Although I Am Happy With The Results,

from my Lumix cameras, 

there is no denying, that when I try to print them in A3 size, many do not enlarge as well as I would like, and A3+ is really out of the question, the problem is this:

the size of camera sensors, there are other factors involved as well, but this what I am concentrating on, illustration Dana Davis New York Times, the size of the sensor in my Lumix cameras in scale with the others, is the blue oblong, Four Thirds as that format is known, as it happens the actual size is 17.3mm x 13.0mm I am upgrading to the pink oblong, the new camera a GFX, the sensor size 43.8mm x 32.9mm, a tad larger! the yellow oblong is what the film size was in the pre digital days, known as 35mm which has a sensor size of 36mm x 24mm so with so much more information I can enlarge my photographs well past A3+ size, so I was off,

to the The London Camera Exchange, the slight problem is that the Lumix had only one built in lens, that went from macro to wide angle to telephoto, all in one, so it was not just a case of buying a camera and lens, it was buy a camera with a selection of lens to cover even then just some of the range, I came away ladened down with carrier bags, thankfully my sciatica did not play up until I was nearly home, but I did need a stool in the shop, many thanks guys! the staff could not have been more helpful, I needed advice about updating the new camera amongst other things, 

arriving home this was it, 

so many boxes, it was just like Christmas all over again!

camera plus one lens, a zoom lens a 35 - 70 mm

next a zoom semi telephoto 100 - 200, also have on order a 1.4 converter to increase the range of the lens,

lastly a wide angle zoom, 20 - 35, the macro lens will have to wait, 

a spare battery,

and charger,

2 cards a CFexpress, 

ans a normal SD card,

next open the camera box, 

on top the 35 - 70 lens, 

I started on the camera,

into the packaging, 

and there it was,

 the camera of my dreams, with charging cable, battery, shoulder strap and clip to stop cables from being accidentally pulled out when on the move videoing, 

first thing charge the batteries,

 

I seldom need more than one, but I prefer to play safe and have 2, 

they both had zero charge,

I then decided to print out the owners manual, I hate having to keep looking at a computer screen to learn about things, I much prefer to have a paper copy in front of me, 430 pages later and there it was!

it took quite some time, (and paper) to print it all, 

I then opened the lens box, and found a 150 page booklet about the camera, D'Oh! and one for the lens, by now it was time to pick up Diana from work, but a quick glance at the manual revealed this was going to be heavy going, the camera just has so many buttons and bits and pieces to master,

like this, there are more buttons on the front too!

and this is the information you see through the viewfinder, where is an expert when you need one? anyway, fun times ahead, I fear it is going to be a steep learning curve, back to our evening, we were just in time for a new Midsomer Murder, which was most enjoyable, followed by a repeat that we watched as well before we were off to bed

The Post Today,

is going to be a tad late,

cue roars of laughter and cries of shame, the fact is that I am dropping Diana off to work, and on the way back stopping in town to pick up my bi-monthly medication and also swap over our CO2 cylinder, as well as pick up a bit of shopping, so if you have time please call back later, when I can tell you all about a upgrade of my photographic equipment and a visit here,

to the The London Camera Exchange, great news indeed.

Diana Was At Work During The Day,

so I played with a few photographs, 

these two going into a digital image competition, above titled 'Tuppence A Ride, Those Were The Days', 

this one 'infrared at Bath',

these two going into the print competition, above, 'The 4 Dragons',

this one 'Early Morning Venice', and then every year there is a exhibition, you are allowed to enter 2 digital prints, 

this one titled 'It Sinks Twice A Day',

and 'Temple of the Dawn',

you are also asked for 3 actual prints, above 'Butterfly Love',

'I Am Looking At You',

and finally, 'The Hairy Orchid', I also played with a few just for the fun of it, 

a waterlily with a bee,

a rather nice orchid, 

and I had to have a play with a black and white, by which time I had picked up Diana from work, arriving home we were just in time for a brand new Midsomer Murder, which started at 8.30 in the evening 2 hours later as it finished Diana was off to bed, for myself a Have I Got A Bit More News For You before I too was off to bed.

Sunday So Soon!,

on a personal note, 

my back is a lot better, still not 100%, but I can now at least sleep for 3 or 4 hours without being woken up by any pain, walking is now a lot easier too, on to Sunday, a read and a sherry, 

then let the turkey curries commence!

'Cheers!',

for dessert,

sticky toffee pudding, with cream, 

after that we decided on a film fest, Diana choose every one of them, all of which we had seen before, all well worth watching again, firstly in the afternoon we watched Bad day at Black Rock,

 followed by The Abominable Dr. Phibes, both Diana and myself enjoyed the comedy/horror so much when we watched it before we decided to watch it again, released in 1971, it does show it's age a tad, but great fun, below the plot from one reviewer on IMDB, 

'Vincent Price plays a "dead" man avenging the surgical team that lost his wife on the operating table. Nine doctors in all (one of them a nurse) are treated to nine of the most innovative, creative, outlandish deaths imaginable. The deaths loosely follow the Ten Plagues of the Old Testament, but each with a new twist. The film is an exercise in witty, stylish black comedy seldom seen today. Price gives one of his best performances in a role that barely utilizes his greatest attribute, his voice. Price relies heavily on movement and facial expressions, and does so wonderfully. The cast is superb with British stalwarts adorning the film all over. This film rejuvenated Price's career in the 70's. It is unique, poetic, haunting, and, for me the most important, very amusing. If you lack a sense of humour with regards to the world of the macabre, you might want to stay away from Phibes. It is a very dark, black comedy, yet one that is at its heart nothing more than a tragic love story of sorts'.

some of the sets especially Dr. Phibes home are so Art Deco, a style that we really like, if you have time and have not watched it before it is a great look at the 1970s horror movie scene, 

 in the evening a real favorite, Casablanca, great film we both thoroughly enjoyed, even though as I mentioned we had watched it before, 

we rounded off the evening with Some Like It Hot, and we were so fortunate, on the DVD we have there is an in depth interview with Tony Curtis and the surviving girls that made up the band, Sweet Sue Society Syncopators, an all-female band that appears in the film, and here is some trivia about the film, Marilyn Monroe required 47 takes to get "It's me, Sugar" correct, instead saying either "Sugar, it's me" or "It's Sugar, me". After take 30, Billy Wilder had the line written on a blackboard. Another scene required Monroe to rummage through some drawers and say "Where's the bourbon?" After 40 takes of her saying "Where's the whiskey?", 'Where's the bottle?", or "Where's the bonbon?", Wilder pasted the correct line in one of the drawers. After Monroe became confused about which drawer contained the line, Wilder had it pasted in every drawer. Fifty-nine takes were required for this scene and when she finally does say it, she has her back to the camera, leading some to wonder if Wilder finally gave up and had it dubbed, but what a great and funny film, and after the end of that film fest we were off to bed.

Diana Was At Work,

for myself pack up a couple of parcels ready for posting,

I had the BT hub and telephones as well as the DOjO credit card machine to return to them, next feet up for a Saturday afternoon film, Tora! Tora! Tora! a film made in 1970 about the lead up to and attack on Pearl Harbor, which was enthralling especially as the film told the story pretty much exactly as it happened, unlike some other films made on the subject, it was a long film which brought me nicely up to my,

evening read and sherry, Harvey's of course, 

after the excesses of the past 2 days for tonight a smoked salmon sandwich, 

then I thought I would watch Mississippi Burning, a gritty riveting drama, the film is loosely based on the 1964 murder investigation of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner in Mississippi, after which Diana returned home, so a coffee and a chat before we settled down to watch,

 Unforgiven, a great Western that gave us the character of William Munny, who was described as 'a known thief and murderer, a man of notoriously vicious and intemperate disposition', he was of course a made up character but many believe he was a real person, but it appears he was a distillation of 3 or more people of the time, and with that we were off to bed.