Camera choices

31 July

Yesterday my plan was to take me scooter into town so I could get some new photos. All of us keep making plans but don’t make a Plan B. As it happens, I did make a Plan B, but not a Plan C. What happened was, I got the scooter ready after I’d got changed to go out. But the scooter wouldn’t work. Two fully charged batteries were tried and although the showed a full charge, the motor just wouldn’t start moving at all. The supplier wanted £25 for a call out, so I decided that we will take it into town ourselves instead.

So Plan B came into play, or did it … The plan was to get on and do some writing. But before I began I had an hour looking at YouTube, yes, I know, I know … I had just started to close down when Jan arrived back here and surprise, surprise, Kile was with her. No Plan C of course, so we ended up watching two DVDs before they got on the Wii and I returned to the ‘puter. Today I shall be getting ready and going into town as planned yesterday but I shall either get Jan’s scooter out or use me walker. I’ll see which in a wee while.

Like I said yesterday I’m going to use my 18-50mm kit lens today. I’ve also decided that I shall have a go at mono shooting with my polarizing filter. It should be a good afternoon’s shooting. Of course, if it doesn’t work out very well, I can always alter things again. I always have my camera bag with me anyway to it won’t long to changed lens again too.

The latest edition of Nphoto has an interview with a fashion photographer who is making a name for herself, Ms Aneilia. This lass began using a simple Sony compact camera and then changed to a bridge camera before moving up to a DLSR, a Canon 5D. However, she couldn’t get comfortable with using it, so she changed to a Nikon D810, and now is comfortable and happy with her choice.

This progression is an interesting little story. When asked what camera I would recommend to others, I always now say that the best way forward is to buy some photomags and read up on what is available in their price range. Then it’s time to visit a camera dealer and try out the various models on offer. The one to buy is the one you feel most comfortable with. There’s a camera out there for everyone, it just takes a little time to sort out which one best suites you.

I’ve used many different cameras over the years. In the army I used both Pentax and Minolta models and liked them both. Then they had to be sold because it was case of sell a camera, lens or whatever because we had a choice of having the electric cut off or selling the kit. After that I used those disposable cameras that were all the rage years ago. Ultimately I bought a Konica Minolta Z5, and excellent little bridge camera. After that I had a Nikon Coolpix P5400, which was great, when it worked, but it broke down every seven or eight months. I quickly off loaded it on Ebay after its third return for repairs.

2008 saw me reaching 60 years of age and my army pension became payable, which came with a fairly large lump sum too. That was when I bought my first DSLR, a Sony Alpha 350, which I still have, Kile uses now though. After a few years I moved up to the Alpha 77, a much better camera and I loved using it, apart from one not so little thing; it’s weight. Because of neck and shoulder pain I found harder to carry around as time went one. Enough cash became available so I went out and tried a few different cameras, including a Canon. My choice though was limited by price, and that is why I have ended up with a Nikon D5200, 18-50mm kit lens. I also had enough cash to get me a Sigma 70-300 macro zoom too.

At first I was struggling with it. Simply it was after so many years of using Sony kit, the new Nikon menus and lay took me a bit to get used to. Now I am and I won’t be changing it for some time to come. It’s a great little camera and I love it. If I won the lottery I might actually buy the newer D5500, again because of the weight of it. As camera generation come and go the amount of add ons to them gets more. But that is a subject for another blog, Maybe tomorrow. But moving on … … …       

A number of my FaceBook friends have managed to download Windows 10, and most of them seem happy that their ‘puters are still working fine, if perhaps slower, very much slower in some cases. I’m happy that I made the choice to hang on and try to let them sort out the many niggles that it will have within it. It’s a Windows OS, so yes, we must expect them, no matter how much Betta testing they do.

Today’s photo … 

A herring gull on the beach.

Today’s funny …

Anyway, God made the world and then He said, "Give me some light," and somebody gave it to Him. He split an atom and made Eve. Adam and Eve didn't wear any clothes, but they weren't embarrassed because God hadn't invented mirrors, yet.