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pierces

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Everything posted by pierces

  1. Amen. I've noticed the items bundled with even the most capable cameras never include things like compositional awareness, experience or passion. Dave
  2. Good analogy. The size and content of the tool kit reflects the requirements of the user. Some people only need a small hammer to hang the occasional picture while an auto mechanic needs a garage yacht toolbox with 50 drawers and $20k worth of tools. With the exception of my experimental phone-only cruise, I still take the backpack full of gear as well as the phone because I know I can find something to hang a picture with in one of those 50 drawers, but I wouldn't have much luck rebuilding an engine with a small hammer. 😉 Dave
  3. More names fading into the past... Kenko Tokina just announced that as of yesterday, they will be ending customer service and repairs on Konica Minolta cameras and light meters 17 years after the last KM camera was produced. 17 years...that went by fast! I may have to dig out my old Maxxum 7D and make a tech-as-art shadowbox out of it. I wonder who will be next? Dave
  4. Pictures taken between Monday, November 14 and Sunday, November 20. Be creative! For some reason, I feel the need to hunt down a train and photograph it. I hear their tracks are easy to follow... Rules: See above That's it. This isn't a contest. All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising). Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize. The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays. Post one. Post many. Up to you. Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!
  5. "Red sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning" according to the old saying. Supposedly a colorful sunset meant the clouds were breaking up and the weather would be good the following day. A crimson morning sky meant a storm was gathering and rough seas were ahead. To me, this seemed to lack some basic data such as the direction of the wind and notably, whether it had stormed during the night and those red clouds at sunrise were the remnants of the storm breaking. Catchy saying though. In this case, it turned out to be accurate since this was taken at sunset after two rare days of water falling from the sky in our semi-arid desert biome and the next day was lovely as predicted. Red Sky at Night Dave
  6. Actually, Trick-or-Treat photography. Monday evening found us in Daughter Kassi’s neighborhood, walking along as Matthew and Jackie ran from house to house gathering large amounts of candy while their father stayed home and gave away large amounts of candy to other Trick-or-Treaters. If you are thinking that this is a zero-sum process, you need to factor in the actual fun involved in wandering the streets looking at the decorations and trying to find the “full-size” houses. Their neighborhood decorates extravagantly and attracts massive numbers of drive-in visitors. The neighborhood looked like Main Street in Disneyland with hundreds of families on sugar quests. An altogether enjoyable evening! Trick Photography (Yes, it's a phone photo in very dim light.) Dave
  7. Pictures taken between Monday, November7 and Sunday, November 13. I don't know...maybe take pictures of your neighbors that still have their Halloween decorations up? Rules: See above That's it. This isn't a contest. All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising). Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize. The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays. Post one. Post many. Up to you. Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!
  8. I am the wrong person to ask about music choice.. I was sort of "focusing" on the visuals. 😁 Her coach has a history of picking great routine music. A lot of history. She was my daughter's coach 30 years ago. Dave
  9. That's an excellent point. Distancing the brand from the company that cut ties to your product line because the gastrointestinal endoscope department was more profitable was probably a good move. Dave
  10. Japan Industrial Partners, the company that acquired the rights to the Olympus brand and established OM Digital Solutions has decided that "OM System" is a better name than the iconic "Olympus" that has been seen on cameras since the 1930's. I wonder if they will strip "Zuiko" from their excellent lenses since it means "Light of the Gods" and they just removed the god's mountain from the brand? It's hard to predict what the impact on the brand will be. The cameras and lenses are good and as long as that remains the case, people will still want them. The industry pundits and established "pros" mocked Sony when they rebranded Minolta cameras after the 2006 acquisition and later with the shift to mirrorless, declaring the line as doomed. How did that work out? Oh, well. The changing face of photography and associated reduced demand is taking its toll. I wonder what industry-shaking news is next? Dave
  11. They don't call it "bleeding edge" technology for no reason... 😉 Dave
  12. Pictures taken between Monday, October 31 and Sunday, November 6. Halloween can be a very photogenic day. Just sayin'.... Rules: See above That's it. This isn't a contest. All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising). Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize. The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays. Post one. Post many. Up to you. Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!
  13. The week ended with time spent at Jackie's first Freestyle competition. Freestyle is part of the rating system for skaters and Freestyle 1 is the first big step up from the beginner levels. Compare it to moving from Elementary to Middle School. In the lower levels, the skaters compete with others close to their age. No longer is a first-place finish guaranteed barring an unlucky fall. She now competes with skaters as much as 6-8 years older. I had to smile when she took to the ice for the practice session as the smallest member of the group by at least six inches. Despite that, she turned in an excellent performance and placed in the middle of the pack. She’s not really a princess. She’s a bit of a warrior. Ice Princess Dave
  14. The sample photos look pretty good. A pretty little scene... Cropped from this: This is an extreme, impractical crop from a downloaded JPEG (20+MB!) pasted here as a .png. The original view is pasted as well since the downloaded JPEG exceeds the forum size limit. It does, however, illustrate the ridiculous resolution of the sensor. In APS-C mode, you still get a 26MP image with a 1.5x crop. I have decided I don't need a camera with this much resolution or any of the advanced AI processing. I have also decided that I will buy one because I want the resolution and the advanced AI stuff. The power of want over need is what led us from the caves to civilization. Wow. I think I just set a record for over-justifying a purchase... Dave
  15. Well, it's here. The initial reviews I've read/watched are unanimously positive. I was already considering an upgrade, so the new camera is pretty much a forgone conclusion. If you have an A7rIV, the choice is a bit harder. Tony and Chelsea Northrup did a good comparison review between the IV and V with a Canon R5 thrown in. The Sony and Canon pretty much tied with Canon getting a frown for lack of lens availability with their petty third-party ban. If you are a hybrid video shooter, the A7rV is a compelling choice with a wide format selection and a new cooling system to prevent overheating. 60MP BSI CMOS sensor is the same as the A7RIV, which is pretty spectacular. Improved AF, including significantly better low-light subject recognition and lock courtesy of the AI learning and faster processor. Also does side-eye detection (human profile), animal-eye detection and various common subject detection. From the brief first looks, it's pretty awesome. Smart real-time AF subject tracking In-body stabilization rated at up to 8 stops. Jury is out on this claim until more thorough reviews appear, but it sounds neat. Continuous shooting at up to 10fps with flash (!) 8K/24p or 4K/60p video (both with 1.24x crop) plus full-width (no crop) 4K up to 30p and the aforementioned alphabet soup of video modes and options Fully-articulated rear screen (see below) 😁 Gargantuan buffer - 500+ continuous compressed RAW or JPEG images at 10fps Focus bracketing mode that takes a series of photos to be stacked (not in-camera as far as I can tell) Multi-shot pixel-shift ultra-high-res mode (240MP) with motion compensation (also not in-camera processing) 802.11ac 2 x 2 MIMO Wi-Fi = "really fast" for wireless downloading or transfer directly from the camera USB-standard video for use as the most expensive 4K webcam ever. Best in class viewfinder. New menu (I never really hated the Sony menu, but this one looks a lot better) Improved weather sealing Pricey at $3900 USD (buy the best and cry once?) Pricey again since crap lenses will not make use of the huge resolution On the other hand, there are a LOT of e-mount lenses available. Many are as good as you can get from any manufacturer, including some less pricey but still superb f/4 options I'm not pre-ordering, so that means I probably won't see one until springtime with the expected demand and shortages. I think my mind is made up though. Dave
  16. It was a busy week. Photography took a back seat to work and some more DIY stuff. Honestly, photography wasn’t even in the back seat. I think I left it standing at the curb. I guess the season is partially to blame. It’s cool enough to do outside projects without risking heat stroke, nothing is blooming and it’s a bit of a drive to where leaves turn a color other than brown. This week's photo is of our family’s answer to fall colors. When the nighttime temperature dips below 60°, it triggers a primal urge to make vegetable beef soup from the family recipe. It is actually a “stoup” since you can stand a spoon up in it. We made enough to serve as lunch and the occasional dinner until chili season arrives. Fall Colors Dave
  17. Pictures taken between Monday, October 24 and Sunday, October 30. Dave had a busy week last week. Dave didn't take time to enjoy his favorite hobby. Dave only took three pictures! Don't be Dave. Take some photos and share them! Rules: See above That's it. This isn't a contest. All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising). Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize. The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays. Post one. Post many. Up to you. Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!
  18. Four years ago, I bit the bullet and ordered my first full-frame camera. The A7III has been a workhorse and produces superb images. I really like it. However, the leaked specs for the A7rV may be enough of a technological leap for me to consider giving the ol' piggy bank a radical cash-ectomy. • Possibly a new version of the 61MP sensor with better light gathering performance • New processor for faster image processing and sensor readout • Next-gen autofocus system with AI learning and tracking algorithms • A bunch of video-centric alphabet soup that affects my decision not at all but may come in handy someday • 8-stop, 5 axis stabilization (sounds optimistic but maybe 8-stop is possible with a slightly cropped image and sensor-based assist) • New Pixel shift function for ultra-high-res images with AI-driven (I assume) subject movement correction • The fully articulating LCD screen that I still miss from my old A77 • The new touch-capable menu system • Retains the very hi-res viewfinder Based on the teaser on Sony's Alpha Universe site, the rumors will end with the official announcement on October 26. Stay tuned. Dave
  19. Pictures taken between Monday, October 17and Sunday, October 23. Are you or your neighbors decorating for Halloween? Snap a few pictures and show us! Rules: See above That's it. This isn't a contest. All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising). Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize. The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays. Post one. Post many. Up to you. Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!
  20. Manners. My parents were big on manners. I learned pretty early what was acceptable to throw into the next booth at a crowded restaurant. Here’s a hint: NOTHING! Over the years I have noticed a decline in manners amongst children to the point that well-mannered behavior is noteworthy rather than normal. On Saturday we were invited to a birthday celebration for a one-year-old. Since it was our grandson, we weren’t comfortable pretending we hadn’t received the invite, so we went. Countless children of Tara and Matt’s friends were there, and they were almost universally well-mannered. Hope for the future! Kai’s table manners still need a bit of polish, but I have renewed faith. Manners Maketh The Man Dave
  21. Yes, it's another hockey action shot. At least with the heat and home projects, I have some regular opportunity for intentional, non-random photography. I am also actually learning about a game I have ignored for 98% of my life. The rules surrounding those mysterious blue lines that generate so many whistle stops may actually require some research since nobody I’ve asked has more than a vague clue regarding the subject. Come to think of it, I should corner Grandson Matthew and ask him the next time he visits. He has treated hockey like anything else he is interested in and has learned the rules and tactics well enough to be near-unanimously voted Captain by his teammates. Hail to the Captain! Officer and a Gentleman Dave
  22. Pictures taken between Monday, October 10 and Sunday, October 16. We have Fall Colors here in SoCal!! (Green is a color, right?) Show us your colors! Rules: See above That's it. This isn't a contest. All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising). Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize. The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays. Post one. Post many. Up to you. Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!
  23. Pictures taken between Monday, October 3 and Sunday, October 9. By my count, week 40 means there are only 12 weeks left in 2022 after this one. 2022 photo-ops are running out! Rules: See above That's it. This isn't a contest. All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising). Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize. The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays. Post one. Post many. Up to you. Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!
  24. Whimsy is a word that doesn't get used much. It's an elegant word that describes something that is quaint, fanciful or odd in a playful way. I have always enjoyed a touch of whimsy. Our house features a Murphy door that conceals one of the bedrooms, a steel dinosaur in the garden and other small details here and there that are placed for no other reason than to evoke an occasional smile. This week's photo is of a pair of manual fan controls that were suddenly needed when we moved a fan from where it was controlled by wall switch to the gazebo where the box is direct wired. I was on Amazon looking for beaded chain extensions when I saw these. The whimsy alert went off and I ordered them. Whimsy Dave
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