Disbug
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2003
- Messages
- 3,036
Click HERE to read PART 1) THE BEGINNING
Click HERE to read PART 2) FIGMENT FINDS A THEME
Click HERE to read PART 3) WHERE'S MY CHECKLIST?
No serious attempt should be made at starting a trip of more than 3 days without evaluating your gear.... You know~ The kind of stuff that makes or breaks a good vacation. Examples of this would include: GREAT walking shoes paired with water-wicking THORLO socks; LIGHTWEIGHT backpacks (YES~ I REALIZE that is an oxymoron); multi-pocket fanny packs; battery operated fans; long-range 2-way radios that require an FCC license and a MUTE button for that guy who keeps interrupting YOUR conversations.... But for me, most important would probably have to be ~ THE CAMERA!
I started like everyone else using a 110 instamatic. When I graduated to a CANON SLR, little did I realize, it just did not suit my need for INSTANT GRATIFICATION... not to mention it needed a college course on photojournalism in order to operate... What do you mean I need to SET the F-STOP? It doesn't just stop by itself? SENSITIVITY? I already took PSYCH 101... After our first child, I realized that thing was TOO BULKY, anyway. (It weighed as much as the baby!) I ended up selling it to a photographer for the local paper. She had a degree and could figure out all of the Freudian inuendos that camera needed! So, on to the next generation!
I needed Point and SHOOT capability. Preferably, one handed! So, next came the Canon One Shot 35 mm! That sounded like a great name... After all, with a moving target such as a toddler you usually only get ONE SHOT before they're off again! That was a really great camera until I realized how many years sooner I could have paid off the mortgage with what I spent on the film and developing fees I paid over its lifetime...
I ushered in the DIGITAL age with my FUJI FINEPIX 2600Z! I knew this was IT! 2.0 MegaPixels WOW! Before, the cost of developing had kept my rampant picture taking to a few rolls per day... Now I had SMART MEDIA! 16MB did not satisfy my need for more pictures... so then came the 128 MB card! That was doing me just fine until it was pointed out to me the camera had a design flaw.
This happened last October during our first Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party .... While waiting for the parade outside of the Haunted Mansion a man commented that I had his camera.. I BEG YOUR PARDON! THIS IS MINE BOUGHT and Paid for!! Excuse me, I mean you have the same camera as I do.. OH, sorry! Why yes, yes I think I do! So he asks: Have you lost your batteries yet? GASP! WHAT was that? Oh, I think it is an inherent flaw in the design of this camera... every now and again the battery compartment will fly open and boom there go your batteries! Have a nice night.... Well this was a fine bit of news! On the brighter side, he did give me some excellent tips on how to get great night shots in low light situations!
Well, that jinxed the poor little thing and from that moment on yep, the battery compartment would fly open and eject my batteries, who knows where! I decided I could live with this until it happened on the DINOSAUR ride in Animal Kingdom, just as we were seat-belted in and ready to be shot back into the Crustcean Period to search for a lost IGUANADON. The CM with the flashlight was NOT amused when I YELLED... NOBODY MOVE! After that humiliation (in front of the kids, of course) I knew I had to do something. I thought about DUCT TAPE but I do have my pride and the rubber band idea wasnt much better in my estimation.. I was going to have to HAVE a new one
About now, one of our charter Sigma Delta Sorority sisters, jgates started posting that she is getting a new camera! A SONY MAVICA with the cute little mini-disc CDs. WELL that wraps it then now I have to have one, too! Thanks to reviews given on the DISBOARDS, I settle on a NIKON CoolPix 4300. At 4.0 MegaPixels it is twice what I had before with more features than I dreamed existed on a camera in this price range. Of course, I ordered it online after researching price and features. The salesman did a really GOOD job! I explained to him that I was leaving for a trip SOON and gave him the absolute "drop-dead" date I had to receive the camera by in order to learn how to use it, charge the batteries etc He assured me I would have it 2 days before I was l leaving on our SIGMA DELTA SORORITY trip.. Two days? That sounds like enough time to learn everything! OK, Ill take it! Can you charge it? Fateful last words...
True to his word, the camera arrived. I had also ordered a High-Speed 512 MB Compact Flash Card and an extra 2 hour battery. This gave me the capacity for 1300+ pictures! No way could I EVER take THAT many pictures! Oh, no? Is that before or after deleting the fuzzy ones? THIS WAS GOING TO BE THE COOLEST! I opened everything up, plugged in the battery charger and the little yellow light came on. PERFECT! Put the battery in to be charged and the directions said it would flash until it was charged IT DID NOT FLASH! I put in the other battery IT did not FLASH! Oh, well, directions can be wrong so I left one of the batteries to charge overnight. Put the battery in my camera and got the message, WARNING! BATTERY EXHAUSTED! OK, no fooling around now Im leaving for Orlando tomorrow..
HELLO! **** ELECTRONICS? Yes I DID RECEIVE my camera! Oh, yes I LOVE it.. but you know I was hoping I would be able to TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS with it and without the battery charger, its going to be a little difficult.. YOU can OVERNIGHT me a charger, NO CHARGE to my HOTEL? GREAT! I am a happy camper! And true to their word my charger came, it FLASHED, it CHARGED! MY GEAR IS READY TO GO!
Look OUT for my upcoming TRIP REPORT pictures taken with my NEW NIKON!
Click HERE to read PART 2) FIGMENT FINDS A THEME
Click HERE to read PART 3) WHERE'S MY CHECKLIST?
No serious attempt should be made at starting a trip of more than 3 days without evaluating your gear.... You know~ The kind of stuff that makes or breaks a good vacation. Examples of this would include: GREAT walking shoes paired with water-wicking THORLO socks; LIGHTWEIGHT backpacks (YES~ I REALIZE that is an oxymoron); multi-pocket fanny packs; battery operated fans; long-range 2-way radios that require an FCC license and a MUTE button for that guy who keeps interrupting YOUR conversations.... But for me, most important would probably have to be ~ THE CAMERA!
I started like everyone else using a 110 instamatic. When I graduated to a CANON SLR, little did I realize, it just did not suit my need for INSTANT GRATIFICATION... not to mention it needed a college course on photojournalism in order to operate... What do you mean I need to SET the F-STOP? It doesn't just stop by itself? SENSITIVITY? I already took PSYCH 101... After our first child, I realized that thing was TOO BULKY, anyway. (It weighed as much as the baby!) I ended up selling it to a photographer for the local paper. She had a degree and could figure out all of the Freudian inuendos that camera needed! So, on to the next generation!
I needed Point and SHOOT capability. Preferably, one handed! So, next came the Canon One Shot 35 mm! That sounded like a great name... After all, with a moving target such as a toddler you usually only get ONE SHOT before they're off again! That was a really great camera until I realized how many years sooner I could have paid off the mortgage with what I spent on the film and developing fees I paid over its lifetime...
I ushered in the DIGITAL age with my FUJI FINEPIX 2600Z! I knew this was IT! 2.0 MegaPixels WOW! Before, the cost of developing had kept my rampant picture taking to a few rolls per day... Now I had SMART MEDIA! 16MB did not satisfy my need for more pictures... so then came the 128 MB card! That was doing me just fine until it was pointed out to me the camera had a design flaw.
This happened last October during our first Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party .... While waiting for the parade outside of the Haunted Mansion a man commented that I had his camera.. I BEG YOUR PARDON! THIS IS MINE BOUGHT and Paid for!! Excuse me, I mean you have the same camera as I do.. OH, sorry! Why yes, yes I think I do! So he asks: Have you lost your batteries yet? GASP! WHAT was that? Oh, I think it is an inherent flaw in the design of this camera... every now and again the battery compartment will fly open and boom there go your batteries! Have a nice night.... Well this was a fine bit of news! On the brighter side, he did give me some excellent tips on how to get great night shots in low light situations!
Well, that jinxed the poor little thing and from that moment on yep, the battery compartment would fly open and eject my batteries, who knows where! I decided I could live with this until it happened on the DINOSAUR ride in Animal Kingdom, just as we were seat-belted in and ready to be shot back into the Crustcean Period to search for a lost IGUANADON. The CM with the flashlight was NOT amused when I YELLED... NOBODY MOVE! After that humiliation (in front of the kids, of course) I knew I had to do something. I thought about DUCT TAPE but I do have my pride and the rubber band idea wasnt much better in my estimation.. I was going to have to HAVE a new one
About now, one of our charter Sigma Delta Sorority sisters, jgates started posting that she is getting a new camera! A SONY MAVICA with the cute little mini-disc CDs. WELL that wraps it then now I have to have one, too! Thanks to reviews given on the DISBOARDS, I settle on a NIKON CoolPix 4300. At 4.0 MegaPixels it is twice what I had before with more features than I dreamed existed on a camera in this price range. Of course, I ordered it online after researching price and features. The salesman did a really GOOD job! I explained to him that I was leaving for a trip SOON and gave him the absolute "drop-dead" date I had to receive the camera by in order to learn how to use it, charge the batteries etc He assured me I would have it 2 days before I was l leaving on our SIGMA DELTA SORORITY trip.. Two days? That sounds like enough time to learn everything! OK, Ill take it! Can you charge it? Fateful last words...
True to his word, the camera arrived. I had also ordered a High-Speed 512 MB Compact Flash Card and an extra 2 hour battery. This gave me the capacity for 1300+ pictures! No way could I EVER take THAT many pictures! Oh, no? Is that before or after deleting the fuzzy ones? THIS WAS GOING TO BE THE COOLEST! I opened everything up, plugged in the battery charger and the little yellow light came on. PERFECT! Put the battery in to be charged and the directions said it would flash until it was charged IT DID NOT FLASH! I put in the other battery IT did not FLASH! Oh, well, directions can be wrong so I left one of the batteries to charge overnight. Put the battery in my camera and got the message, WARNING! BATTERY EXHAUSTED! OK, no fooling around now Im leaving for Orlando tomorrow..
HELLO! **** ELECTRONICS? Yes I DID RECEIVE my camera! Oh, yes I LOVE it.. but you know I was hoping I would be able to TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS with it and without the battery charger, its going to be a little difficult.. YOU can OVERNIGHT me a charger, NO CHARGE to my HOTEL? GREAT! I am a happy camper! And true to their word my charger came, it FLASHED, it CHARGED! MY GEAR IS READY TO GO!
Look OUT for my upcoming TRIP REPORT pictures taken with my NEW NIKON!
Hi, Lauren. Of course, we remember you. It is so good to see you posting here.
