Fuji Talk Forum overrun by drugs?

Noticed this comment on the forum today …

Hopefully Fujifilm learns that when they produce terrible, useless cameras like the F550EXR, people will return them and get their money back. Just look at how many people are completely dissatisfied with the GPS on this camera. Beyond useless.

The F550EXR is far from perfect, but it is also far, far above terrible and not even on the same planet as useless. And this is the first I’ve read about everyone being dissatisfied with the GPS.

No idea how anyone could make such outrageous assertions unless perhaps drugs are involved … hyuk hyuk hyuk …

Finally … proof that Canadians are being ripped off for data charges …

Not that anyone in Canada really needed proof, but we are charged the highest data roaming fees in the entire OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.) I’ve been harping on this for years and I’m glad to see that we have been exposed as an anti-consumer country …

That’s us way over there on the right. Interesting that, unexpectedly, the US is right next to us … but still cheaper. In fact, North America holds the top three spots, and since there are only three countries in North America, I think that’s just shameful.

One amusing comment in the article from which the graph emanates:

"Current pricing levels indicate that there is, in general terms, either insufficient retail or wholesale competition," the report said, adding that there is a "strong case for new consumer protection and empowerment measures."

Thank God we have the CRTC hyuk hyuk hyuk …

I wonder what it will take for us to get a fair shake …

 

Source article: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/06/08/technology-mobile-roaming-wireless-oecd.html

He was lost, but now he’s found …

As some may know by now, my eldest has been visiting the UK for a while now. And this classic shot was recently posted by a friend of his, Claire, from a mobile phone.

Love the new hairdo …

D7000 captures ISS hand held …

Wow. I became inspired this evening by a magnificent image form Jason Ware on the consumer dSLR forum at dpreview.com and thought I’d see what I could do with the D7000 (higher pixel density than D700 and thus much more appropriate for planet and satellite hunting) and the longest lens that I own, the 70-300VR and since I had to track the ISS in the sky for the 30 seconds or so that it was visible, I could not use a tripod.

Well, the adventure got off to a bad start when I went outside 20 minutes before the ISS was due. I knew from the Heavens Above page that ISS would be over Ottawa three times over night. Once at 1:43 at magnitude –2 (very bright) and the again at 3:17:17 at magnitude –1.5 (less bright) and finally at 4:53:04 at magnitude –1.3.

So I decided to make the attempt at 1:43 and as I started to discuss, there was some cloud. But I persevered and looked over the charts to see where it would emerge. I am not well practiced, but I knew that it would emerge from shadow at 31 degree altitude just to the right of Cassiopeia.

So all I had to do was to find the constellation and then stalk the sky to the right of it … easier said than done in cloud.

But as the time approached, I noticed the sky clearing in that area, which is pretty spooky if you ask me. I had set an alarm with one minute to go and I had the camera set to the exposure I wanted – 1600 ISO at f/11 at 1/800s. The f/11 was necessary to try to get this lens to resolve like a telescope. Which it did not :-)

As I watched, it emerged as bright as day just to the right of the area I was watching. So fricken cool!!!

Of the dozen shots I rattled off as it fell straight down, the only ones that even came close to looking like the ISS were the last few. And because I was using a very low magnification (450mm effective) I was able to get blurry renditions that were very small. So what you see here are two rendition a couple of seconds apart at perhaps 400% magnification or more. So each pixel has been blown up quiote a bit here, hence the total lack of detail.

But … the cool thing is that I saw the ISS and I got shots of it hand held. So what the heck …

And the next image, really really magnified …

That was a very cool adventure … short, but very sweet …

D7000 – No backfocus that I can see …

I speculated in the dogs article that my D7000 might be giving me backfocus. Well, I’m pretty sure that it is set perfectly. I have seen nothing but sharp images until this evening, and of course this evening I was chasing a fast moving puppy around in the dark. Plus, the 16mp of this sensor demands faster shutter speeds than I am used to requiring.

Which tells you that I should be carrying the D700 at times like this. Despite the amazing high ISO of the D7000, the D700 has less pixel density which is my friend in low light for several reasons, one of which is that I would get less visible CA and I would get less motion blur. It only takes a pixel or two to kill sharpness.

Anyway, I ran a quick test on the 18-200VR and a control on the Sigma 105mm 2.8 Macro and found that my focus zone is perfect … a little but more in focus behind the bar that in front, but nicely centered otherwise.

One interesting result here is that the Sigma really shows some fringing wide open. Of course, I shot this in the orangest light you have ever seen, so the blue channel is really pushed here, but still … the megazoom looks fine but the macro is challenged.

Anyway … the next time I am chasing Lexi around in the evening I think I’ll bring either the 85mm 1.8D set at f/2.2 or the Sigma set at 3.5 … both should do a great job …

Update: Although I think the 70-300VR was accurate enough, I decided to give it a slight tweak at 300mm to achieve this balance.

D7000 goes to Boston

Well, not really. I was asked to walk Karen’s pups this evening to help out with a scheduling conflict and of course I said yes. Not only to help a friend (actually her daughter) but also because these are really nice dogs. Sweet dispositions, cute and fun to play with. The little one likes to play all the time.

So the little one is a young Boston Terrier with a gorgeous black eye patch and a very small stature. I understand that she was the runt of the litter, but that just makes her more special. Her name is Lexi and she’s as fun as they get. This first image of her is shot at 6400 ISO, but the rest of the outdoor shots are at 800 ISO. The shade was fairly dark in the neighborhood so I was constantly fighting blur.

Obviously, she’s not all that used to the leash. But even that’s cute :-) …

I had Jon with me because he likes dogs and because it makes it easier to take both out for a walk. Sophie is a middle-aged Pug with a very nice disposition.

Very quiet and unassuming. She’ll play with Lexi and even fight with her. I was surprised that she rolled onto her back several times to entice some playtime … it was very cute.

Jon really likes Lexi, calling her adorable several times this evening. He even said that he could enjoy having a Boston Terrier if it was like her … that’s saying something since he prefers the Wolf-like Husky breed and postulates that lapdogs are more like rodents than dogs.

And again some play. We were trying to get them to do their business, but this was the only business that interested them for most of the half hour walk.

At one point I saw a squirrel a long way off and shot him at 200mm (300mm effective focal length) … not bad, but I think I have a slight back focus tendency. That would be no surprise as there are myriad complaints of that with the D7000.

When we got back to the house, Lexi still had not done her business, so we fed them and watered them (Lexi seemed quite hungry) and then took Lexi out one more time in the front lawn area. Jon allowed her some freedom and I shot images from a distance. The high contrast was somewhat tricky, so I only got a small number of keepers. But late evening shooting of a black and white dog moving around in sun and shade is challenging anyway, so I was happy to get any.

One of these is probably my best shot of Lexi all evening.

One thing that amazes me for a small puppy is that she is not a runner. The collar we used is much too big (obvious from the photographs) and it came off twice while walking her. Yet she just waits for you to put it back on. Here Jon does the honors as he did the first time.

Here Jon stretches backwards to avoid the friendly licks that Lexi is so full of. She is sooo sweet! Time for bed though as we leave …