Using the Olympus E-410 with the M42 lens adaptor and various lenses. The exercise is to get used to the camera again and explore its abilities. It turns out it’s a capable performer.
Pictures en route to other pictures
Tag: ice
Last of the Sony?
As I change my plans and adjust my methods the Sony a6000 doesn’t really fit in anywhere now. It’s remarkable how much dimmer an EVF is than even a pentamirror optical finder, nevermind a pentaprism one. Also the very small body is difficult for me to use without accidentally pressing the wrong buttons and the wrong time.
Whatever. These may be the last pictures I take with the Sony (but don’t bet on it). The lens is the not-so-good-but-not-so-bad Opticam f2.8 135mm M42 mount.
Then Winter said …
“Hold my ice-cold beer and watch this!”
The missing text:
It took over an hour to get the snowblower through that 8″ of heavy, wet snow. Even in low gear I needed to feather the clutch a lot and stop and wait for the throat to clear every few seconds. It was ‘calving icebergs’ ahead of it too, so I had to go back over spots and then back over the whole surface. The temperature was just at freezing and it was still snowing, but if I hadn’t done it then it wouldn’t have been possible to do it later after more snow had built up.
As it was I got soaked through because the snow turned to rain. I had put everything away when that grader came by and filled the drive back in. I put my wet clothes back on, went back out in the now freezing rain, and started the snowblower again – with the cord ripping off. At least it started. Oh while I was clearing that mess the highway crew left with the grader they came by with the plough truck and made another mess, including slopping me. Way to go, guys.
Now we have a forecast of more snow today and tomorrow, when the winds will suddenly go up to gale force and the temperature will drop to -30. Why? Because ice is so much more ‘fun’ than just snow, right? The roads are basically impassable, with the government advising people they “might want to consider postponing unnecessary travel”. Not “stay off the roads you idiots” like they should say. I guess they like scraping dead bodies out of ditches. This is the kind of winter mess no one can cope with. But we do it anyway. Canadians, eh?
So now I’ve got to fix the snowblower before the next snowfall. Which is expected to be today.
Just once I’d like to have something go right for a change.
Addendum; I see it snowed a little overnight. On top of the ice layer.
That last week
Here are some monochrome images from the recent ‘Canon practise’ project.
Among events of last week, I got new tyres on Jojo. The old ones had really had it; I kept sliding past the driveway when trying to turn in. The issue was needing to drive to Kamloops to pick up Herself from the airport, and you can’t count on the weather/road conditions around here – except to be bad.
The other option was to re-insure and gas up the truck (which would have cost about the same), but it’s rear wheel drive when 2wd and doesn’t shift in to 4 automatically. Also uses more fuel and doesn’t ride as nice. Plus, Jojo still would have needed new tyres.
As it was that was a good idea because it snowed the day before the trip and the roads up here were compacted ice with some more snow and melt on top. On the way back it was all melted slush and we ran out of washer fluid keeping the windshield clear. Jojo actually has a warning that comes on when it gets low. Anyway, she’s filthy now and needs a wash but … guess what? Weather is about to go cold again – and snow more. Welcome home, dear!
So she’s back. This was followed the same day by a call from the eye doctor regarding my specialist appointment. Which will be in May. Good thing it’s not urgent, eh? We all know how it will end up anyway.
This past weekend we celebrated yet another wedding anniversary, in the usual style of the elderly. That is to say we stayed home, had a nice dinner, and watched a movie. The movie was the one we went to see in a theater on our first anniversary. No, it wasn’t Muybridge’s The Horse In Motion.
Now it’s time to get ready for whatever is next. Like split wood because it’s going to get cold. Also plot and plan purchases and snow clearing against more snow fall. At some point it will be Spring, but not for a few months yet.
Another 50 = 80
Continuing with my Canon “practise”. In this case the lens is the wonderful Asahi Pentax Super Takumar 50mm f1.4. It is a faultless lens, and even a blind photographer like me can get good shots with it.
Answering the riddle
“How do you get to Carnegie Hall?”
Practice, practice, practice!
Here I am practising with the Canon T100 and 55-250mm lens.
So what’s the score? One out of every seven pictures shot was ‘acceptable’. Not very good, but an improvement over the Nikon’s one out of ten. The reasons for the improved performance are several: the Canon has a larger, brighter viewfinder which is easier for me to see through (although I still mis-framed shots); its autofocus is faster and more dependable (although again I missed shots because the focus points are little black dots and my eyes have their own ‘little black dots’ built-in); the zoom is a mechanical ring, not motor-driven that sometimes locks up as the Nikon does; the sensor is larger, higher resolution, and not failing; the lens isn’t loose and wobbly.
I miss the Nikon’s excellent (actually better than the Canon’s) lens resolution and its extreme zoom range, though. But it is nice to know the camera isn’t going to just fail randomly as its worn-out predecessor does. The battery lasts longer too. I’ve had the T100 for three years now and bought it to replace the P610, but it was hard to give up a camera that so perfectly fit my shooting needs. Now those needs have changed and I have no choice (many of the shots missed with the Nikon were due to my just not being able to see what I was doing with it).
Next step is to put the fixed focal length ‘prime’ 50mm on it and shoot some more, although I dislike having that limitation. I also need a much longer than 250mm lens for my usual wildlife photography, but that will have to wait for now. (It’s been waiting for three years, what’s a little longer?)
Footnote: it was -40 Thursday morning, but it’s headed for above freezing next week. This weird weather continues to complicate things.
Too cold to
Leftover pictures again. The past few weeks haven’t been great around here, with this past one including 6″ of snow on Wednesday and -24 temperatures Thursday. Not exactly pleasant for going out in, never mind taking photos. So here’s some images made before the deep freeze, although it was still freezing.
Tidying up
A couple of days in town doing errands and chores like visiting three hardware stores to get six items and mowing the lawn (steps one and two – three will have to wait ’til next trip). Nissan is loaded with garbage for the dump and supplies for the cabin so … back out Saturday to have at it again. This would all go faster if I could stand to work more than 4 hours a day. It’s been an interesting few days, with one really odd event which I won’t say more about.
In the mean time … some images leftover from the Canon T100.
On to more adventure.
You know, I think sitting on a tropical beach watching the sunset while someone brings me cool drinks would be a good idea.
Stop.
Two from three
So much going on I didn’t know which way to turn. It has taken me days to decide just what the “weekend post” would be of/about. Thus it’s a sampling because I couldn’t make up my mind.
I’ve been ‘trying out’ the Canon lately to evaluate it as the next ‘main camera’ to use. I like using it but it simply can not do the things the Nikon P610 ‘bridge’ camera can, so I find myself repeatedly grabbing that instead when going out.
I have stopped using the Olympus for now. Not just because the battery is failing and I’m loathe to put money into it, but also because I need to force myself to evaluate the future of photography for me and it is unlikely the E410 is the answer no matter how much I like using it.
What with everything everywhere being as bad as it is (yes, my wife is still in England with no return date even guessed at) switching to “artistic” photography only is about all I can do. I loathe the idea of it as I do very much like taking wildlife photos. You know: pictures of birds I can’t actually see because they are small, far away, and hidden in tree branches. Do I need to mention the failing camera + failing eyesight thing again? No. Not going to say anything about the triple digit inflation rate around here either.
Just trying to keep my sanity together. Remind me again exactly why I should do that.
More analysis coming up. Er, camera analysis that is. I could probably do with the other kind as well, to be honest.
Wandering Words 