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Categories: all aviation bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater Tue, 15 Dec 2009So, if you've been following along, then you know that I was drooling over the Canon G11 a while ago, primarily for one reason, and one reason only: low-light performance. The G10 is a fine camera in almost every respect, but it was disappointing in its low-light abilities. For those, it's pretty grainy and annoying, and feels like it lets the side down, if only because everything else is so excellent. It is a pleasure to use otherwise. Despite all that, I really wanted to get my hands on a G11. I finally realized that yes, low-light performance really was a big priority for me. This, coupled with someone who was interested in buying my G10, made the decision pretty easy. I've now been using my new G11 for about 5 days, and wanted to make an intial report. First and foremost, holy crap does this thing do low-light well! The first time I took a real picture in a dim restaurant (as opposed to playing around with ISO settings and taking test shots), I was astounded. The quality is excellent, and although there's grain, it's really not that bad. 
ISO 1600, .4s, f/2.8 One of my few complaints with the G10 was that the shutter release button was kind of mushy feeling. This, sadly, remains true with the G11. There's not really any tactile feedback to the shutter button, and so you can't tell when you've got it pressed half-way (a critical tactic when taking pictures with any kind of autofocus camera). There's a light that flashes, eventually, but that only comes on after everything gets locked in, so it's significantly delayed feedback. This is a huge disappointment because other Canon cameras I've used have had excellent shutter release buttons, and those were much cheaper cameras. I was unclear on whether I'd like the fold-out screen on the G11. My first impression, when I handled a G11 in a store a month or so ago, was that the screen felt a bit cheap compared to the brick-like solidity of the G10. I haven't really changed that assessment, but in use, the screen of the G11 doesn't feel as cheap as it first seemed. It still falls down compared to the G10. However, the benefit of the articulated screen became apparent in use. I knew in the abstract that it'd be nice to be able to take pictures from different angles, but the reality of it was better than I'd expected. I would still be perfectly happy with a fixed screen like the G10 has, but I can see the utility of the folding screen. The big one that I'm still looking forward to is taking waist-level candid shots, so I can hopefully get pictures of people who don't have that frozen, "Oh shit a camera!" rictus about them. The G11 seems to continue the tradition of the colors on the camera's screen being a bit more vibrant than they appear anywhere else. This can be disappointing, but as long as you keep in mind that it happens, it's acceptable. Everything is sufficiently similar between the G10 and G11 that all my G10 accessories still work: the fisheye lens add-on, the case, the spare battery. The G11 feels almost exactly the same in my hand, although the buttons on the back feel a bit more crowded with the extra furniture required for the flip-out screen -- I've found myself accidentally pushing buttons more on the G11 than on the G10. An interesting change on the G11 is that the scroll wheel on the back is now part of the four-way rocker switch. This makes the four-way easier to use, but the scroll wheel harder to use, as if you apply too much pressure while scrolling, it'll activate one of the four-way buttons. It's an acceptable compromise for me, and I'm not honestly sure which setup I prefer. So, my impression from the first few days with the G11 is quite favorable. I'm very pleased I made the leap. I'll be sad to see the G10 go, although the trade-offs between the two cameras definitely make the G11 the one I want to keep. Posted at 10:57 permanent link category: /misc Mon, 07 Dec 2009
How the universe says, "Screw you, hippie!"
I decided, given an unexpectedly free evening, that it would be a good night to go to the range. Given that it's somewhere below 30 degrees outside, the truck was the logical vehicle to take for this venture. I loaded up, put the thing in gear, released the clutch, and... it wouldn't move. Finally I coaxed it forward, but something was clearly Wrong. I took a very low-speed stroll around the neighborhood, figuring maybe it was some ancient grease that needed to warm up a bit or something. Half a mile later, I stopped, and checked the brakes, to see if one of them was sticking. Sure enough, I nearly burned my fingers on the left rear brake. Ok, so that brake drum is sticking. Crap. I definitely couldn't drive any distance with things in this condition. I also know I'm going to need the truck later this week, and so I decided to sit down and see if I could resolve the problem. I always enjoy problems that might be solveable with a Big Hammer. Fortunately, Ford designed their rear brake drums the right way around, and once you get the wheel off, the drum just pulls off. Well, that's what it's supposed to do, but that doesn't work out so well when there's a brake shoe pressed hard against it. Out came the little hammer, and I slowly worked the drum off the axle. There was nothing obviously wrong, and a bunch of fiddling finally allowed me to discover an adjuster wheel. I turned it in the "less" direction, and amazingly, the brake drum slid back on beautifully. A few test adjustments and fittings, and it appeared that I was good to go. Back on went the wheel, and I tried again. After a few initial twangings and pingings, like the sound of a wooden ship under moderate winds, it seemed... No, it was stuck again. The drag came right back. Crap! So I pulled back into my driveway, and set the parking brake. More twangs, pings, creaks and ratchet noises occurred. Thoughtfully, I pulled out again, and tried my luck once more. Much to my surprise, the dragging rear brake had stopped dragging, and all seemed to be fine. I glanced at the clock: 8 pm. I'd started this whole escapade at 7. There was still time to go, but it would be a brief session. I did another circuit of the neighborhood, just in case, and carefully checked for dragging brakes. All seemed to be good, so I finally pushed onward. I made my way toward the freeway, stopping once to confirm that the left rear brake wasn't heating up -- all good. Then, as I was about to get on the freeway, I noticed that my dash lights seemed a little weak. In fact, yeah, the voltage gauge was looking pretty limp. Double crap! I turned around and came back. The alternative, of getting somewhere between here and Bellevue, or worse, between Bellevue and here, with descending temperatures destined for the teens, and a truck that wouldn't run because the battery had crapped out, seemed too stupid to contemplate. Clearly the battery was struggling, and possibly the alternator wasn't up to the task. I'd rather find that out sitting in my driveway than somewhere on a cold, bleak freeway. So, back I drove, noticing the voltage gauge get a little bit lower as the trip progressed (all 5 miles of it). Sure enough, the voltmeter revealed just under 12V at the battery terminals (it should be 12.8 or higher, particularly just after driving like that -- under 12 is kind of a death sentence for a car battery in that point in time). It's comforting to think that at least the bicycle won't suffer from being too cold. Posted at 20:45 permanent link category: /misc Sat, 05 Dec 2009I just posted pictures from the Comedy Fist Fight show last night, and we had this hilarious moment with Ms. Becky Poole. Neither of us is doing anything unusual to affect our height. 
Posted at 21:36 permanent link category: /theater Occasionally, I end up with a really good picture out of a Spin the Bottle shoot. Yesterday was no exception:
Posted at 13:32 permanent link category: /theater Wed, 02 Dec 2009The Weekly apparently can't get enough. The Sunbreak thinks we're ultra-lowbrow. All featuring photography by yours truly (although my copyright notice fooled them -- I should have said "photo credit to Ian, copyright to Annex"). Ah well. I don't really care about bylines. Posted at 13:44 permanent link category: /theater So, for the last 9 months (sorry for the serious delay there), I've been riding with this Monkey Light on my front wheel. It's pretty cool. When we last touched on this story, that was my feeling as well. Prety cool. I remain, clearly, unswayed. What I can now tell you more about is living life with the thing. So far as I can tell, no one has tried to steal it, and no one has crashed into me from staring at it. I do get the occasional thumbs-up or someone looking intently at it, but nothing problematical. I've stood the bike up on its rear wheel and spun the front to show off the light at a stoplight on about a dozen occasions so far, and I expect I'll keep doing that as long as people express interest. The battery life is pretty good. With three 2500 mAh NiMH rechargeable AAs, I get many weeks of daily 30-50 minute runs with it running on the lower brightness setting. I have only charged the batteries about 4 times since I installed the light 9 months ago, but I've also mostly left it off for a lot of that time. Now that the days are shorter, and I'm using it every day, I expect I'll have to charge it every month or so. The low-battery warnings (a set of yellow X patterns, followed by red X patterns as the batteries run down) seem to come on with no warning. The difference between "dim" and "bright" (you have to switch from off to dim to bright to off in that order, every time) becomes visibly less obvious as the batteries wear down, but the low-battery Xs still surprise me when they show up. I've come up with some favorite patterns in the rotation, but I'm not sufficiently motivated to figure out the menu system to set them as high priority, or however it is that that works. Overall, I highly recommend this light if you're into side visibility that's more interesting than yet more blinky lights. It's a nice feeling to ride around and think that I'm putting a little bit of whimsy out into the world. Posted at 11:30 permanent link category: /bicycle Tue, 01 Dec 2009This is a short one. Every once in a while, I'll go out searching for myself, to see what kind of incriminating evidence I can dig up. Today, instead of incriminating evidence, I found a Scot who is shockingly similar to me. Posted at 10:48 permanent link category: /misc Categories: all aviation gadgets misc motorcycle theater Written by Ian Johnston. Software is Blosxom. Questions? Please mail me at reaper at obairlann dot net. |
