News filtered through the media void or Nikon abandoning full-sized cameras.

A few days ago I heard Nikon had abandoned its AI system for the new Z system having dabbled with their 1 system and abandoning that in the same way they developed cameras and lenses for their APS system about 30 years ago. Having seen the noisy results from the 1 system, they were probably right to abandon in when they did. Now, with advances in technology they need to give it a second look. There is a market for small cameras.

Having said that, I write an awful lot - books and blogs. I include a lot of photographs with my books and blogs. This photo was probably on some blog or other of mine. The quality is decent enough for books, magazines and websites. It's not top notch but who really cares? It does its job. 

So, with phone cameras getting ever better and just about everybody and their dog owning a phone with a decent camera, the market really has vanished for both cheap compacts and for expensive compacts. There aren't even many of the kid-proof cameras any more as people give their kids an old phone to use for taking photos and if it gets broken they trash it and give the kid the next old phone.

Videography is heading the same way. Decades ago cameras of questionable quality cost thousands. Now their quality can be eclipsed in a simple cellphone. Indeed I shoot video for one of my sites. I shoot in 720p because that's the maximum the camera on the screen side of an old iPhone will do. It's good enough for the moment and well representative of what's new on YouTube anyway. Some videos go to 4K or even 8K but for viewing on a tablet, phone or computer screen, the extra expanse of pixels at high cost is not merited. 

A year or two back I met a couple of people out with cameras. They had big gadget bags with just about everything under the sun inside. I had a camera on a strap around my neck, under my jacket, a longer lens in one pocket and a spare couple of batteries in the other. I was good. We chatted and then they noticed my small Olympus PM1 and asked how many megapixels. They were not impressed when I could not remember and why should I remember? It produces excellent images at all the sizes I am likely to want to use. I'm not going to buy a super duper camera just do that I can produce the biggest ever prints. That's just plain stupidity. In fact I think most cameras these days produce images way in excess of most people's needs or desires. All that does is clog up storage with bulky image files.

There were people who poo-poohed the smaller camera formats because the image quality "wasn't there". A photographer friend in Columbia commented that he had both the big Canon system and the little Olympus Micro four thirds system. His opinion was that while he could see a very slight advantage with the bigger sensor, it was so slight that it would be totally lost when it came to printing or displaying. 

The world is getting smaller. Fewer people are buying big bulky camera systems because they are big and bulky for no real gain. The smaller systems seem the way to go. I'm very glad I jumped ship from Canon to Olympus and very glad I decided to stick with one camera and two lenses. Of those two lenses, I use the standard zoom the most as it covers 90% of what I want to do. The longer lens was a disappointment to be honest. A much longer lens would have cost so much more that it was not worth the money for the amount it would be used. The bigger lens I have is not used much either.

Looking back at the photos I've taken and used the most, over the past 3 years they have all been cellphone images. I recall many instances of people with expensive cameras poo-poohing everything taken with a smaller sensor but I see plenty photographs. I never wonder what camera was used now what lens nor even who the photographer was.

Cameras have become cheaper and more utilitarian just as photography has become cheaper and more utilitarian. I hear people claiming to be photographers claiming they charge hundreds if not thousands. That's simply laughable. Most product catalog pages on websites are taken with simple, small cameras like cell phones. Nobody deliberately goes all out on ultimate expense when cheap will do. Somebody criticized one of my images for being blurry and they could shoot it better. My answer - well go back in time do it and I might look at it.

It is not surprising that Nikon has gone for smaller cameras. What is surprising is that they are still making cameras given that they have become such a small niche market. 20 years ago even newspapers were turning away from cameras and going toward cellphones for photography. Perhaps the niche is now people making youtube videos who use the cameras for video making. While I have not ventured beyond a cellphone for making my YouTube videos, perhaps one day I will. Perhaps one day I will use a Raspberry Pi camera and software to record video onto USB memory stick. 

As far as any dreams of people making money out of photography are concerned, they're dreams and that is all. Everybody and their dog has access to a perfectly adequate camera for videos and for stills that will produce a perfectly adequate resolution. Out of 100 wedding guests all taking pictures of the bride and groom, some will take really nice images that the couple will cherish and share them, free.

Is this the last posting?

I have not updated this blog in a very long time - two years by the looks of things! I moved on from photography with a camera and started using a smartphone. 

When I realised that just about any phone now produces excellent quality images and that it really doesn't matter whether an image is taken on a phone or a camera because people are interested in the image rather than the perceived quality of the image it was very releasing. I went over to smartphone photography and haven't looked back.

Meanwhile I went back to my  roots - computing and electronics. Having taken a long break from them, I picked up a Raspberry Pi microcontroller and started using my skills.

I might still update this blog but don't count on it. I had a whole load of fun writing it and had an absolute blast doing the April 1st posts. In recent years I would remember to do an April 1st post a few days into April so there really wasn't much point then.

The Photo Camper

Years ago the photo camper had an easy time. A selenium cell light meter or just plain old exposure calculation charts that were frequently memorized, a few rolls of film and a mechanical camera. Though heavier, mechanical cameras never suffered from the cold. Indeed the Leica M4 could work down to -20F (-29C). 

These days the worry is always of battery depletion. Running out of film now is highly unlikely since memory cards are so small, light and easy to pack. Whereas a film photographer with a mechanical camera could shoot until she ran out of film, the digital photographer does not have this luxury. Typically with a compact digital camera such as an Olympus PM1 (cited as I own one), the battery will last maybe 300 photos. That means carrying multiple batteries and of course multiple memory cards and hoping that they will remain charged.

There is, however, another option. While a film photographer could carry a bag containing fifty rolls of film or 2,000 exposures, the digital photographer can carry a lightweight solar panel. The two below are both 10W flexible solar panels. The one on the left can be found on Aliexpress sold as a 20W solar panel and the one on the right can be found on eBay sold as a 20W/30W/50W/60W solar panel. Don't believe the figures - they're both really 10W. 

Of course, solar panels on their own are no good to man nor beast. To go with them since both have USB fittings on the back, you'd need a USB cable. In fact I'd recommend several since the micro USB connectors seem to be particularly fragile.

Many phones, cameras and laptops or tablets can be charged straight off USB. That's good on the down days when one is just sitting around camp doing laundry etc. For the go getting photographer I do recommend another approach. 

This is a nifty little charger that will run off a USB charging source. It charges just about any battery in common usage including 18650 lithium batteries. It will charge NiMh, NiCad and LIon batteries in a wide variety of sizes.  It also has another trick up its sleeve - it can also be used as a power bank. Taking the micro USB end of the cable out of the micro USB socket and putting the standard USB end into the standard USB socket on the back, the micro USB end can be used to charge devices.

With all the batteries for the photographer's devices charged, the solar panel can be left in the sun charging 18650 batteries so when the photographer gets back to camp at the end of a long gruelling day the 18650s are charged and it's possible to charge camera, phone, etc. 

Speaking of camera battery charging there is another option. There are plenty USB powered camera battery chargers. Apologies for the lack of clarity and focus on the photos of the camera battery charger. I took these with my interim cell phone. More on that, later.

So, everything a photographer needs to carry can be charged from a simple lightweight solar panel. The caveat is that there has to be sufficient sun and that the solar panel cannot be damaged. 

Now, a quick calculation. I got 11W out of that panel at midday on a good day with no clouds. How much will that generate on an average day? Assuming 50% capacity over 8 hours then that's going to be 80WH or about 6AH. So there should be plenty to charge one camera battery in a day or all four 18650 cells or a cell phone or a compact laptop/tablet. To be a real power hog, more panels would be needed but they're not expensive.

Typically a 10W flexible solar panel is mis-sold as a 20W/30W/50W/60W and it absolutely is not. Go for the lowest priced flexible panel and it'll likely be 10W. The tell-tale sign is the photo of the back of the panel which will demonstrate clearly that it has no sticker.

As can be seen, neither panel has a sticker advising the capacity or any other technical details. Once the panel is purchased and the capacity verified as being less than advertised, it's possible to take out a claim against the seller on eBay or AliExpress and get a refund. It'll cost the seller more to get the panel shipped back on top of the refund so basically, that's how to get a free solar panel. Both of those were free because the seller lied about capacity. If one buys something and it is not as advertised, under law one deserves redress. The Aliexpress panel I had to chase through the bank for a chargeback as AliExpress seems to be crooked. I don't advise AliExpress. eBay is much more straightforward. I've heard some pretty rough things about BangGood too but haven't used them so can't give an opinion.

As for the AliExpress and eBay sellers, I urge everybody to buy mis-advertised solar panels and then to make a claim against the seller via AliExpress and eBay. That was the bad actors can be wiped off the face of the planet. There is no room in this world for dishonesty and if you get a free solar panel out of it, that's a sheer bonus. For myself, I have two flexible 10W panels that really aren't that much use for anything bar camping which is an activity I don't pursue. Sold used, I'd probably not get as much money as it would cost to post them to a buyer so they're sitting taking up not very much space in my attic.

Now, why the blurry images of the camera battery charger? Well, for a long time, Straight Talk was the carrier of choice for my phone. It became pretty darned good. It was possible to use Verizon or AT&T or any of the other also-ran networks. Thus my phone was on Verizon through Straight Talk. At the beginning $45 got 3GB data plus the phone could be used as a hotspot. That in fact is exactly what I used the phone for and the only reason I had a phone. Then the service improved to 4GB and $45 then 5GB and $45 then in came a lower priced plan $35 for 4GB then $35 for 5GB. Then suddenly the use of my phone as a hotspot was blocked. I paid for my data and didn't use it all every month yet the hotspot feature was blocked. That led to an investigation when I discovered that I'd been paying for a service that I was not getting. Clearly no amount of arguing against a mindless corporate entity would have any effect on a commercial decision affecting not just me but others too. I voted with my feet and went for a straight AT&T prepay phone. Currently that's 2GB data for $35 but a new plan is coming with 8GB a month for a $99 payment that covers 3 months. Effectively that's 3GB more data per month than Straight Talk for $2 less per month. 

The most annoying thing about changing providers like that was that I'd not long bought an iPhone on Straight Talk. I liked my iPhone but could not put up with zero service. So, I have an interim phone that works well enough but takes lousy pictures. That was the route chosen just in case AT&T didn't work out. It seems to be working out so perhaps the next step will be to get a better Android or an iPhone.