Improved optics

 

You might recall on one of the blogs me going on in 2020 about getting a DSLR as I had grown up using a film based Minolta set up and was missing the creativity when I needed to use digital compact camera for blog posts as you could wait days before getting film and a set of scans back to use.

That camera, the Nikon D3500 had served me well but I was never totally happy with the supplied "kit" lens a 18-55mm that while okay had no focus scale indication and I felt did lack something when it came to contrast compared with the used telephoto that was more expensive I bought to complete the basic outfit.

I decided then recently to to get a replacement for the 18-55mm and this was it, made using better quality optics and while covering slightly less at the wide angle end (the 18-55mm covered what a film 28mm would while this is just under 34mm) it does go to moderate telephoto which saves a bit of lens changing for day trips.

You can disable the auto focus which you do sometimes need to  easily on the lens while it does benefit from having image stablization which hlep with hand holding in low light or, as with me,having the odd tremor in my hands.

It was bought used coming complete with with a lens hood for keeping reflections from the sun's rays under control a set of filters, full instructions and all the original packaging.

This is noticably  sharper, focuses a tadge faster and has much better contrast  requiring less correction in my photo program to get images to look right.

Hi Resolution audio revisited

Looking around, spotting the odd old Digital Audio Player seemed to be missing in action I was more concerned that the cards had content I didn't appear to have back ups for a whole batch of them that were downloads rather than copies "ripped" from my own extensive cd collection.

There was a buzz around 2015 around the idea of better than cd quality sound that would be played either at home over music players, possibly connected via servers to a Network or on Portable Digital Audio Players from SD card memory cards bypassing the issues that bedeviled attempts at popularizing higher quality physical formats such as DVD-Audio and the Super Audio cd as you needed no new hardwear as most digital audio gear can play them whereas the cd player can only play cds and to get the benefits a sacd has to be played on a dedicated player.

Any way a few of these Hi Res downloads were found on a external hard drive but in the meantime one site I had used no longer did downloads so there was no chance of redownloading but an accidental poke in my Profile details at a site I usually buy classical cds from I had bought many of them but because they didn't show up in the normal purchase history only via Downloads that doesn't have a clear seperate menu.

Having installed on a Windows machine the download manager for the site I've now re-established a folder with them and set that machine to play out using a USB-C to Coaxial digital adaptor to a spare input on the Rega digital to analogue convertor in their native resolutions.

While streaming is more popular with many classical HD downloads you get a PDF booklet that tells you about the recording and performers so while stream can be useful to get the feel of a particular work or performance, for everyday enjoyment the cd or especially a high resolution file can be more enjoyable.

Certainly after some ten years from when a number of these were paid for Tasmin Little performing The Lark Ascending in 24 bit 96hhz resolution sounds amazing.

The day after lessons

The good thing about boarding school is after school lessons are over, then you'd a ready assembled group for games and all manner of activities plus facilities you may not of had at home.

We played Table Tennis not that with my co-ordination I was good at it or squash, we played board games that didn't get too argumentative or might go to the theatre or cinema as a group with staff to keep an eye on us.

We did have a video recorder which wasn't something we had until I left school so we could see shows you otherwise might of missed in an age without iPlayer or school might hire a video for us to watch but it was always a shared thing.

The only thing that might be personal was your radio or tape recorder that was in the dorm but you needed to keep the volume down a bit if you didn't want a unexpected knock on the door.

After all these years it is that shared experience, the names of those you spent that time with that come back to you.

Who are we?

Bit of a different post this week.

Before all this identity politics business kicked life was pretty simple that we all belonged to four corners of the UK and so we would for thing just about our part show our English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish flags with pride.

Collectively we've never been big on flags and saluting them outside of military or ceremonial contexts while for things around the whole United Kingdom, we'd show the Union Flag and generally it wasn't one or the other.

Recently there have been many flags been put up, often the Cross of St. George so some say is it that we've changed that relationship or is it more around politics?

While no one can  deny the Cross of St, George has been used by Nationalists and by some for racially intolerate purposes perhaps when people feel identity is under question and some have issues referring to native identities while other groups are encourage to share theirs, shouldn't we all be free to show our pride for whatever part of the UK we are from and for bring British regardless of race, religion or country of birth?

Past winter dress

Just been outside with the temperatures around 9 degrees c (sorry don't do Imperial) and like noticed the coolness which really brought me around to dealing with the colder part of the year which for some us especially in infants and juniors meant thick wollen socks and duffle coats.

Mine's hanging up, ready to go when needed!

There was though something else.

Being in a more liberal environment, you could just wear a sweater in a design that the knitting pattern might of said "for Girls" if you liked it and the colour scheme was okay like dark pinks, pinky blue or torquoise.

You could wear tights, plain tights mind under shorts or the dreaded long trousers that were ofter colder than decent shorts and long woollen socks and mum did buy me the odd pair for winter so a look like that wasn't uncommon although needless to say back then it was a bit "out there"

Today it's not unknown for boys and men to were thick "nude" tights when playing football in the winter without any issues but back then it was unthinkable!

So much fuss about a few scraps of material,eh?

September and the return to normal

So it is September and we know what that means, the rituals well ingrained in us as you feel the sun on you but not being as warm as it was in early August.

Checking over all your school wear for any wear tear, growth spurts that rended items too tight or indecently short, missing buttons on shirts, ties that appeared to lose the will to live and short trousers that show signs of wear in the seat.

Then the trip to the uniform shop especially if everything but your own skin has to be approved and branded or for more liberal establishments the local discount schoolwear shop and market store sellers of basics like Banner shirts and a shoe shop for footwear to survive seven hours on your feet all day, five days a week.

Having had a free and easy time of it all for six weeks you struggle to fixed periods of rigid academic study if you hadn't found chunks of last terms work seems to have gone very much astray, lost in memory holes.

Mind you, if I was him I'd of had those short trousers take up a bit as they must catch the knee even if you kept the turn up and I have got my original 70's tastic short lengh grey ones out and on today as the lcoal children all go back this morning.

The great sock debate

I guess we all carry a bit of the past around in us from earliest days at school, to perhaps going to secondary school, our first real job and so on but perhaps that's a barrier to understanding that today maybe things are different and even perhaps what was normal for even then wasn't necessarily the case for others.

For those of us of a certain age our first school told parents what if any the uniform policy was, some had more a dress code you were expected to keep within in, others a rigid uniform that had to bought and worn OR else!

By high school we saw the prospectus and what it had to say around that and maybe compared notes with mates who perhaps attended a different one to us.

Surprisingly school appeared to have a lot to say about socks, that they should be branded, the length and if they had to have a turn over top.

The bigger thing was colour and most specified grey or for high schools with long trousers, black was common.

On the otherhand girls tended to told they had to be white which somehow got translated into white socks are "girly" and by extension had no business being on any boy and some that still carries on in the world of the adult little boy/schoolboy .

What tends to be forgotten is often sports socks for boys were white as in this example having worn many a pair myself, often for things like Maypole Dancing you had white pumps and socks and even some football socks were.

White socks and wearing them doesn't make you a girl even if many of your peers may not and within the ASB/ALB field really isn't an issue, just being in little headspace is what matters.