How interesting
Posted on May 11th, 2008 by Jay Lee
My camera comes with a wireless remote control…
Can Has New Camera
Posted on May 11th, 2008 by Jay Lee
During the process of acquiring the new wide-angle lens I went ahead and fondled the Sony Alpha 700 just to see what I thought. While this was happening Charlie at the Camera Exchange noticed that Sony was offering an instant rebate of $150 for the lens I wanted if purchased with a new Alpha 700. Well this pretty much cinched the deal for me. I mean it was obviously a sign. I told him “let’s do it, ring me up!”
Charlie disappeared to the back room and after awhile we began to wonder where he was. After awhile he came back and told me he was sorry, but the promotion ended on the 31st of April. He’ spoken to his manager and there was nothing they could do.
Well damn it.
During the time he was in the back I had already embraced the idea that I would own this camera. I told Charlie to hold on to it and we’d come back after the Art Car Parade and I would purchase it rebate or no rebate.
Off to the Art Car parade to play with my new wide angle lens and mentally debate the new camera in the process.
I thought about it and really, there was no debate. The A700 was the best choice even before I dropped the pretty penny on the wide angle.
See here in a side by side comparison, it holds it’s own with the Nikon D300 and the Canon 40D
Side by side feature comparison of the A700, 40D and the D300
The 3 inch LCD, 5 frames per second and 12 megapixel CMOS sensor (basically the same sensor as the D300) make it a strong competitor to the Nikon for several hundred dollars less before adding in the lens replacement costs.
And as far as the Canon is concerned, the Sony seems to actually exceed it in features and capability.
After only using it for a day I find the controls extremely intuitive and easy to use.
The high ISO capability and the low noise make this a fantastic camera for the money and perfectly suitable for my purposes.
Can Has Wide Angle
Posted on May 11th, 2008 by Jay Lee
Friday night I had a fitful night trying to sleep. I kept dreaming about getting an extreme wide angle lens (not a fish-eye). I found myself REALLY wanting one and my dreams were all over the place. At one point I was in a Russian five and dime with some cloak and dagger fellow and he was managing to show me just about everything BUT a camera lens. It was very surreal and I didn’t sleep well.
I am sure this was brought on by a two things. My existing urge to scratch the photo itch with something new and Cynthia getting a new lens for her camera.
Cynthia expressed an interest in doing some low-light photography and I explained that to really do this she would need to consider getting a fast fixed focal length lens. I would have loaned her one of mine gladly, but she has had adopted Pentax as her platform so off I went to The Internet to research and procure something suitable for her camera.
I found the Pentax Wide Angle SMCP-FA 35mm f/2.0 for a good price and figured this would be the thing. Once it arrived and Cynthia started playing with it I was certain we made a good decision. It’s fast and sharp and the pictures are fantastic.
Even before Cynthia started the process that lead to her getting the new lens I had been agonizing over camera decisions. I had started to look at changing platforms and was being tempted by the $300 rebate Nikon was offering on the D300 with the 18-200mm VR lens.
After my fitful night of lens dreams I thought I might just buy the Sony 11-18mm and be done with it. It’s a pricey piece of hardware and buying it would definitely put another nail in my Sony platform coffin. Not necessarily a bad thing as I am enjoying my Sony Alpha 100 and feel confident that Sony is not going to abandon the SLR market. Besides, it should hold most of it’s resale value should worse come to worse.
After discussing this with Cynthia we headed over to the Camera Exchange to talk to our friend Charlie. He said he thought they were out of stock on the lens but after looking through some cabinets produced the last remaining Sony DT 11-18mm f/4.5-5.6 Aspherical ED Super Wide Angle Zoom Lens they had and I bought it.
I love it. Sure, Tamron has announced they are developing a 10-24mm that is a bit faster but there’s no telling when it will be available, and for how much. I could have waited, I suppose, but this piece of glass is soooo much fun!
Click for full size!
Dooley
Posted on May 11th, 2008 by Jay Lee
Dooley was doing his irritating “hoot” thing from the other room that indicates he’s not getting the attention he feels he deserves.
Cynthia commented that Dooley was being a very bad bird as she does when Dooley gets like this.
I responded by saying “fine, I’ll get rid of Dooley” to which Cynthia replied “but you love Dooley!” and I said “Not anymore” and without missing a beat Dooley said “I love you” in the most pathetic and heartwarming way you could imagine.
I guess I’ll keep him awhile longer…
WWE - WWF - WTF?
Posted on May 8th, 2008 by Jay Lee
As some may remember, the wrestling organization WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) used to be called WWF (World Wrestling Federation).
From wrestleview.com
Why did the WWF change their name to the WWE?
The WWF have been in a court battle with the World Wildlife Fund since 1994 over the rights to the “WWF” initials. Both parties came to an agreement in which the World Wrestling Federation would use the “WWF” initials for limited use only. However, with the WWF becoming insanely popular in the late ’90s the “limited use” agreement became a hard thing to obey which caused the World Wildlife Fund to take the WWF to court yet again.
As they years went by it appeared as if the World Wrestling Federation would overcome the court battle and not have to deal with the matter anymore. The court battle became very intense in late 2001 which many thought the World Wildlife Fund would win but only get writes to the “wwf.com” domain name.
Then in early May of 2002, the judge ruled in favor of the World Wildlife Fund for the rights to the “WWF” initials. Many believe the reason the judge ruled in favor of the World Wildlife Fund was due to the fact that the organization had been founded in 1961 while the World Wrestling Federation changed to the “WWF” initials in 1979. The WWF then changed their name to the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) as a result of losing the case.
So what if the court decided that the two organizations would have to continue to share the WWF name? What if the two organizations actually MERGED?
Baby Loves Disco?
Posted on May 5th, 2008 by Jay Lee
When I first read this I thought Baby Loves Disco must be a hoax or a prank but it looks like the real thing. Imagine your local disco filled up with parents and their toddler, preschoolers and pre-adolescents moving to the groove.
The fun spills out from all corners of the club: bubble machines, baskets of scarves and egg-shakers, a chill-out room (with tents, books and puzzles), diaper changing stations, a full spread of healthy snacks and dancing, LOTS of dancing.
Sounds like a rave for children!
As this video from buzz.mn points out, these folks manage to inculcate in our youth the finer points of bar culture…
I can only imagine that this is a precursor to a much more violent and subversive movement that will inevitably be called Baby Loves Mosh Pits.
I grew up with disco and it’s my cross to bear but I just can’t imagine inflicting it on someone too young to defend themselves.
Hello therapy!
Birdage Report
Posted on May 4th, 2008 by Jay Lee
Blue Jays have been no strangers to our neighborhood but have not really been seen much in our yard despite the ample food in the form of seed and suet. This has changed recently. There’s been a huge Jay coming in from the Magnolia tree in the back of the yard to the feeding area and quickly zooming away. We suspect that one has built a nest either in our back yard or one of the adjacent yards.
He’s quite the site to see.
Photo by Cynthia
On a related note, the House Finches are back and Ricky and Lucy seem to be gearing up to bring us another baby Cardinal.
Today was also our first Hummingbird sighting since putting out the feeders a few weeks ago.
And lastly, a small, fast moving Sapsucker has been sighted in bush outside the front window. I think it’s a male Yellow Bellied. At first I thought it was a Woodpecker due to the very distinct red, black and white markings. He looks like this guy.
Probably the male counterpart to last year’s visitor…
2008 Dragon Boat Festival
Posted on May 4th, 2008 by Jay Lee
Despite the rain warnings on the local news stations, Saturday turned out to be a spectacular day for the 8th Annual Dragon Boat Festival hosted by The Texas Dragon Boat Association downtown at Allen’s Landing.
I’d been meaning to get down there one of these years to see the festival and this was the year.
Cynthia and I got there early and it did look like it was going to rain. We headed up to the top of Fanning street bridge to shoot the early races. This afforded us some unique perspectives and great overview of the whole event…
Ultimately, though, it was sitting under the shade trees on the opposite bank of Buffalo Bayou that presented the best viewing option. We camped there for a few hours and watched the races while taking pictures and hanging out with our friends Barrett and Amanda.
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