#365daysofbiking The experiment continues:
November 15th – More camera experimentation, this time the other direction from Catshill Junction Bridge.
I’m interested in the way this camera picks up stars in the sky, and the colouration.
Tat’s not a bad result to me for a handheld phot in near pitch darkness.
#365daysofbiking Telephone man:
October 3rd – I stupidly left my camera at work, but took some shots with the phone camera over Clayhanger Bridge going to the village to undertake an errand on my way home. The phone is an iPhone XS and althoughhe range in the images is a little harsher than I’d like, phone cameras have come a long way considering the obvious limitations of the physical design.
I quite like these images, showing the the Brownhills Canal is also showing beautifully the colours of the season.
I also loved the sky reflection on the canal…
June 23rd – I have developed a strong liking for Canon cameras, through the trusty G7X which has been my weapon of choice since Christmas. The G1X is larger, more awkward to use but the things it’s capable of are clear, they question being can I gain the nous to exploit it?
Also on test I have a Sony RX100 mark VI – an altogether different proposition. I’ve always liked Sony’s user interface, but the boxy nature of this small camera feels awkward so far, but not had much chance to play yet. The images seem nice.
Cameras fascinate me, and as a means of showing folk just how beautiful our area is they cannot be beaten. Even at night, Brownhills can be stunning…
June 23rd – Slipping out to catch the sunset after a much needed rest day, and the weather gods didn’t let me down.
I’m experimenting (again) with a new camera to me – a Canon G1X. Liking it so far but I think it may be a bit advanced for this poor snapper.
A gorgeous evening, but the sheer amount of bugs that rose all of a sudden on the dam as night fell were a bit of a trial.
February 2nd – It had been a busy day where I’d headed everywhere at top speed (well, as top as I get at the moment, which is still less than my normal average) and it was fairly late when I came home, then headed to Stonnall on an errand.
The weather was cold again, the woman on the train had been right. The moon was hidden behind cloud and is was quite dark for this point in the moon’s cycle. Coming back up Main Street in Stonnall, I couldn’t resist a quite shot of the old swan, but it didn’t turn out how I hoped, the shot of the Shire Oak and junction, currently operating on temporary traffic lights came out much better.
I’m loving this Canon camera – I really am – but I must make time to read the manual. Something I don’t yet understand is making taking night shots a bit of a lottery…
December 19th – I came back through Walsall Wood and up over Castlefort as I had to nip into Stonnall. I’ve been using the TZ100 all week. After trying some night shots from Hollanders Brindge in Walsall Wood, I’ve decided – I prefer the Canon.
This is momentous. I’ve used Panasonic cameras mostly for 10 years. But the TZ100? It takes good pictures. It’s low light performance is good. It’s not a bad camera. But it’s too like the TZ90 in user interface and features, and it’s lagging the G7X in usability, and I think, just a little in picture quality too.
Whatever succeeds the TZ100 needs to plough a different enough furrow to make it feel better. It doesn’t, particularly.
January 14th – I experimented in an area where Panasonic have always been streets ahead – very long exposure. The interface for this on those cameras is so much nicer than the Canon, but there is one caveat: if you have the device set to silent – meaning it uses electronic shiutter – the mode is castrated. That confused me last week and I couldn’t work it out until I read the manual.
The toll road was quite busy as I shivered and stomped in the cold.
I’m really not well.
January 2nd – I’ll start this with a note about time, and the passing thereof; long time readers will know I started this journal on 1st April 2011after being egged on to do 30daysofbiking by ace cyclist and top Dutchperson Renee Van Baar. Sadly, I was very ill with food poisoning the following New Year, so never rode a bike on 31st December 2011, and 1st January 2012. But I carried on, and I never missed a day since. Every day from 2nd January 2012 I have got on a bike and ridden somewhere. From 100 mile plus rides in one day, to trundles to the shop, I have recorded my daily life as a cyclist, in all it’s ups and downs. That’s 6 years, or 2192 successive days (including 2 leap years), and about 55,000 miles.
I love keeping this journal, I love writing it, and finding the photos.
I welcome feedback. If you have something to say – that I should stop, continue or do something differently, please get in touch by commenting or mailing me – BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com.
I’ve done this to show that it’s possible to be normal, and on a bike. That a podgy, middle aged man who’s not a lycra fiend can ride to work, shops, for fun, to explore, keep healthy, be happy, enthusiastic, jaded, sad or depressed, and continue rolling down the road.
In the six years, I’ve had at least 10 different cameras to use, maybe more, actually. Some I’ve adored, some I hated. The Canon GX 7 Mark II I’m using at the moment is like Jekyl and Hyde. It was really good in the night shots of the last couple of journeys, but tonight’s attempt – a simple shot of Morris – it seemed to fudge a bit.
On the camera, the jury is still out.
I’ll need to ride and use it a bit more to find out…
November 24th – Taking a shortcut up Pier Street, I noticed that the boiler in the OAP club was running, and the plume of water vapour generated was drifting into the night illuminated by the sodium floodlight above.
At long exposure, it looked ghostly, but probably looked better in the shorter shot.
I watched it for a while, the patterns and colour were oddly mesmerising.
October 11th – Again returning as darkness fell, I caught sight of the Walsall skyline from North Street Bridge, and gave it a shot in a different mode.
The TZ90 is streets ahead of the TZ80 for night shots – and it needed to be; the last decent poor light performance from this range of camera was two generations back in the TZ70. This seems a lot better.
And Walsall, with the modernist buildings of the risibly named Gigaport, was a good subject.
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