|
8 July 2008 / Sunday |
Links open in new browser window for convenience
An Introduction to My Interest in Photography
My Dad was what one might call a mechanical / tech geek these days. He had the tools, know how and hands on practice to be able to do all kinds of complicated tasks, from welding / soldering / calibrating / tuning related to tasks such as plumbing / wall papering / electrical work / building additions to the home / installing fencing / dismantling a car and putting it back together again. He wanted to be an aeronautical engineer but his parents sent him instead to a seminary on the Great Lakes to become a Catholic priest -- he told stories about how he would drive his Ford on the frozen lakes just for the fun of it. He only lasted about a year, returning home to Philadelphia and began working at the General Electric Switchgear Plant in Philadelphia, where he slaved away until stricken with cancer in the early 1960s. It was really strenuous work at a huge sheet metal forming machine, and he came home tired and sometimes cranky.
I guess you could say he expanded his horizons / soul by his many home activities, some of which are mentioned above. Aside from the work, he did have two main hobbies -- playing the violin and photography, both of which he passed on to me in my pre teen years. Of the two, photography was always my favorite. He built a small darkroom in the basement where we did contact prints and enlargements in black and white -- metal cabinets to hold the supplies -- lines to hang the developed film via clothespins were present -- there was a large shiny metal sheet on which to dry the prints after rolling them flat, giving them a glossy surface. His photo apparatus ranged from a miniature spy camera, various Kodaks, and 35mm cameras, buying film in bulk canisters, cutting it to fit the cassettes -- the fridge always had film stashed in it. I still have most of these supplies in the basement, as well as some of his cameras, including this Kodak Vigilant [ca. 1939, the year before I was born] I doubt he ever used it as it is still in new condition, in the original box with all of the instruction booklets and stuff --
SCAN -- Kodak Vigilant original box on left, instruction book;let on right
I too have a working class family learned habit of rarely if ever disposing of things that are still useful in some way. Here are two single lens reflex [SLR] cameras, a Pentax on the left and a Rolleiflex on the right, with a Polaroid Spectra System in the middle. Film for all of them is still stashed in the fridge along with my disposable battery supply.
PIC -- taken with a Nikon CoolPix 960
The SLRs were used for taking slides which I used in classes at the schools I taught at in the USA and overseas. I have tons of slides in boxes which eventually must be digitalized with a scanner and used to illustrate future stories on the web site about my experiences in Europe, Africa and Israel.
The Dawn of the Digital Age
Technology advances in every sector at such a rapid pace that what we acquired six months ago has already been replaced by the NeXT bestest and hottest gadget on the market, be it a microwave, TV, telephone / cell phone, refrigerator or photo apparatus. It is to be expected, of course, BUT most people are able to do what they need / want to do with what they have for MANY years without giving second thoughts about upgrading to the latest techy toy that appears on the shelves -- they probably spent a pile of money getting what they are now using and feel very comfortable with it, why spend yet more just to keep up with the Jones'. Not that long ago I had to replace an old microwave oven that was a snap to use -- had it for at least seven years -- the new one, as usual, has more bells and whistles, options that you really have to read the vague instruction booklet twenty times to even know they exist. Instead of pressing a single button for something, I now have to press certain buttons five times to do the same job one button did on the old model. How often do we hear about peeps who cannot figure out how to use the TV / VCR / CD - DVD player remote. Gawd, even my digital alarm clock radios are a PITA to work -- should I mention the digital clock in my car and van, and the onboard radio station selection memory buttons. It can be extremely frustrating, if you allow it to be.
I still use legacy [older] computer apps for many things, including making and updating web pages, processing digital photograph, book / art / toy inventory, among other major things -- I cannot see spending more to get newer applications that are ALWAYS a LOT more convoluted, offering dozens of new pulldown options that only the programmers understand or might use for something -- the bells and whistles do NOT interest me, and they only necessitate MORE time to finally reach a finished product, which, incidentally, might make loading a web page or pic a LOT more time consuming. Case in point is photo processing -- many geeky types rave about Adobe PhotoShop, how absolutely marvelous it is for effects and other crapola. When I take a photo for my web pages I do not want special effects, all I strive for is a picture of what I am describing that is good / clear enough to see [no matter which browser is used], illustrates the characteristics I am talking about, and loads fast when someone clicks on the page. Web browsing is kinda like sex -- it's the instant satisfaction that counts in many cases. I did trials with PhotoShop, comparing the results with my classic apps and found that for the exact same pic, same size, just as clear, are LARGER files using the mentioned wowser program. That translates to an overall increase in page loading time when a bunch of illustrations are on the same page -- InterNUT grazers will decide to surf somewhere else rather than wait a few more minutes to see what they first clicked on. There is too much information out there, what has been called Information Overload, for them to waste their time on a notably slow link. The only one who really loses out is the Webmaster / business person whose web site it is.
This is the story of my digital cameras, specifically those made by Kodak -- although I also have a vintage Nikon digital CoolPix 950, which I have used as an alternate when the spirit moved me, it is not in the scope of this report to include more details about it on this page.
Kodak DC50
I'll start with the DC50 -- checking back through my news pages I find that I acquired it way back in October 1997 -- it was the second model digital camera that Kodak came out with. The package came with a lot of cables for connecting the camera to a PC or Mac, a CD with photo processing software, which, incidentally, I still use. The camera was sort of bulky and held with your left hand through the carry strap, shown below -- zoom and photo buttons within easy finger reach -- eyepiece seen on top right -- the bottom panel slides out exposing the lens [see the second photo, below] --
I decided it was too troublesome to connect the camera directly to the computer, so I got myself a serial plug SanDisk card reader for that purpose -- later, when I changed cameras and computers, I gave the card reader to Bernar because he didn't have one -- the new computer had USB slots, which are much faster -- --
SCAN -- the DC50, top view
the camera is turned on when the front of the camera is pulled to one side, revealing the viewfinder and uncovering the lens, to the right of which is the flash -- closing the panel shuts the camera down --
SCAN -- the DC50, front view
on the back is a green ready indicator LED [Light Emitting Diode] to the right of the rubber eyepiece / viewfinder, what few controls were needed, a teensy LED screen showing the settings, below which is the memory card holder and eject button -- the card was larger than the usual vintage flash card -- an adapter [shown on right] was available to be able to use the standard compact flash card --
SCAN -- the DC50, back view / Picture Card Adapter
the above pics are of my third DC50 -- I gave the original one to my brother, got a second one on eBay [for parts] at about $8 because it is cracked open and shows the circuitry inside [I have those photos somewhere and may add them if I find the files], and then found this one, complete in original box and all, also on eBay for less than $50 -- it cost quite a lot more when I first got one.
Most of the photos on this web site before the turn of the millennium were taken with this camera. Photos had a resolution of 756 x 504, and you could take seven pics at the best quality setting [using the built in memory] -- using a memory card increased the number of photos that could be taken, of course. It uses standard AA batteries.
Another VERY important note about the DC50 is
that it came with a CD having a photo processing application AND
Adobe
PageMill 3.0 -- [click for enlarged view]
-- 
-- PageMill
is the absolutely best program of all time for making basic /
simple / no bells and whistles / easily navigable web pages /
blogs pages / eBay item descriptions and whatever other Internet
use you might be interested in. It is intuitive, extremely easy
to use -- it does all the html work for you. Most peeps never even used the CD for
anything, so they may be stashed with the original camera materials,
if they keep them. One can still find boxed copies with manual
on eBay. Why do I even mention this? Because each and every web
page / online auction item description I ever made, and continue
making, was done using PageMill that I got free with the Kodak
DC50. PC and Mac versions were available.
Kodak DC3400
My NeXT step was the DC3400 -- I have searched my news pages but haven't yet found when I first made reference to it --
when turned on, the lens automatically extends and the rubber lens cap falls off -- the rubber side panels make for a sure grip when using -- flash on right --
SCAN -- the DC3400, front view
the basic controls are noted on the back -- color subject view / review screen [with intensity control wheel on bottom, not shown] -- LED setting indicators on the top center [not shown] -- slide open battery compartment on lower right -- takes 4 AA cells -- I always have a battery charger ready on a shelf above my computer table -- when the batteries in a camera / mini mag light or other toy need replacing I just reach up, get the recharged ones, replacing them with the ones that need recharging.
The DC3400 is a 2 megapixel camera with a resolution of 1760 x 1168, which is adjustable [I usually only use half of that] -- with a 34 MB flash card installed I can get 77 photos before the card is full -- it will not take pics without a memory card [it came with an 8MB memory card] --
SCAN -- the DC3400, back view
Compact Flash Cards are useful when on a trip or at an event necessitating many shots, something I rarely do, but I always try to be prepared just in case -- they were originally quite expensive, but over the years became a lot cheaper per megabyte -- most, if not all of mine were obtained at various times from Sam's Club [cheaper and no tax] --
SCAN -- two different capacity Compact Flash Cards, in protective cases
from about 2000 until 4 July 2007, this was my camera of choice -- MOST of the photographs on the earlier web pages were taken with it, and some will continue to be -- I NEVER had prints made of any of the photographs taken with my digital cameras, quite simply because they were destined for use on web pages, auction item descriptions and sending in emails.
I purchased another DC3400 and gave it to my godchild, Peter, as a Christmas gift.
Kodak EasyShare V1003
On a trip to Sam's Club on 4 July 2007, to stock up on food, I spent some time looking at their ample selection of digital cameras. I really didn't feel that I needed a new one and didn't go there to buy one, but I am always checking around to see new things of any kind just to satisfy my feline like curiosity, I guess.
A couple models were cheapo since they were being retired from inventory because newer ones came out already -- after more than a half hour looking at what they had and chatting with a Japanese gal who started grazing cameras also, I decided on the Kodak EasyShare V1003 -- 10 megapixels plus VIDEO -- I have a really old monstrous Panasonic videocam that uses standard size video tapes, stashed downstairs that I used years ago to take videos with of nothing special -- the new Kodak is surprisingly SMALL and light -- a simple manual and user friendly controls -- it has a lithium ion battery which must be charged with the enclosed charger [not pictured] OR a dock [not included nor wanted -- once again I opt for the simplest way of doing things without additional shit cluttering up my desktop] -- working late into the early morning hours, it took about two hours to fully charge. In the meantime I read the directions several times about settings and such, had dinner and started planning some video experiments with the new gizmo.
I took a close up shot of the box it came in -- the resulting photo was really enormous in size, so I had to rework it with whatever app would accept it. The quality of the pic is a lot better than it would have been with the DC2300.
Ok, so the charge is complete -- interestingly, the tiny memory card is snapped in next to the battery [not pictured because if I would take it out, all my settings would disappear and have to be redone]. The most noticeable thing on the front of the camera is the lens, covered by an automatic lens cover that opens as the lens extends outward when the power button is pressed. The two small holes on the lower right are the microphone, flash on upper left. It is 10 megapixels, and can be varied to lower settings by the user. There is an image stabilizer [IS] option.
SCAN -- the EasyShare V1003, front view
The main controls are on the back, labeled as you can see. The color screen is quite large compared with the DC2300. A toggle switch for zoom is on the top right, below which is an innovative mini joy stick that allows you to manipulate the setting, each of which has a pop up explanation of the options. I set the photo resolution to three down from the maximum, meaning that I should get a LOT more pics on the memory card.
SCAN -- the EasyShare V1003, back view
This CD came in the package, with software that allows some minimal manipulation of the photos / videos BEFORE stashing them on your computer or sending them via email -- click on the thumbnail for a larger view --
this scan is to give you some idea about the size of the memory card used in the V1003 compared with the older FlashCard -- it is less than half the size of the previous standard and a tab on the left side allows it to be locked, which might be useful in certain circumstances -- warranted for a period of five years -- I bought the 2GB and 4BG cards. The camera does have some unspecified amount of memory built in.
SCAN -- SDHC Memory Card [in protective case] / USB CompactFlash card [outside of storage case]
this table gives some numbers relative to the megapixel potential of various generic camera models / resolutions / data rates / nominal file sizes and number of photos / video / audio files able to be stored on different MB / GB memory devices. The photos taken with this camera are MUCH larger than those taken with the DC3400, almost TOO large to be processed with my older photo apps without tweaking them before processing.
The Video Trials - and Tribulations
OK, now to some trial videos, and what better
subject than the kittens just after sunrise -- the blinds were
up, no sunlight streaming through the windows. My first model
was Ringo, the male who is always first to greet me. I pressed
a video button, hand held the camera close to him and filmed about
ten seconds of him sitting there looking at me -- file size = 2.6MB, more than I want to upload on this domain, so I did
it on iToyz.net -- not bad, but the lighting sucked, although it was
better than expected -- 
--
eight experiments later, raising the blinds totally, closing the blinds, adding a spot light, hand holding the camera, using a tripod so I could get into the action, I then selected what I though was the best thus far -- 1.52 minutes long, file size = 28.6 megabytes -- where the hell am I going to load a video / audio file that size? What a dilemma. There are perhaps a couple options -- AOL, Yahoo, Netscape and Geocities, among others, offer FREE web space for anything one wants to stash there. I have 20,480 KB available on YardSaleNet.net, but that wouldn't help very much.
Aha, uTube, where all the other movie producer wannabes have their stuff, some VERY creative / professional, I must say -- since I signed up as a member around Christmas to be able to rate a friend's Christian music video, why not try there. Using the Netscape browser just after the noon hour [when their servers would probably be overloaded, but what the heck] -- signed in, filled in all the spaces for data and clicked the UPLOAD button -- it does state that it may take several minutes to upload, to wait for the acknowledgment message to appear. Well, fut the wuck, I waited five minutes, ten minutes, went to the kitchen and washed dishes, another 15 minutes and nothing was acknowledged -- I didn't feel like waiting for sunset, so I closed Netscape and booted the Safari browser, which I seldom use. Went through all of the above a second time, adding the URL of the Sphynx kitten page in case anyone might want to inquire about them, the the wait began -- in about ten minutes the note that it had uploaded and that it would take a while to appear. Gawd, they think I am going to wait any longer to see my masterpiece? NO WAY -- with the gallons of green tea and coffee I had been guzzling for over twelve hours, running frequently to the bathroom, at this point I was about to pee myself but tried to get to the web address they gave me -- no dice, just a message that it is being prepared, to try again later.
OK, don't they say that with age comes patience?
I had a snack, fed the kittys, and whatever,
then after an about an hour had passed I tried again -- OMG, there
it was and the URL to the kitten page was a hot link -- -- I was ecstatic, bubbling over
with pride -- I did it and it wasn't all that difficult -- you
can hear me speak to the kittens in English and Spanish as they
romped all over me in bed. Now I may get the itch to do more kitten
and other videos, maybe even one to replace the podcast I have
on each of my online auction items. We shall see, I guess -- now
off to the bathroom AGAIN! You wouldn't believe the gallons of
liquid I drink all day long while clacking away at the keys on
this iMac contraption. I think my bloated liquid filled overhanging
waistline changes with the diurnal tidal surges -- you can almost
hear a sloshing sound as the next wave rolls into my stomach lining.
Nan, a friend in Boston, emailed me to say she liked the video, so, using the program that came with the camera, I attached a compressed version of the eighth experiment with a copy to myself to see how it goes through the email system -- the original was 1.16 minutes long / 27.4MB and the compression reduced that to about 912KB -- it up and downloaded as an email attachment in about a minute -- it appeared as a VERY small 4cm wide QuickTime clip, nice and crisp, but when I enlarged it by dragging the lower edge of the video screen, it became out of focus due to the compression. Although I knew this happens, I was still somewhat surprised. Compress anything and the end result is always quite different from the original, which in this case was a MUCH larger 6.5cm wide.
In Conclusion
A simple comparison of the diminishing packaging size of each of the above mentioned Kodaks -- taken with a Nikon CoolPix 950 --
PIC -- the original boxes of the above three Kodak models -- oldest at bottom
lastly a pic that shows the relative size of the three Kodak cameras mentioned above. I find the miniaturization that went into the V1003 mind boggling. While others may be playing with their iPhone [see my recent report on the iPhone HERE ] this baby will surely keep me chugging along for many Moons, God willing.
PIC -- the three Kodaks, object of this Special Report
I tried to be as untechnical as possible in the above -- for further information about any particular term or terms, you can find at least dozens of links by doing a WWW search for the word or words.
Yesterday I did an online search for Kodak DC3400 and saw a few available, new and used -- several costing MORE than I paid for the V1003 [under $200].
Hey, if you need a new camera that does everything that this one does, stop by your closest Sam's Club -- with any luck it may be the last one they have and be even more discounted. Look for the letter C at the end of the stock number / product code -- that signifies that it is the end of the line for whatever they sell [at least in the three stores in my immediate area].
If you enjoyed listening to the Kodakchrome midi
[it brought back happy memories of younger, more carefree times],
I have two more versions that I hope to add on my Midi Page
-- 
-- perhaps
by tomorrow.
8 July 2008
/ Sunday -- I found a fabulous recent uTube
video of a lovely woman explaining the workings and results of
the Kodak V1003 -- she is just as thrilled with it as I continue to
be -->
5 August 2008
/ Wednesday -- I made another kitten video
-- I think I am finally getting the hang of where to place the
single spotlight so that the flick is not too dark -->
God Bless !
|
|
|
|
My Closeout Deals & Real Estate -->> Personal Sales Mis cosas en -- My Cigars & Goodies on -->> YardSaleNet.net My offerings on -- My Items on -- |
Back to Or visit my other web sites at
|
Free counters provided by Andale.
|
COPYRIGHT © 2007 by * due to the constantly changing nature of the Internet, some external links may no longer be valid midis from http://www.geocities.com/player2000gi/midi_collection2.htm http://sglyrics.myrmid.com/midi.htm http://www.musicrobot.com My Other |
-->> 
G5
iMac, the Perfect
Home / Office Computer
