Sunday, July 20, 2008
Testing my camera at Barossa Valley
We supposed to go hiking at Water Fall Gully but unfortunately it was a rainy day. So plan B was to go to Barossa Valley since David has to replenish his stock of wines. This morning was freezing cold. The weather was 10 degree but due to the wind, it felt like 3 degree.
Green glass during the winter. The grass will turn brown during summer.
The wood fire place inside the wine testing centre will make you feel warm.
Wine racks.
Wine testing.
Wines
Felicity and her big friend Phillipa.
The sceneray could be better if it is a sunny day.
Nevertheless it is still a good opportunity to try out my new Canon S51S.
The street of Lyndoch
We are having coffee and cake at The Lyndoch Bakery and Restaurant.
Eagle sculpture at the Sculpture Park.
Angas Park dry fruit.
My family.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
My old and new camera
Since the introduction of digital camera, photography has been make affordable. There is always a factor of uncertainty with the traditional film camera. The end result could only be determined after the film being developed. It is an expensive process where each photo will cost 50 cents and the photo might come out blur. With the digital camera, the hardisk is the only limitation. The portable drive solve the problem now as the hardisk of the computer is free out.
My first digital camera is inherited from my father. It was a Fujifilm 1.3 Megapixel camera. My father bought it at 2000 and took it with him for his China trip. The image result was dissapointing for him and he decided to stick with the traditional film camera and gave it to me. I soon find out that the macro was turned on and he used it to shoot all the photos. Not the fault of the camera. In fact this is a superb camera which is much better than a lot of digital cameras that I have used. I will talk about these very old digital camera some other times. Fujifilm gave me a very good impression due to this very first digital camera under my collection.
I bought a Canon S51S on Thursday on my way home after I dropped my workmate to collect his car at the workshop. I bought it at Harvey Norman. I make a comparision between the Canon S51S and the Fujifilm S5600 that I am using now.
This is the Fujifilm S5600 that I have used for the pass year. I have no complain on this camera and it is a beauty. It is 5.1 Mega Pixel and 10X optical zoom. S5600 is a point and shoot camera but with option for manual control that I never use. Most of the photo in this blog are taken by the S5600. I am 100% satisfied with what it offers. The grid is superb and the feeling is good. This camera set me back at $300.
The reason I bouught a new camera is I want to have much better resolution and bigger zoom. I have considered Canon S51S and Nikon P80. The Nikon P80 is 10 Mega pixel and has 18X zoom. It is a powerful feature inside a small camera. Even DSLR can't match the feature. The review that I have is you will never go wrong with the S51S. The photo quality is good and it has fast response time. The review on the Nikon P80 is not that impressing. Almost all reviews commented the camera response is sluggish. Better think twice before purchasing. Both camera are selling almost the same price with the Nikon a bit dearer. I go for the Canon and I lost 2 Mega pixel and 6X zoom. I hope it is a right choice.
This is my new camera and an investment of $530. It weight the same as the Fujifilm S5600 but a lot shorter when the camera is turned off due to the len is retracted inside the camera. I am still exploring with what this camera can offer. Beside the bigger zoom 12X and higher resolution 8 Mega pixel, I still can't find its advantage over the Fujifilm S5600. It does not have the firm grid as the S5600. The S5600 feels more solid in turn of handling compared to the S51S. I only took a few photos with the S51S and this is insufficient to justify its capability. The LCD display which can be twisted is an atrractive feature and I don't have to bend or kneel down like before to took the photo of my little girl. S51S also has the image stabilizer which is not offered by S5600. How good it is I still don't now. The S5600 photo was taken by S51S and S51S photo was taken by S5600. Which one is better?
My first digital camera is inherited from my father. It was a Fujifilm 1.3 Megapixel camera. My father bought it at 2000 and took it with him for his China trip. The image result was dissapointing for him and he decided to stick with the traditional film camera and gave it to me. I soon find out that the macro was turned on and he used it to shoot all the photos. Not the fault of the camera. In fact this is a superb camera which is much better than a lot of digital cameras that I have used. I will talk about these very old digital camera some other times. Fujifilm gave me a very good impression due to this very first digital camera under my collection.
I bought a Canon S51S on Thursday on my way home after I dropped my workmate to collect his car at the workshop. I bought it at Harvey Norman. I make a comparision between the Canon S51S and the Fujifilm S5600 that I am using now.
This is the Fujifilm S5600 that I have used for the pass year. I have no complain on this camera and it is a beauty. It is 5.1 Mega Pixel and 10X optical zoom. S5600 is a point and shoot camera but with option for manual control that I never use. Most of the photo in this blog are taken by the S5600. I am 100% satisfied with what it offers. The grid is superb and the feeling is good. This camera set me back at $300.
The reason I bouught a new camera is I want to have much better resolution and bigger zoom. I have considered Canon S51S and Nikon P80. The Nikon P80 is 10 Mega pixel and has 18X zoom. It is a powerful feature inside a small camera. Even DSLR can't match the feature. The review that I have is you will never go wrong with the S51S. The photo quality is good and it has fast response time. The review on the Nikon P80 is not that impressing. Almost all reviews commented the camera response is sluggish. Better think twice before purchasing. Both camera are selling almost the same price with the Nikon a bit dearer. I go for the Canon and I lost 2 Mega pixel and 6X zoom. I hope it is a right choice.
This is my new camera and an investment of $530. It weight the same as the Fujifilm S5600 but a lot shorter when the camera is turned off due to the len is retracted inside the camera. I am still exploring with what this camera can offer. Beside the bigger zoom 12X and higher resolution 8 Mega pixel, I still can't find its advantage over the Fujifilm S5600. It does not have the firm grid as the S5600. The S5600 feels more solid in turn of handling compared to the S51S. I only took a few photos with the S51S and this is insufficient to justify its capability. The LCD display which can be twisted is an atrractive feature and I don't have to bend or kneel down like before to took the photo of my little girl. S51S also has the image stabilizer which is not offered by S5600. How good it is I still don't now. The S5600 photo was taken by S51S and S51S photo was taken by S5600. Which one is better?
Monday, July 14, 2008
Koi
I keep kois while I was in Malaysia. I sold all my kois while I moved to Australia. The reason for me to sell them is to let them have a good owner who can take care of them. Otherwise they will die soon. I now reside in South Australia. Koi like carps are pest here. It is illegal to rear them.
Kois are stunning and beautiful fish. I bought them at less than 100mm and manage to grow them up to 600mm. Due to the limited size of my tank, they won't grow any further.
Keeping koi is a hobby of science. The challenge of glooming the fish is not what you feed them or how you take care of them. It is water treatment. Koi is a very dirty fish. They eat a lot and also poo a lot. The chemistry lie in converting the ammonia to nitrate in a fast cycle so that the water register zero ammonia, nitride and nitrate. Otherwise the ammnonia will kill the fish and nitrate will cause algae to grow in the water and the water turn green pea colour within a day. You take care of the water and the water will take care of the fish.
What is the magic gadget that will take care of the ammonia? The answer is bio filter. The filter is a separate tank about 30% the size of the koi tank. It has 5 compartments. Three compartments are used to house the Japanese mat, one for coral and another for pump. Bacteria live inside the Japanese mats and they are working on the conversion. The end product nitrate will be absorbed by water plant flooding on top of the surface. I also included water lily and some water plant in the main tank to absorb the nitrate. Keeping water lily with koi is a challenge as koi treat them as food and they like to dig the water lily up and eat the roots.
Maintaining the bio filter require the skill of a plumber and electrician. All pipe works are DIY. The pump fails periodically and I have to replace them. It is an expensive hobby. The koi if Japanese breed is not cheap. I have a combination of local and Japanese breed. However it is worth it. Looking at the koi swimming is relaxing and it make one to relax and enjoy the peace the fish bring to you. The kois are like ladies in beautiful kimono. I have Sanke, Showa, Tancho, Shushui, kohaku, ogon etc. Most of them are about 600mm long.
I hope the new owner treat them well. I have sold them for two years.
Kois are stunning and beautiful fish. I bought them at less than 100mm and manage to grow them up to 600mm. Due to the limited size of my tank, they won't grow any further.
Keeping koi is a hobby of science. The challenge of glooming the fish is not what you feed them or how you take care of them. It is water treatment. Koi is a very dirty fish. They eat a lot and also poo a lot. The chemistry lie in converting the ammonia to nitrate in a fast cycle so that the water register zero ammonia, nitride and nitrate. Otherwise the ammnonia will kill the fish and nitrate will cause algae to grow in the water and the water turn green pea colour within a day. You take care of the water and the water will take care of the fish.
What is the magic gadget that will take care of the ammonia? The answer is bio filter. The filter is a separate tank about 30% the size of the koi tank. It has 5 compartments. Three compartments are used to house the Japanese mat, one for coral and another for pump. Bacteria live inside the Japanese mats and they are working on the conversion. The end product nitrate will be absorbed by water plant flooding on top of the surface. I also included water lily and some water plant in the main tank to absorb the nitrate. Keeping water lily with koi is a challenge as koi treat them as food and they like to dig the water lily up and eat the roots.
Maintaining the bio filter require the skill of a plumber and electrician. All pipe works are DIY. The pump fails periodically and I have to replace them. It is an expensive hobby. The koi if Japanese breed is not cheap. I have a combination of local and Japanese breed. However it is worth it. Looking at the koi swimming is relaxing and it make one to relax and enjoy the peace the fish bring to you. The kois are like ladies in beautiful kimono. I have Sanke, Showa, Tancho, Shushui, kohaku, ogon etc. Most of them are about 600mm long.
I hope the new owner treat them well. I have sold them for two years.
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