Tag: cameras

Sad, but understandable

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

TL;DR: Canon CEO admits that they can’t really compete with the burgeoning mobile photography demographic

There’s a defiant change-resisting part of me that wants to erupt in a knee-jerk reaction and proclaim that cell phone cameras may saturate the world of photography now, but they’ll never compete with the quality of a traditional camera!  Honestly though, I don’t really feel like I can however.

Not only have cell phone cameras really closed the gap in capabilities of even the most bulky and expensive DSLR cameras out there, I also fall into the demographic that’s kind of tired of lugging around a brick with a heavy lens that’s cost me nearly $2 grand and is fragile as shit.  At the time I’m writing this, I have an embarrassingly large backlog of photos that I haven’t processed because they’re RAWs, and I typically do them one at a time, but the thing is I don’t have as much free time anymore as I used to, and I’ve got over half of my last European vacation photos to go through, as well as starting the photographs I took at Dragon*Con many months ago.

I don’t regret investing in a decent camera and investing even more in a bunch of expensive lenses; among the thousands of photos I’ve taken over the last decade, I’m sure I’ve got at least a handful of good ones that made it all worth it.  But the fact of the matter is that looking towards the future, I know that I’ve gotten more and more tired of lugging around “gear,” all for the sake of accomplishing what the modern cell phone is getting closer and closer to accomplishing.  Even during my last day in Germany a few months ago, one of the most liberating things was the fact that I had decided to not bring my camera with me, and to just go out and enjoy Munich without it.

Although I’m often behind the times when it comes to cell phones, mostly because I still don’t really consider my mobile device as my primary camera, and I don’t feel like keeping up with the Joneses and constantly updating and upgrading to the newest and latest and greatest phones because I want a better camera, I really do understand the general appeal of mobile device photography.  It’s literally going from your pocket to your hand, and you’re getting amazingly decent results from a few taps onto the screen.  There’s no wheels to turn, F-stops to adjust, no white to balance.  In the matter of seconds, a competent photo could be taken, as opposed to the vastly longer time it takes to configure a camera for the same result.

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Korean Stories: Shopping in the Motherland

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Prior to visiting Korea, I did a lot of cursory research on sights to see and things to do.  I found plenty of sights to see throughout Seoul and some of the other places I visited, but the things to do spectrum proved to be a very shallow well to dip into, with the most frequent suggestions revolving around drinking, eating or shopping.

I didn’t really want to drink too much around my mother, and the human stomach does have a finite amount of space in which meals and extra meals can go into at any one time, so that really meant that if I really wanted to do what the Romans Koreans did, there was a whole lot of shopping (and browsing) that was going to happen.

If anything at all, because I don’t really know how to buy things for myself that aren’t food, occasional clothing or other consumable goods, I was going to be wandering around a whole lot of shopping centers.  I had a moderate list of things that I wanted to purchase for others, but my money was about as finite as room for food in the gullet.

To cut to the chase, shopping in Korea is unlike shopping anywhere else in the world, in my opinion.  Shopping isn’t just a recreational activity done in Korea, it’s pretty much a completely essential thing done by anyone who lives and visits the Motherland.

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Mission Camera Upgrade Recoup – showing work

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

So I got my new camera, the rebate forms have been sent out, and I’ve put a bunch of crap on eBay, with hopes that all the extraneous things that came with in my new camera’s bundle can make a little money back for me.

In addition to all the things with my camera I didn’t need that I’m selling, I decided to go on a little bit of an eBay selling splurge, and attempt to sell off some things that I originally intended on selling, or things I simply don’t need anymore.

That being said, a few changes were made to the table I whipped together in order to show my work, updated to display all the things that I listed on eBay, with their recoup amounts, if they sold at all. (I can’t see myself bothering to update this after waiting 6-8 weeks for me rebate card, or if anything doesn’t sell, and I have to list it again)

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Maybe I should have just gotten the body

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Camera body, that is.  It probably would have been way less work.  No, it definitely would have been.

So, since I embarked on a journey to try and get a new digital camera for the cheapest total cost possible, I went the route of spending a pretty penny for the camera, as well as a whole bunch of shit that I don’t need, because there was a mail-in rebate that basically halved the total price spent.  In addition, there was the gamble of selling all the extraneous goods, to bring the total cost down even further; but that would require work.

Work, I thought that wouldn’t be so bad, because I had my eye glued to the bottom line, that in hindsight, now seems so very far away.

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Mission: Camera Upgrade Recoup – intro

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In the (paraphrased) words of the great Dave Hester: YUUUP.  There’s money to be made, as long as you’re willing to put forth the effort.

I just bought a new camera.  I am now excitedly anticipating its arrival, and I look forward to it being my primary equipment when I travel to conventions, baseball parks, and any other social events where having a camera might be a good idea.

My current, soon to be former camera is a Canon EOS Rebel T3 (1100D).  I have enjoyed it, I think I’ve taken a few good pictures with it, and it’s been a great introductory piece of equipment into my foray as a stereotypical Azn Guy With A Big Camera, but I think I was pining for a change.  Not that I’m some great photographer, heaven’s no, I’m the first person to deny the title of “photographer,” but I did feel that the T3 was beginning to constrict my ambitions as a person who likes to take pictures.  So I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled for a potential upgrade.

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Cost vs. labor exemplified

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Funny story.  One of my colleagues is on a long vacation, leaving my team of slaves short one.  Naturally, when a team’s ranks are reduced, it’s to be expected that the remaining members pick up the slack to some capacity, which is fine and all, since that’s how a team operates.  Needless to say, my workload has grown a little bit on my co-worker’s absence, but I’m alright with that, because the same can be said about the other members of my team.

However, it’s the circumstances in which my workload’s increase has come about that has me a little perplexed, which is a nicely-worded way of saying “I do not agree with the way things are, and I shake my head when I think about it.”

Basically, a number of people I work with have been tasked with removing time stamps from well over 800 JPEGs.  Be it through using the clone stamp, healing brush, liquefy tool; whatever it takes to make sure that these images no longer have time stamps on them.  Subsequently, while they are off in Photoshop lala-land, I am the one who is getting the brunt of the actual, meaningful work overflow.  I’m confident enough to say that I’m probably the most qualified to be doing the work that matters, but my current workload is looking pretty gargantuan at the moment, which doesn’t exactly make me feel peace of mind.

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Photos: Thanksgiving

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I can’t really say that I’m thankful for a whole lot outside of the typical generic ones, like the people around me, but one thing that I am genuinely thankful for is that my life is, although often times erring on the side of boring, but somewhat stable.

My family drives me nuts from time to time, but that’s what family does.  My job might be kind of mundane and boring, but it affords me the ability to pay the bills and sustain my fairly simple life.

The benefit to stability is the fact that when things aren’t going so well for others, I can be at my peak condition of being able to offer help and support, because things aren’t necessarily that complicated in my own life.  And it’s cyclical; it goes without saying that stability isn’t achieved without a decent support system in place for me, if and when I ever need it.

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