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Expensive toys
May. 3rd, 2007 05:16 pmI mentioned this in passing in my last post, but I'll say a little more about it. On Monday, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
birder2 was talking about a Zeiss spotting scope with a camera built in. I looked it up on the Zeiss website, and it's actually a dedicated eyepiece with a built in 4 MP camera. It's fairly large and clearly attached to, rather than part of the scope (leaves me wondering about how the thing balances, since the tripod mount point assumes a normal eyepiece).
Based on what I can tell from the web site, I really would like to have one. Though I would like to understand how they pull off splitting the light between the camera and the optical eyepiece without a flipping mirror and still get a good amount of light to both.
Unfortunately, my googling shows that the scope is about $1500 and the camera is another $2000. Which is a good bit more than I can talk myself into right now. It looks like a great product, though.
birder2 was talking about a Zeiss spotting scope with a camera built in. I looked it up on the Zeiss website, and it's actually a dedicated eyepiece with a built in 4 MP camera. It's fairly large and clearly attached to, rather than part of the scope (leaves me wondering about how the thing balances, since the tripod mount point assumes a normal eyepiece).Based on what I can tell from the web site, I really would like to have one. Though I would like to understand how they pull off splitting the light between the camera and the optical eyepiece without a flipping mirror and still get a good amount of light to both.
Unfortunately, my googling shows that the scope is about $1500 and the camera is another $2000. Which is a good bit more than I can talk myself into right now. It looks like a great product, though.
New monitor
Dec. 27th, 2006 11:18 pmTechnology marches on.
For the last couple of years, the monitor on my home PC has been the Sony 21" tube I had used at Prairie City. (Chris gave me the monitor as part of my severance package, since with the office shutting down he really didn't need it, and while it was an expensive piece of equipment when it was new, I doubt it would have been worth the shipping cost to a buyer at that time.) It served me well for these two years, despite being so big and heavy I had to get a sturdier table to hold it, but a few weeks ago it started having a little trouble with its horizontal sync, and the problems were getting worse.
So today I went to Best Buy to see if they had anything in stock that would do 1600x1200. I now have a Samsung SyncMaster 204B, because it was the only model they had that was better than 1280x1024. I probably paid a little too much, but getting it today without having to worry about where to have it shipped (having a moderately expensive piece of hardware sitting outside my house in the rain doesn't appeal) and whether it would arrive (a) before the Sony stopped working at all and (b) while I was not out of town, such as GaFilk, is worth something.
The instructions and documentation are the worst Engrish* I've seen in a long time, but the monitor seems to work OK. It can even rotate from landscape to portrait, which is kind of cool, though I'm not sure if it will really be useful. It seems to be fine with analog input (which is fortunate since my machine doesn't have a DVI connector -- when I got the machine flat panel displays were still an extra-cost option, so I didn't bother to spend extra to support something I wasn't expecting to use).
The software CD also has a very fine "feature" where if you're not using IE as your browser, it won't launch any of the installers and instead tells you (in Engrish) to go find them yourself. While I'm not going to return the monitor over this, it does honk me off. I'm tempted to write a letter to Samsung to the effect that their assumption that people who don't use IE don't need to be supported makes me think I should have bought a ViewSonic -- but since I can't write the letter in Korean, they probably wouldn't understand it anyway.
*Perhaps it is not truly correct to call very badly translated text Engrish when the original language was (one assumes) Korean rather than Japanese. But it has the same feel.
For the last couple of years, the monitor on my home PC has been the Sony 21" tube I had used at Prairie City. (Chris gave me the monitor as part of my severance package, since with the office shutting down he really didn't need it, and while it was an expensive piece of equipment when it was new, I doubt it would have been worth the shipping cost to a buyer at that time.) It served me well for these two years, despite being so big and heavy I had to get a sturdier table to hold it, but a few weeks ago it started having a little trouble with its horizontal sync, and the problems were getting worse.
So today I went to Best Buy to see if they had anything in stock that would do 1600x1200. I now have a Samsung SyncMaster 204B, because it was the only model they had that was better than 1280x1024. I probably paid a little too much, but getting it today without having to worry about where to have it shipped (having a moderately expensive piece of hardware sitting outside my house in the rain doesn't appeal) and whether it would arrive (a) before the Sony stopped working at all and (b) while I was not out of town, such as GaFilk, is worth something.
The instructions and documentation are the worst Engrish* I've seen in a long time, but the monitor seems to work OK. It can even rotate from landscape to portrait, which is kind of cool, though I'm not sure if it will really be useful. It seems to be fine with analog input (which is fortunate since my machine doesn't have a DVI connector -- when I got the machine flat panel displays were still an extra-cost option, so I didn't bother to spend extra to support something I wasn't expecting to use).
The software CD also has a very fine "feature" where if you're not using IE as your browser, it won't launch any of the installers and instead tells you (in Engrish) to go find them yourself. While I'm not going to return the monitor over this, it does honk me off. I'm tempted to write a letter to Samsung to the effect that their assumption that people who don't use IE don't need to be supported makes me think I should have bought a ViewSonic -- but since I can't write the letter in Korean, they probably wouldn't understand it anyway.
*Perhaps it is not truly correct to call very badly translated text Engrish when the original language was (one assumes) Korean rather than Japanese. But it has the same feel.
I've sumbitted my on-line order for my new camera -- the Canon 20D. Actually, I've now submitted it twice; the first time, newegg.com declined my credit card; after I got through to a Discover account representative, they told me that newegg had submitted the wrong expiration date. Turns out that the new card Discover just sent me had changed the expiration date, and I hadn't realized it. Oddly enough, I've quoted the old date when I've used it over the phone a couple of times and it's gone through. And the only way I could find to fix my order was to cancel it and resubmit it. I *trust* I won't receive (and have to pay for) two cameras.
Cheap technology
Nov. 9th, 2004 07:18 pmI just fired off an order for a 2GB CompactFlash card. With a $40 premium for the Ultra II instead of the regular, it was $173 and some change at NewEgg.com. This is pretty close to what I paid for a 1GB card not that many months ago.
Since I ran out of CF space the weekend before last, between OVFF and the Columbus Zoo, I thought it made sense to get more memory.
Since I ran out of CF space the weekend before last, between OVFF and the Columbus Zoo, I thought it made sense to get more memory.
As you may know, I have been on a minor quest for a new 6-string guitar. As in, I've been looking at guitars for a couple of years, trying to find one that felt right, but I haven't been pursuing it obsessively.
This past weekend at ConClave, Barry Childs-Helton had a Tacoma Road King RM6C which he allowed me to play. This is an American made solid wood guitar, with some unusual construction features including a bolt-on neck, a small offset soundhole, somewhat unusual bracing, and a curved bridge which is heavier at the bass end than the treble, all of which give it really powerful bass response without losing the high end.
I liked it. I can't remember Barry's exact words, but he said something to the effect of "I can recognize a man in love when I see it." As I said at the time, it's the first guitar I'd tried since I started looking that spoke to me without saying "I cost way more than you can afford".
My local guitar store had one on the shelf. The truss rod was out of adjustment and the strings were so old they were rusty, but even so it felt good. And at $750 including case, strap, strings, and sales tax, I could live with the price. So I bought it.
( Pictures and more behind the cut )
I've never named one of my instruments before, but I think this one may be Tiger. You'll get to meet him at OVFF.
This past weekend at ConClave, Barry Childs-Helton had a Tacoma Road King RM6C which he allowed me to play. This is an American made solid wood guitar, with some unusual construction features including a bolt-on neck, a small offset soundhole, somewhat unusual bracing, and a curved bridge which is heavier at the bass end than the treble, all of which give it really powerful bass response without losing the high end.
I liked it. I can't remember Barry's exact words, but he said something to the effect of "I can recognize a man in love when I see it." As I said at the time, it's the first guitar I'd tried since I started looking that spoke to me without saying "I cost way more than you can afford".
My local guitar store had one on the shelf. The truss rod was out of adjustment and the strings were so old they were rusty, but even so it felt good. And at $750 including case, strap, strings, and sales tax, I could live with the price. So I bought it.
( Pictures and more behind the cut )
I've never named one of my instruments before, but I think this one may be Tiger. You'll get to meet him at OVFF.
For months, I have been drooling over the Canon 70-300 DO IS USM zoom lens, based on what I'd seen on web sites. I located a store that actually has one in stock in Indianapolis, and I stopped there Friday on the way to ConClave, having made the decision to buy it if it was actually what I expected from the web site.
( It didn't work out. I talk about what I got instead. )
Now, of course, I need to cut a new foam insert for my camera case in my copious free time.
( It didn't work out. I talk about what I got instead. )
Now, of course, I need to cut a new foam insert for my camera case in my copious free time.
Camera milestone
Jun. 9th, 2004 06:05 pmI've reached another milestone in my budding photographer-hood: I've outgrown my memory cards. The weekend before last at Marcon, I filled my 1GB card, but took few enough further pictures that the rest fit on the 128MB card from my point-and-shoot camera. But last weekend at DucKon, I took enough pictures of the Tesla coil that I completely filled both the 1GB card and the 128MB card, leaving me with no room for more pictures after Saturday around 10 PM.
Given unlimited money, I would just buy a notebook with a CD-R drive. This would give me multiple gigabytes of portable hard drive, the security of a second copy of the data before I erase the memory card, and a way to display images to people without having to make prints. But money is limited.
I will probably buy a second 1GB card, for the same reason that I have a second battery for the camera -- I want to be able to a quick swap and keep going. But after the second 1GB card, I think the right direction is some sort of battery powered device with a hard drive in it. The problem is that the inexpensive ones that I'm aware of allow you to copy image files off of a CF card, but don't provide any ability to view the pictures to verify that the copy worked. Units that can display pictures as well as store them seem to approach the cost of a notebook.
If anyone reading my journal has sage advice, please offer it.
Given unlimited money, I would just buy a notebook with a CD-R drive. This would give me multiple gigabytes of portable hard drive, the security of a second copy of the data before I erase the memory card, and a way to display images to people without having to make prints. But money is limited.
I will probably buy a second 1GB card, for the same reason that I have a second battery for the camera -- I want to be able to a quick swap and keep going. But after the second 1GB card, I think the right direction is some sort of battery powered device with a hard drive in it. The problem is that the inexpensive ones that I'm aware of allow you to copy image files off of a CF card, but don't provide any ability to view the pictures to verify that the copy worked. Units that can display pictures as well as store them seem to approach the cost of a notebook.
If anyone reading my journal has sage advice, please offer it.
New computer update: Nope, guess again
May. 24th, 2004 11:22 pmI wrote the previous after having seemingly gotten the new machine working properly, and then I did work. At the end of the day, I went to do a little picture work on it. I'd moved it out of the lab because Mike was setting up some work machines and needed the bench space. I got it hooked up with a different monitor, keyboard, etc., plugged it in, and... the mouse was dead. A dozen or so reboots, greatly increased blood pressure, and an up to that point tolerable day shot to hell later, I can't find anything wrong or any rearrangement that will get it to come up working twice in a row.
At that point I was due at my mom's for dinner and a bridge game, and I just got back to a computer now. But I'm still closer to reaching for a large blunt instrument and going on a smashing rampage than I think I've ever been.
At that point I was due at my mom's for dinner and a bridge game, and I just got back to a computer now. But I'm still closer to reaching for a large blunt instrument and going on a smashing rampage than I think I've ever been.
New computer update: WOOHOO, it WORKS!
May. 24th, 2004 12:20 pmOver the weekend's fiddling I got a new clue about what was wrong with the front panel card reader thingy when I discovered that if I plugged an external card reader into the USB port on the panel, and I plugged a CF card into the reader with the machine off, and turned it on, when the machine came up the mouse was dead. I unplugged the panel from the motherboard and plugged in the front panel USB ports built into the case. {The motherboard has 4 built in back-panel USB ports, but only one header for attaching others; so the ones built into the case have to fight with the panel, and the panel is more useful so it wins.) When I plugged the external reader into the case port, put in a card, and booted, it still killed the mouse. This was enough to get Mike to look through the BIOS configuration again; he turned off the "Plug&Play OS" setting and poked a couple of other things, and now it WORKS! I may keep it at the office for another day or two while I figure out if there's any more software I want to put on it before I take it to the world of tin-cans-and-string dialup Internet connections, and of course I don't know for sure that there won't be any issues getting it to play with my printers at home, but for the first time since I first powered it up, I'm not aware of any hardware problems.
And there was much rejoicing!
And there was much rejoicing!
New Computer, Wal-Mart prints
May. 23rd, 2004 11:22 pmI don't have the new machine at home yet; there are still a couple of issues being worked out. But it is working well enough to do some basic picture viewing and sorting tasks, oh so much less painfully than at on my home machine. The goodies built into WinXP for viewing pictures as a slide show and copying files onto CD-R are very nice. I used them to do a quick selection through some of my pictures, to pull out about a hundred images on a CD to take to Wal-Mart to try out their printing service, which I knew existed but didn't know the details of it.
It turns out that it's nicely automated. There's a kiosk where you feed it your CD (or CF card or other media) and pick the pictures you want; you submit the order, then you come back nominally an hour later and pick up the pictures. Perfectly decent 4x6 prints, and $.24 apiece is barely more than the paper costs if I wanted to make my own at home, to say nothing of the ink, or the time. I'm sure I'll be using this service again from time to time.
I know a lot of people say Wal-Mart is evil and I shouldn't do business there. If I wanted to avoid them, where else could I go that can do decent 4x6 prints from my digital media? I might be convinced to pay a slightly higher price, if I didn't have to sacrifice quality and convenience.
It turns out that it's nicely automated. There's a kiosk where you feed it your CD (or CF card or other media) and pick the pictures you want; you submit the order, then you come back nominally an hour later and pick up the pictures. Perfectly decent 4x6 prints, and $.24 apiece is barely more than the paper costs if I wanted to make my own at home, to say nothing of the ink, or the time. I'm sure I'll be using this service again from time to time.
I know a lot of people say Wal-Mart is evil and I shouldn't do business there. If I wanted to avoid them, where else could I go that can do decent 4x6 prints from my digital media? I might be convinced to pay a slightly higher price, if I didn't have to sacrifice quality and convenience.
Camera milestone (already?!)
May. 9th, 2004 08:14 pmA week ago, I noted that I'd taken my 3000th picture with my Digital Rebel. I actually took # 3000 on April 30.
Today I took my 4000th. That's over 1000 pictures in 10 days.
I think I'm starting to get a better feel for the limits of the autofocus on this camera and I'm feeling more confident about putting it on manual in situations where the autofocus can't do the job. As soon as I get my computer upgraded so I can actually look at a lot of pictures without putting myself through purgatory, I'll be able to see if that confidence is justified, or if I'm just taking a lot of out-of-focus pictures.
Today I took my 4000th. That's over 1000 pictures in 10 days.
I think I'm starting to get a better feel for the limits of the autofocus on this camera and I'm feeling more confident about putting it on manual in situations where the autofocus can't do the job. As soon as I get my computer upgraded so I can actually look at a lot of pictures without putting myself through purgatory, I'll be able to see if that confidence is justified, or if I'm just taking a lot of out-of-focus pictures.
New Computer blues
May. 8th, 2004 12:04 amSo, having finally decided that my home PC is just too slow to live with, I ordered the parts for the new one, with Mike's help, on Tuesday. Some of it showed up Thursday, and the rest got here today (or I should say Friday since it's after midnight?) I basically watched Mike put it all together. It would have taken me at least 5 times as long as it took him. So far, life is good.
( It doesn't work. Details cut. )
Which leaves me with the frustrating choice of (a) buy a video card, even though I've already paid for built-in video, or (b) be stuck without a computer that I need for however long it takes to send the motherboard back and get a replacement. Just based on utility to me, I should clearly go with (b), but it really honks me off to let a company get away with selling me a broken product. On the other hand, it really honks me off to still be stuck with an ever-increasing backlog of photos that I haven't properly identified, organized, and done stuff with because it's just too painful on this poor old machine.
( It doesn't work. Details cut. )
Which leaves me with the frustrating choice of (a) buy a video card, even though I've already paid for built-in video, or (b) be stuck without a computer that I need for however long it takes to send the motherboard back and get a replacement. Just based on utility to me, I should clearly go with (b), but it really honks me off to let a company get away with selling me a broken product. On the other hand, it really honks me off to still be stuck with an ever-increasing backlog of photos that I haven't properly identified, organized, and done stuff with because it's just too painful on this poor old machine.
Am I becoming the slave of my camera?
May. 3rd, 2004 10:23 pmOn my morning walk, I took pictures of an oriole, a palm warbler, a catbird, and a great blue heron who flew overhead.
At work, I talked to my boss about getting a new PC, and he helped me spec it out. I will probably order the parts tomorrow; it will run around $800 with shipping. I also asked if it would be OK for me to set up a personal page on the company web server that I could put a few images in; he said it would be no problem as long as I kept the total size pretty small.
I took another walk this evening, at the U of I Forestry plot in south Urbana. I got pictures of what I'm pretty sure is a green heron.
And as I drove away from the Forestry plot , there was a hawk on a street light who actually stayed there while I parked, got out my camera, and took his picture.
As I look over this post, it seems that photography is taking over my life.
At work, I talked to my boss about getting a new PC, and he helped me spec it out. I will probably order the parts tomorrow; it will run around $800 with shipping. I also asked if it would be OK for me to set up a personal page on the company web server that I could put a few images in; he said it would be no problem as long as I kept the total size pretty small.
I took another walk this evening, at the U of I Forestry plot in south Urbana. I got pictures of what I'm pretty sure is a green heron.
And as I drove away from the Forestry plot , there was a hawk on a street light who actually stayed there while I parked, got out my camera, and took his picture.
As I look over this post, it seems that photography is taking over my life.
Camera milestone
May. 2nd, 2004 10:30 pmIn the last couple of days, I took my 3000th picture with my Digital Rebel. Based on my assumption that if I were using film, film+developing would cost at least $.50 per picture, this means that I've 'saved' $1500 by going digital, which in some sense justifies the $1500 I spent on the camera and accessories.
Of course, if I were using a film camera, I would not have taken anywhere near 3000 pictures in ~5 months. But, while I won't claim that all 3000 pictures I've taken are good, there are only a very few that I actually didn't want to take.
It feels good that I can point to this and say to myself, "Look, that money wasn't wasted," because this camera is far and away the most expensive thing I've ever bought that was strictly a toy, without the excuse that "I need it for my job" that helps me justify the expense of my computers.
Of course, if I were using a film camera, I would not have taken anywhere near 3000 pictures in ~5 months. But, while I won't claim that all 3000 pictures I've taken are good, there are only a very few that I actually didn't want to take.
It feels good that I can point to this and say to myself, "Look, that money wasn't wasted," because this camera is far and away the most expensive thing I've ever bought that was strictly a toy, without the excuse that "I need it for my job" that helps me justify the expense of my computers.
The 160MB external hard drive arrived today, right on schedule, and seems to work properly.
Now, I just need to pick up a USB 2.0 card to stick in my box at home. Said box is a hair too old to have USB 2.0, and the drive will be painful to use at USB 1 speeds... "45 minutes remaining", it says in the other window, copying somewhere in the rough neighborhood of 2GB.
Once I have this thing fully up and running, I'll be able to unplug it and take my pictures with me to cons and things.
Now, I just need to pick up a USB 2.0 card to stick in my box at home. Said box is a hair too old to have USB 2.0, and the drive will be painful to use at USB 1 speeds... "45 minutes remaining", it says in the other window, copying somewhere in the rough neighborhood of 2GB.
Once I have this thing fully up and running, I'll be able to unplug it and take my pictures with me to cons and things.
I love my camera, but...
Feb. 29th, 2004 09:44 pmI hate sorting/labeling/etc the images. I just spent 45 minutes doing the bare-minimum first-pass "if I don't do this right away I'll forget which tiger is in which picture, and I hate when that happens" labeling of the pictures. It'll take me a minimum of a couple more hours to make more detailed notes and sort out which images I want to print (for now).
( Details about the camera )
( Details about what I do with the images )
( Details about the camera )
( Details about what I do with the images )
