Month: December 2024

Now Prove Me Wrong

photog Current Events, OCF, Reclaiming the Family, Science ,

So, Camera Girl works double time for a week and I just spend two days eating thousands and thousands of calories of delicacies over the long holidays but I’m the one who’s exhausted and complaining!  I guess we each have our own strengths and weaknesses.

So, mission accomplished.  Two days hanging out with the grandkids and all the rituals were observed.  I even bonded with my sons-in-law.  They were good sports and tolerated all of my quirks.  They uncomplainingly watched my showing today of W.C. Fields classic “The Man on the Flying Trapeze.”  They even laughed at several of the most absurd scenes of Ambrose Wolfinger with his cellar full of singing burglars, his career as a “memory expert,” his criminal adventure as an unlicensed manufacturer of apple jack, his passion for professional wrestling and his trials and tribulations dealing with his truly awful wife and her mother and brother.

The kids fell right in with the silliness on display.  The only protest came from my six-year-old granddaughter who recognized both Fields and the actress playing his wife from the previous showing of the other Fields movie where they played a husband and wife, namely “It’s a Gift.”  Princess Sack of Potatoes wanted to know where the son and daughter in that previous movie had gotten to in this movie.  I explained that even though Fields and the actress were playing husband and wife again they were different characters.  I think this situation didn’t sit well with her.  Apparently, she felt that her suspension of disbelief was being abused and she wanted those interesting characters returned.  I did my best to smooth over this outrage but it took half the movie to return her to willing participation.

And as everyone was heading home, I was thinking what a strange world we live in.  All the silly rituals and behaviors that we associate with happiness and family.  Three generations of people playing penny ante poker or watching movies from ninety-some-odd years ago or eating peasant foods from a country none of us has ever lived in.  It’s all just a hodge-podge of things that make up a stream of experiences that we all share together travelling down the years.

And for me, those are the realest things in the world.  All the other things I read about “on-line” and the important progress that is being made by artificial intelligence, global convergence or whatever else they call what they are doing with government money are utterly fake.  Watching my two youngest grandchildren trying for the first time to master the silly game of getting a wooden ball on a string to land in a little wooden cup was more meaningful than listening to two physicist talking heads debating about whether dark matter was faker than modified gravity.  These high powered (we hope) intellects should be concentrating their efforts on solving the world’s energy problems.  The physics they need to be studying is defining the criteria for engineering a safe fission reactor.  Humanity needs to snap out of its stupor and produce an ecosystem of abundance and prosperity that fosters human happiness and maximizes human intellectual potential.

It’s amusing to hear people who “believe in science” stating categorically that there is no God and that the universe and life are just meaningless accidents.  And their proof is “The Big Bang.”  They declare confidently that the universe began x number of billions of years ago with all the matter and energy of creation appearing out of nowhere and all of that creation is still expanding at an ever-greater acceleration into empty space with entropy leading to the heat death of this universe in y billions of years from now.  But if you ask them where the big bang came from, they just shrug their shoulders and say that is unknowable.  In essence they are saying they don’t know anything about the beginning and end of the universe.  So basically, they’re saying, “and then there was light.”

I tend to think life is not an accident.  From my point of view, what I experience in my small piece of the universe is the point of the whole thing.  A little kid playing with a ball and cup toy is the reason for the big bang and everything else that has been put in motion.  Now prove me wrong.

26DEC2024 – Quote of the Day

photog Quote of the Day ,

[Isaiah’s Job; The Atlantic Monthly (June 1936) (Part 2)]

A prophet of the Remnant will not grow purse-proud on the financial returns from his work, nor is it likely that he will get any great renown out of it. Isaiah’s case was exceptional to this second rule, and there are others, but not many.

In any given society the Remnant are always so largely an unknown quantity.

An assignment that you can really put your back into, and do your best without thinking about results, is a real job; whereas serving the masses is at best only half a job, considering the inexorable conditions that the masses impose upon their servants.

You do not know, and will never know, who the Remnant are, nor what they are doing or will do.

Albert Jay Nock

Tom’s World – 25DEC2024 – Photography – Fast lenses

photog Camera Reviews, Guest Contributors, Photography, Photography Reviews, TomD ,

Tom | Flickr

TomD

That (Sony 135mm f\1.8 lens) is a nice lens but, as you note, the range is sort of a “tweener”. But with that IQ, you can always stand a crop.

Like you, I’m still sitting on a collection of A mounts but will probably die with them leaving my heirs to wonder what the devil they’re gonna do with these.

My most expensive lens is an E mount, 24-70, f2.8, GM. I forgot the cost but it was in the low 2,000’s. I rarely use it because it is big and heavy. It is capable of stellar results but almost all the really good results were with my now gone A7R2 body with the 46 mp sensor. My current A7IV, almost always wears a Sony G series, 24-105, f4.0. It has a more usable range, I rarely need f 2.8, weighs half, costs half, and if there’s a difference in IQ (image quality), I’ve yet to discern it.

The main reason f2.8 (or lower) was needed was to gather more light or to increase bokah. These new cameras are astonishing in their low light performance. I limit my ISO to 12,800 but constantly come up with images at that ISO that need no “noise” reduction and are usable as shot. My old A850 (like yours) was getting to be unusable at an ISO of 1600.
Anything around 2400 and forget it. That’s why I am perfectly fine with f4.

Below is a photo that I think I recently posted here, it was shot at 12,800 and has had no noise reduction. It is perfectly clear but if you look at the blurred background, you can barely make out the beginnings of noise. I don’t need 2.8, this camera will almost shoot in the dark. This lens is the 24-104; read the reviews, it’s an incredible lens.

DSC07623

Canada, Greenland, Panama Canal.  Deal or No Deal?

photog Current Events, Humor, Trump , ,

When I was a kid one of my best friends was crazy.  He was wired so that whenever the opportunity arose, he was ready and willing to poke a beehive (metaphorically).  He possessed a razor-sharp wit that had only one track; hilariously cruel mockery.  He could mimic and belittle anyone or anything.  The problem was he never selected his targets based on the blowback he could expect.  And so there were very serious consequences; beatings, expulsions from schools and youth organizations and vendettas of various sorts.

I think Donald Trump has a similar knack.  Going all the way back to the days of “Little Marco” Rubio and “low energy” Jeb, Trump has demonstrated that making his opponents look ridiculous is completely in his wheelhouse.  Does this explain his recent statements about annexing or buying Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal Zone?

I guess we’ll have to try and sort these things out.

Let’s start with Canada.  For starters, geographically speaking Canada is the second largest country on planet Earth.  With a population of about 40,000,000 it’s only slightly more populous than California and it is mostly quite cold.  But it obviously has plenty of natural resources and potential.  But it is kind of a real country so how exactly does it become part of the United States?  Well, obviously it doesn’t.  Right now, the Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party are the extremely unpopular majority party with him as prime minster.  After the various COVID debacles and the following downturn in the economy, the Conservatives are expected to win the 2025 elections and send Trudeau packing.  Now I have to assume that any Canadian politician who gave a positive response to this suggestion by Trump would be voted out of office during the next election.  Who knows, maybe the Canadian parliament might vote to impeach him immediately just to punish such a thing.  But I don’t think there’s a chance in the world of Canada agreeing to join the United States unless the Gates of Hell opened up in Ottawa and it was the only way to prevent their annihilation.  So why would Trump say such a thing.  Of course, because he was taunting Trudeau.  And in this case what could be the consequences to him?  None.  Canada has no leverage over the United States and serves as the impotent straight man to any jibes that Trump cares to make.  So, let’s just say this one is just rhetoric.  It’s just like my boyhood friend exhibiting a penitent for cruel mockery.

Then how about Greenland?  Now this is a totally different animal.  It is the largest island in the world but only about 50,000 people live there, mostly Inuit.  Apparently, Denmark; the current owner of the island doesn’t know what to do with it.  They have white guilt over colonizing it a thousand years ago and want to give it back to the Inuit.  So, Trump talking about buying it is actually a doable thing.  Currently most of it is covered by glaciers.  But if the ice continues to melt the way it is going someday this could be a very valuable piece of real estate.  Also, the probable quantities of natural resources (including fresh water) are almost incalculable.  So, let’s call this one more than just rhetoric.  Let’s attribute it to Trump’s love of a good deal at a good price.  I think he’s serious about this one.

Now, what about the Panama Canal Zone?  I think we can call this saber rattling against the Chinese.  Chinese commercial interests in Panama may be related to very large increases in the cost of using the canal for shipping.  Saying we should take it back may be Trump’s way of threatening the Chinese with a fight they can’t win if they take advantage of American companies using the canal.  Does that mean he wouldn’t actually take back the canal by force?  Well, nothing is impossible but I would rate it as extremely unlikely.  Blockading it, on the other hand, might be something he would do.  So, let’s call this one a special case where the rhetoric has some basis in reality.

And finally, what other bargains remain out there for Donald Trump to annex?  Mexico?  Australia?  Japan?  Well, who can say?  Mexico would actually make some sense.  Not as a state but as a protectorate.  We could crush the drug gangs and rebuild Mexico as a client state with our own puppet government installed to allow for its people to live decent lives.  But honestly it would be more work than it would be worth to us.  Better to build a wall four hundred feet tall and a hundred feet deep with laser-armed drones guarding it.

And the rest of the world?  Look we have enough problems with our own people.  Mr. Trump, I know you like a deal but how about just reclaiming our own country.  Is it a deal?

Which Place Will Trump Add to the United States?

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Gear Acquisition Syndrome in 2025

photog Life in Dunwich, photog's Corner, Photography, Photography Reviews, Reviews , , , ,

I’ve been very happy with my Sony A7 IV camera since I bought it a few years ago.  It does everything I need it to do and I’m not sure what would tempt me to trade it in.  So, I haven’t bought any photo gear in quite a while.  But recently a new lens has tempted me.  But it’s a long story (and thus the reason it’s a post). About fourteen years ago I bought the Sony (badged as Carl Zeiss) A-mount 135mm, f\1.8 lens.  It was an extremely extravagant purchase at $1,500 and I couldn’t justify it in use terms because basically it was a very long portrait lens for which I had very rare need.  But after seeing some of the extraordinary results it could produce, I plunked down the cash.  And it was every bit as sharp and contrasty as the critics claimed.  And I managed to find quite a few excuses to drag this big heavy lens with me to places and events where longer and shorter and lighter lenses make better sense.

But not too long after this purchase, Sony, in its infinite cruelty, stopped making A-mount cameras and went mirrorless.  I won’t repeat my long sad story of enduring the e-mount introduction.  But I will mention that Sony salved over the initial problem of having no lenses for their new mirrorless cameras by producing a line of attachments for adapting A-mount lenses to e-mount cameras.  They were designated with the prefix LA-EA and numbered successively 1 through 5.  And with each introduction I dreamed of my e-mount cameras working with my A-mount lenses as if they were native lenses.  Well, that never happened.  Granted they got better.  But even the LA-EA-5 never allowed my A-mount lenses to enjoy the full capability of the camera’s auto-focus or special features like magnified view, in the same way as my e-mount lenses could.

And so, one by one I sold off my A-mount lenses and mostly bought the e-mount equivalent lenses (or just didn’t replace them).  But not the 135mm f\1.8.  By the time the equivalent e-mount lens appeared my A-mount lens was no longer very marketable.  A-mount lenses had a fairly small pool of users and so the market prices sank to fairly low prices.  And when the new lens came out in e-mount they wanted $2,100.  And that seemed a bridge too far for a lens that wasn’t really needed for a major part of my shooting style.

Over the years third party manufacturers have come out with their versions of this lens in the e-mount.  First Sigma, then Samyang and now Viltrox.  Each time I looked at the combination of price savings and quality and I shrugged my shoulders and said meh.  But finally, it’s reached the breaking point.  A review of the Viltrox lens (actually several reviews) claim that it is very slightly better than Sony’s $2,100 version but at about 1/3 the price ($760).  So, I checked the trade in value of my old A-mount lens and finding it to be about $350 I mailed it out and now await my thirty pieces of silver (figuratively) before finishing off the transaction to buy the Viltrox.

Wrapping up the lens gave me a pang of regret.  It was a beautiful piece of kit that had worked flawlessly when attached to the camera it was designed for, the Sony A-850 DSLR.  It wasn’t the lens’s fault that the geniuses at Sony had almost simultaneously with buying the Minolta camera line, relegated all of its products to obsolescence by going mirrorless.  But such is life.

Well onward and upward in 2025.  I will record the arrival of the new lens with photos it produces.  After all that’s the real reason they make these darn things.

View from Campsite 5 at Toroweap

SONY DSC
SONY DSC

25DEC2024 – Quote of the Day

photog Quote of the Day , ,

But he was early at the office next morning. Oh, he was early there. If he could only be there first, and catch Bob Cratchit coming late! That was the thing he had set his heart upon.

And he did it; yes, he did! The clock struck nine. No Bob. A quarter past. No Bob. He was full eighteen minutes and a half behind his time. Scrooge sat with his door wide open, that he might see him come into the Tank.

His hat was off, before he opened the door; his comforter too. He was on his stool in a jiffy; driving away with his pen, as if he were trying to overtake nine o’clock.

“Hallo!” growled Scrooge, in his accustomed voice, as near as he could feign it. “What do you mean by coming here at this time of day?”

“I am very sorry, sir,” said Bob. “I am behind my time.”

“You are?” repeated Scrooge. “Yes. I think you are. Step this way, sir, if you please.”

“It’s only once a year, sir,” pleaded Bob, appearing from the Tank. “It shall not be repeated. I was making rather merry yesterday, sir.”

“Now, I’ll tell you what, my friend,” said Scrooge, “I am not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. And therefore,” he continued, leaping from his stool, and giving Bob such a dig in the waistcoat that he staggered back into the Tank again; “and therefore I am about to raise your salary!”

Bob trembled, and got a little nearer to the ruler. He had a momentary idea of knocking Scrooge down with it, holding him, and calling to the people in the court for help and a strait-waistcoat.

“A merry Christmas, Bob!” said Scrooge, with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. “A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you, for many a year! I’ll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob! Make up the fires, and buy another coal-scuttle before you dot another i, Bob Cratchit!”

Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.

He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!

Charles Dickens