of an airshow with all kinds of airplanes, including some of the biggest and smallest in the world (I'm not kidding).
Watch it in HD on youtube. (Note: the music is loud.)
(The page I got was this one, but when one sees an embedded video, it is often available in HD if one clicks on the youtube logo.)
I'm not an airplane buff, but I could see myself going to this show.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
A1 poster print
Thinking about it, amazingly I actually think this is the first poster print I have ever had made in full A1 size (about 59x84 cm or 23x33 inches).
I used a UK service called Supreme Print for 20GBP including shipping, and I am pleased. The image was taken with the Panasonic GF1 and the compact lens, and it holds up really well at this size. Nobody would look at this and say "dude, that's not really sharp, is it?", something you could not say for the work I did in 35mm back in the day, if I'd blown it up this much.
I used a UK service called Supreme Print for 20GBP including shipping, and I am pleased. The image was taken with the Panasonic GF1 and the compact lens, and it holds up really well at this size. Nobody would look at this and say "dude, that's not really sharp, is it?", something you could not say for the work I did in 35mm back in the day, if I'd blown it up this much.
Canon S90 mini-review
Given that I want to have the best bring-anywhere camera I can get, I got me the new Canon S90, and I've given it a little spin around the block.
Canon's aim seems to have been to put the best enthusiast all-round camera they could, into a breast-pocket-sized shell. And I think they have succeeded.
I would be very surprised to hear of any other camera of similar size which beats it significantly in anything, design, handling, features, image quality...
(The flash is pretty weak though, but that's surely typical.)
One might note that the term "low light" used in the promotion materials for this camera or any other supercompact one, is rather dubious. Up to 400 ISO the quality is wonderful. Best ever. But with this one like all the others, at ISO 800 and over, the quality breaks up very fast.
The thing is you can't actually change the sensitivity of an imaging sensor, you can only amplify the signal, and that also amplifies the noise. And a tiny sensor like this inherently has a weak signal, so...
(If you email me, I can send you the test photos I took via yousendit.com (so it won't clog your email account), it's 50MB zip file. My gmail address is eolake.)
The cool thing is that at f/2, ISO 400 "goes further" since you can take the same shot that an f/2.8 lens would have to take at ISO 800. That's the big advantage to me. Why don't more cameras do this?
I guess it's not trivial to keep the image quality, size, and price going from 2.8 to 2.0. (And indeed those cams are more expensive.)
Also I'll add that the lens is only F:2.0 at 28mm-e. At 35mm-e it's a 2.5, and at 50mm-e it is 3.2. At 105mm-e it is 4.9.
But with a 28mm-e setting (less prone to shake), the stabilisation, and 400 ISO, you can go pretty low-light, should be admitted. (And with the small sensor and at wideangle, even at F:2.0 you get big depth of field (sharpness from front to back).)
... I just tested this, I can take sharp pictures at 1/4th second with these settings! Not dead-tack sharp for huge prints (and not every exposure), but near as damn. (See pic on the right for sample.)
... I just tested this, I can take sharp pictures at 1/4th second with these settings! Not dead-tack sharp for huge prints (and not every exposure), but near as damn. (See pic on the right for sample.)Update:
The handling is as good as anything I've tried in this size of camera. And I like the control ring around the lens, I use it for zoom, and the click-stops at 28, 35, 50, 85, and 105 are very nice to have.
It can also be used for exposure compensation or ISO setting, or manual focus. (The latter displays a rough meter scale and an enlarged patch for focus.)
There's a custom button, which I use for exposure lock (if I want to leave a bright light or the sky out of consideration).
And it has a very thin ring around the button cluster which I would not even have seen if I'd not read about it, but which makes exposure compensation (in program mode) or aperture/shutter setting easy.
The handling is as good as anything I've tried in this size of camera. And I like the control ring around the lens, I use it for zoom, and the click-stops at 28, 35, 50, 85, and 105 are very nice to have.
It can also be used for exposure compensation or ISO setting, or manual focus. (The latter displays a rough meter scale and an enlarged patch for focus.)
There's a custom button, which I use for exposure lock (if I want to leave a bright light or the sky out of consideration).
And it has a very thin ring around the button cluster which I would not even have seen if I'd not read about it, but which makes exposure compensation (in program mode) or aperture/shutter setting easy.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The BigShot students' camera
Bert alerted me to this unique digital camera, BigShot. Just for one thing, it can take pictures without batteries, by use of a hand-crank to charge it.
Eight or nine years ago there were rumors that the first Apple iBook would have such a feature, but the power requirements for a laptop are much bigger than a digicam, so it's probably not a practical use for a dynamo.
Also the user (aimed at kids) can take it apart and build it.
Eight or nine years ago there were rumors that the first Apple iBook would have such a feature, but the power requirements for a laptop are much bigger than a digicam, so it's probably not a practical use for a dynamo.
Also the user (aimed at kids) can take it apart and build it.
Takako Minekawa's Fancy Work Funk
Repost: I'm just again enjoying an old fave song, Takako Minekawa's Fancy Work Funk. Get it zipped here.
Elephant birth
[Thanks to Kirk]
Pretty amazing video of a mother elephant giving birth and then resuscitating her newborn.
Lawrence Of A Labia
Funny enough, I just got two letters right after each other on the same subject, but prompted by two different sources (one of them BBC). So it seems that one of the new Women's issues is Cosmetic Labia Reduction Surgery.
Both my correspondents pointed out that large labia can be sexy.
Heck, there's even at least one fan site (note: adult site).
The bulk of one of the letters I put up at the GoddessNudes letters page (last on the page).
Both my correspondents pointed out that large labia can be sexy.
Heck, there's even at least one fan site (note: adult site).
The bulk of one of the letters I put up at the GoddessNudes letters page (last on the page).
Paypal fees
A friend of mine sent me $550 over Paypal. He had to pay a $21 fee, and the transfer is not finalized for a few days, since his Paypal account was not funded.
Now, he tells me there is some indication that if I had sent him a "request" for the money first, he would not have had to pay the fee, and also the transfer would have been instant.
Does anybody know if there's any truth to this?
Now, he tells me there is some indication that if I had sent him a "request" for the money first, he would not have had to pay the fee, and also the transfer would have been instant.
Does anybody know if there's any truth to this?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The camera hobby
It's something which comes up regularly: why care so much about the camera? It's the pictures which count, and if your pictures suck with a poor camera, they will also suck with a big camera.
I will admit that too great attention on the gear can be a compensation for some blockage in the creative arena. But...
For one thing, one can see it as two different hobbies. One is the pictures, one is the camera appreciation. You can do both, or either, but they need not compete.
I suspect that many of the people who like to argue endlessly about the technical subtleties of camera tech are not picture hobbyists, they are camera hobbyists. Nothing wrong with that. In fact the camera manufacturers could not survive without them.
But also, you can't make good landscape photos with a 2MP camera, pretty much. And you will struggle to make good sports/play/action photos if you don't have long lenses and really snappy autofocus (which at the moment means a big DSLR). So it's not like the camera never matters.
I will admit that too great attention on the gear can be a compensation for some blockage in the creative arena. But...
For one thing, one can see it as two different hobbies. One is the pictures, one is the camera appreciation. You can do both, or either, but they need not compete.
I suspect that many of the people who like to argue endlessly about the technical subtleties of camera tech are not picture hobbyists, they are camera hobbyists. Nothing wrong with that. In fact the camera manufacturers could not survive without them.
But also, you can't make good landscape photos with a 2MP camera, pretty much. And you will struggle to make good sports/play/action photos if you don't have long lenses and really snappy autofocus (which at the moment means a big DSLR). So it's not like the camera never matters.
iPod ebook reader app
iPod ebook reader app.
Also for the Nano! And here am I thinking the Kindle's screen is a bit small for an ebook reader!
Also for the Nano! And here am I thinking the Kindle's screen is a bit small for an ebook reader!
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