"In the beginning"

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The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily the views of the blog management, (on the other hand, they are not necessarily not the views of the blog management).

No effort has been made to stay within the bounds of the truth in this blog as it has always been the view of the management that the truth should never be allowed to stand in the way of a good story.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Toys for Boys

I'm beginning to think that my brain is... Uuumm... a little too "mature" for
all the new technology I'm trying to squeeze into it, let me explain.


I upgraded my trusty Finepix point and shoot camera to a Nikon D5000 SLR,
I use d the term "upgraded" but in effect I may just as well have launched a
climb of Mt Everest instead of my usual stroll in the park.
I chose to go with a single lens instead of the fairly normal twin lens kit, to
make this a usable combination I chose a 28 - 105 mm lens which I think
will allow me to do all that I want to do, it has a neat feature built into it
also, it is a VR lens (vibration resistant) which is very handy for us older
folks who tend to have tremors that weren't there years ago!!!!


This photo (taken with my Finepix as were all the photos showing the new
Nikon shows it mounted on its new tripod all set to take a self portrait.

Because my eyesight is not as good as it used to be I chose this camera
with its large "live view screen" for when the lighting conditions are less
than perfect

It has a very neat feature in that the viewing screen can be swiveled
through a full 360 degrees if need be, of course there is the normal eye
level focusing as well.

As evidenced here, provided I read (and correctly interpret) the instructions
it has the ability to take a self timed photo... even a Nikon can do very little
about the subject matter in front of the lens however.

I began this post with a comment about my brain being taxed to (or over)
its limit, the photo above is of the screen of my iMac computer, the black
area surrounding it is a good impression of the state of fog/darkness
that my brain is in most of the time when I sit in front of it.
I love my iMac and have reached an understanding with it, that provided
I don't try any more than 2 or 3 new things per day it will let me tinker
around to my hearts content, for example it has shown me many things
that I was unaware of with the storage and display of my photos.
Speaking of photos, I hasten to add that I also love my Nikon D5000 and
confidently expect that my photographic ability will improve when I finish
reading the 300 page manual that came with it.
There has already been one funny incident with it.... I fiddled for about
3 hours on Christmas Eve, taking only a few photos but testing every new
aspect as I read about them... come Christmas Day and dinner with good
friends Ken and Jackie and Margaret I rattled of 4 shots before handing
it over to Ken (who is a photo whizz) for a tinker, only to find that the
battery was flat from the previous days exploring... better luck next time.

17 comments:

Dave said...

Beautiful camera Peter...! I've been tempted to get myself a digital SLR now for some time.. but wonder how much I'd use it.

I have 3 "film" SLR's in my closet that I'll probably never use again, it'd be great if I could use the lenses from those on a new camera! Hmmmmmmm

Cliff said...

Congratulations Peter. Some neat kinda cam you have there. We've had an slr for quite a few years but we still have to ues the view finder. The big screen would be nice.
About the tremors. Maybe it's what you're 'looking at' that makes you quake.
Think on that.

kenju said...

That's a very clear shot of you, Peter. I expect much better photos from now on!

I am lucky to get any photos with my point and shoot.

LZ Blogger said...

Peter ~ Looks like Santa was real good to you! He must have lost that "Nice & Naughty List" of his. I hope you had a great Christmas and that all is well! ~ jb///
P.S. I hope that camera has some automatic functions?

Pamela said...

I need an instructor - I use so little of the capacity on my canon

And I have the stabilizer in mine, too. Just call me shaky puddin'

karisma said...

Very nice....once again I think I have killed my Nikon...must stop taking it to the beach on windy days, they really don't like sand in their bits.

willowtree said...

Wow!

Jack K. said...

Congratulations, Peter. It seems we have something in common. I just purchased a new Nikon D3000. I will have to put some photos on my blog when I get home next week.

I am also thinking of acquiring a new MacPro laptop. Not ready to make the commitment yet. My current Macs an iMac and a laptop are getting a little "long in the tooth" and can't perform as well as they once did. But I do love them.

Puss-in-Boots said...

You have that problem, too. I'm glad I'm not the only one. New technology takes me a lot longer to figure out now...sigh.

Actually the self portrait's quite a nice one...

Have fun playing with your toys.

Joy Des Jardins said...

What a great camera Peter...and a wonderful pic of you. This is really a terrific 'toy' for you...hope you enjoy it. Happy New Year sweet guy....blessings of health and happiness to you always. Hugs, Joy

Siry PĂ©rez said...

Happy 2010, a hug from Venezuela for that great nation Australia. I love your country. A hug for you Peter and his beautiful family

Big Dave T said...

Speaking of over my head, you lost me at Finepix. I assume it's a camera brand, but not one I'm familiar with. I like my cameras simple; the disposable kind are my favorites.

Coincidentally, my father just e-mailed me that he is thinking of taking up photography as a hobby. He says he takes up a different hobby each decade and now that he is turning 80, he figures it's time. My guess is his camera will be nowhere near as complicated as your's.

Happy New Year out there in the land down under.

Walker said...

Great camera.
My problem with new technology is that there are to many bloody dodads to understand.
I miss carbon paper and my Polaroid instant camera

Walker said...

Happy New Year

Jim said...

HAPPY NEW YEAR, PETER!!
I pop in to check on you and right away I am jealous. That new camera of yours is just great! My bucket list has an SLR Nikon but my Scotchish wallet says 'no.'

I so want to take some pictures of the moon. My little Sony pocket camera won't do that for me. I will look at your pictures her a bit to see how it is doing. The tripod is good for the moon shots.
..

Merle said...

Hi Peter ~~ Guess you are still having fun with the new camera. I had figured out to press Compose to
bring all the icons back in blogger
But thanks anyway. I am not doing too well at the quizzes, but keep trying. because I enjoy it.
Take care, Love, Merle.

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

What a wonderful camera and computer as well. Your new camera is just too smart for me. I'd have to honestly say that I would never take any pictures if I had to lug that big camera around with me. It looks like it would take big muscles to carry it. I envy you and would love to have one, but for me it would be some place else when a picture opportunity presented itself. I prefer the small easy to use cameras that I can carry in my pocket but of course they aren't made for the quality type of pictures that you'll be taking.
Besides there in Oz you have all kinds of beautiful, unusual and interesting animals and landscapes to take pictures of and you'll be taking some fantastic pictures Peter. Love the self portrait.