If any of y'all have a passing interest in photography, I have a suggestion to try out a high dollar digital SLR for cheap. Go over to e-bay and look for Sony DSC-F707. They are older (Like 12-14 years) and only 5 MP, but you'd be hard pressed to find a newer camera that significantly outperforms it....especially the fact that you can pick a nice, gently used one up for $40-50 + shipping. (I've bought 3 of them recently. Why? Because they are 12-14 years old and bound to break at some point, and they are an awesome camera.) These thing sold for $1K+ when they were new. The drawbacks to this camera? Only 5MP, which means fuck all to me because I don't print out and blow up my images. 5MP should safely make a crisp 11x14 if you're so inclined though. A lot of professional photographers used these cameras a few years back. It's bulky compared to newer cameras. Proprietary Sony memory sticks that are no longer made and max out at 128mb. Once again, this is not a problem for me since I don't keep images on my camera. A 128mb stick will hold 790 640x480 images or 51 2560x1920. That's plenty for me, besides I do have spare memory sticks. Shutter lag. It takes a moment to shoot if you're using the auto focus, which I'm sure is still a problem. The default is a 3 point auto focus, which can be changed. The pluses? It's an SLR that also functions great as a point and shoot. Super crisp images thanks to the Carl Zeiss optics. Also, optional lenses are still available since it's a 58mm lens. Fully IR capable...ie...you can take pictures in the dark without the flash. Some of you know I have a passing interest in the whole ghost hunting thing and this thing is great for IR photography. C'mon...$50+/- ....a hell of a deal for a camera of this quality.
Just to give you an idea of the camera's capabilities, here's a picture I just shot in total, complete darkness. I couldn't see my fingers in front of my face. (Full disclosure, I did have some auxiliary IR lighting on the camera. A single IR LED, which is what the camera has, is only good for 3-5'.)
Re: Casper? is that you? Look harder. On another note, my package is now back in Kingsford, MI after making a day trip to Ontonagon, MI.
Re: Casper? is that you? That is some fan-CY trimmings, however. Look at how much decor fills just that frame alone. He's renting, of course. I remember the first place I rented had yellow ducks and roses cheaply stencilled into the wall as a chair rail border in the kitchen. Of course we never bothered painting over it because that would require effort, so we looked like Hispanic pedophiles when you walked in.
It's actually not an SLR, it's just a large point-and-shoot/compact. I agree they're nice cameras, though, as I had the DSC-F717 for many years. The IR mode is cool, and the laser autofocus assist means they will literally focus in complete darkness, and that flexible lens hinge is surprisingly useful. I'll say, though, that the technology has come a long way since then. The shots don't really hold up compared to more modern cameras (which obviously cost more). If you're into photography, I'd suggest getting a dirt cheap used DSLR (an actual SLR, with interchangeable lenses), and either a 35mm or 50mm lens, and experimenting. You'd get a lot of flexibility in settings that you won't get with the compact. It was a really amazing little camera that was woefully under-appreciated at the time, though, and for $40-50, it's a great deal... especially if you break everything you touch and need replacements. Though actual SLRs are pretty damn rugged.
I just picked up another little Nikon L28 for $50 last month as a back-up/beat-up camera. It amazes me what some older simple Nikon cameras can do (working within their limitations) but of course they don't hold a candle to the newer stuff. My dad got a Nikon D5100 a couple years ago and it is a hell of a lot of fun to shoot pics with after being used to my little cameras. The Canon S110 I got last year has been awesome except I may or may not have been a bit hard on it and the lense mechanism is fucked already. Alright lesson learned. Can't decide if I want to get another one of those and leave it inside more or just go ahead and get an DSLR or something if I'm going to be babying it. I have a need for quality product photos but I like taking spontaneous pics on hunting/fishing trips the most, hence why I've always stuck with more inexpensive point & shoot cameras.
I would love to have a nice camera for those moments where something looks remarkable and I want to capture it perfectly. For instance, last spring when the camellias were blooming and it had been drizzling all week, I took a few photos outside and just couldn't get this leaf to look like it did with my naked eye. Spoiler One'a these days, I might see about asking for one for Christmas. I'd love to get one if it was more affordable but I don't have a real need for a camera that expensive, so I'll have to wait for now.
My go to for a simple to use, yet high quality camera is an older model of this. Its a point and shoot but the quality is better than my older Canon DSLR and a lot more portable. Has awesome pre-loaded filters for wonderful black and whites and the macro setting is one of the best I've ever used. https://flic.kr/p/d1N3N1 https://flic.kr/p/dfY8Uu Expand those to a larger size and you can see better details.
Well tomorrow should fun day of driving to New York. I picked a hell of a week to travel. At least with storms like this it wipes all of the bums out, so there's that silver lining.
Meanwhile it's now 10°C and sunny out here at my place... and a foot of snow is quickly turning into a mini-flood. Water pooling on ice is always fun to walk in.
Scientists turn mosquitoes into vaccinations. Basically, they're about to release some genetically-modified mosquitoes in Key West, where every time that mosquito bites you, you are vaccinated against a few select diseases. The implications of this are huge, and interesting. Since I spend about a month each year in south Florida, this impacts me personally. And I can't say I'm against it. Reminds me of Jurassic Park, yeah, but daaaaaamnnnnn..... Someone is about to make billions if this all works out.
Summer has finally turned up with 25C yesterday and today and 27C tomorrow. Moving to the northern hemisphere in a few months, so I'm a good 11 months away from winter. I think if I'm ever rich enough I'm going to be one of those people who moves back and forward every six months to always be in summer. A long as I never have to wear a suit, or ideally any form of long pants that is.
It is currently negative Ass Degrees here with a frozen genital front moving in for infinity. Truthfully last winter was far, far worse. It didn't snow at all in December and currently hasn't snowed in over a week. Still cold as fuck though.
Everytime I think it would be great to move to Toronto, I'm reminded how fucking cold it gets and how I can barely survive the Chicago winters without walking out into the lake. Oh and y'all not wanting Americans to move there.
I'm always amazed by youth hockey. I'm a goalie coach for a prominent organization in the area, so because of this I can go to however many or few games I like. As a goalie coach my attendance at games is entirely voluntary. If I go great, good for me, I improve relationships with parents. If I don't go, no harm no one really cares. Whenever I do go to games, which is fairly rare and unpredictable, I'm always shocked by the parents in the stands. Today I watched two of my teams play in back to back games, its pretty much the main reason why I went to the rink today. During these games the parents cheered like it was an NHL game. They booed the refs, cheered the goals and the saves, and the tension in their section was palpable during potential scoring plays. Its unbelievable. I'd understand the enthusiasm if these kids were high school aged and playing high level but these kids weren't. In the first game they were 8-10 years old, second game 10-12. They were also playing the lowest level available. Despite all this, despite the fact the kids in a year won't remember the game, the parents were living and dying by each play. If I was just listening to the parents and didn't know I was in an ice rink, I'd have thought I at a Broncos game. Fucking eh, hopefully no one on here is as enthusiastic as these parents when it comes to low level youth sports. When it comes to youth sports, support the kids, enjoy them playing, but remember its for fun and in ten years they won't care if they won these games or not
Toronto doesn't really get that cold. There's maybe a few days a year where it gets below -20. Mostly you have the lake insulating the city, although the humidity in the air makes a -5 or a -10 day feel worse than it should. Now, where I live? I just had a look at the weather network and it's 10 degrees colder here than where Crown lives. It was -20 this morning and I went cross-country skiing because at least it wasn't -30. Last winter was god damned ridiculous.
Last winter was downright repulsive. It destroyed so many trees, it was heartbreaking. We're always hours from home when an ice storm hits.
This winter is downright spooky, especially compared to last. Last year we were the coldest place on earth, colder than Mars and had something like 45 consecutive days below -25*C. I can remember the relief when it was "only" -25. This winter? On Friday it was so warm overnight that the snow melted in the dark. We have barely any snow on the ground and maybe a week of weather that got really cold. Thank god; I would have died rather than repeat last winter.