Entry 1506: Blog: 1

This would have been the third time I have set up to update the photographs on
the website. But I failed. Again.
 
Sadly some time back the Epson camera that I did use to use finally kicked the
bucket. I struggled with a Lumix camera which cost me £300. But that turned
out to be a load of junk. I was then gifted a Canon camera which was supposed
to be an expensive and powerful machine. How I haven’t thrown the thing against
the wall this morning I do not know.
 
I had a room full of stuff to photograph and I had converted the workshop so I
had the space and the lighting just right. But I couldn’t even get past the
first image. I tried everything. Changing lighting, trying with and without
macro, flash and not flash etc etc. Sadly all I was getting was some of the
image in sharp focus and then not other parts. The flash caused a black shadow
from where I do not know. The colours were just so poor. And if you photographed 
a Perspex case it would pick up on the Perspex and the inner flywould be out 
of focus.
 
Seriously, I have tried and tried. Nothing but nothing takes pictures as simple
and straightforward as the Epson.
 
Sadly I have given up. I think I see this as a sign to not bother with it
anymore. I doubt it will be any great loss. It takes a lot of effort and energy
to compose pictures, build the web pages and upload so its probably a blessing
anyway. Sorry for that, but I just cannot be bothered. I have even now lost the
manual to the camera which is likely to be amongst the sea of stuff that I just
put back into storage. I’m about done.
 
I even read up on taking close up images. This camera would keep flicking in
and out in and out in and out and not take a picture. I had to press the button
like hard and then it would. It was obviously struggling to make sense of
things. Its not like I was in the dark. I have the area flooded with three
white lights. It would then hold the recorded image on the viewer for like
ever and the only way to clear was to take another picture... without being
able to see what you were doing. As I say I tried with flash, then without.
With macro and without. It wasn’t that it couldn’t take a sharp picture it
just couldn’t take a sharp flat picture across the whole object, no matter how
small it was. So the writing on a cd case was sharp at the bottom but not at
the top. And the colours were crap, truly crap. Both cameras I have are
rubbish. Junk.
 
Never mind. Made me so angry. I’m done now. I just cannot be bothered with it. 
 
Never mind. All good things come to an end I guess.
 
Back to my gaming.
 

Entry 1506: Blog: 2

Tried again all morning and failed. I dusted off the tripod and read up yet
again for both cameras. I adjusted lighting levels. I tried everything. I even
went into Photoshop and gave that a good go. But sadly I failed. And I have
now decided I cannot do this.
 
The problems:
 
Reflective light from pretty much anything. Gives a grey sheen to say magazine
covers.
Inability to focus through Perspex to contents of CDs and the like.
Difference in lighting level from bottom to top of object.
Colours are not rich and do not reflect the subjects.
The objects vary in sharpness and can be out of focus across the length/depth
of an object.
Black shadows appear which mystifies me completely.
Backgrounds are not in focus and lack depth and colour.
The object appears in forced perspective. Looks very silly.
The image is really not a true representation of the object.
 
I have tried various setting. I am using a tripod. I have three lights. I have
used with and without flash. With and without macro. And I have used two very
good cameras.
 
What I am struggling with most is the time it takes to get just one good
picture. Previously with the Epson I could take a picture and move on. I have
studied my older pictures and they are generally in focus, have great colour
rendering and offer a quality that gives a mood which for me is essential to
the site. I have been quite deliberate in the way I have created the site....
and now I have hit a road block.
 
These modern cameras may be OK for taking general pictures and macro pictures,
but they are truly dreadful at taking images of objects. This has been my 
experience.
 
And so ... what next. All I can do is keep searching Ebay for an Epson 850z and
hope its working. Until then its an end to activities. Never mind.

Example Images

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Entry 1506: Blog: 3

I have given up with the photography and searched Ebay in the hope of finding
an Epson. Anyway there was this camera untested without cables etc being sold
for spares for £12. So I bought it. 
 
No cables etc. I thought I have cables... but where to look? I then checked all
my big plastic boxes and there at the bottom of one I could see the old camera.
So I have near killed myself emptying and moving large crate type boxes and now
have the old camera plus the cables plus the charger. I am now charging batteries 
and fingers crossed.
 
Anyway.. while searching the boxes I found an Amiga 1000 that I had forgotten I
had. And then best of all a complete A1200 rig with CD, ZIP, two external SCSI
drives, cables power brick mouse, the whole works. Things that I put away.
Anyway I have been wanting to set up another A1200 in the Workshop since 2010. 
So there you go.
 
I found not only the camera, but an Amiga 1000 and an A1200. Which was nice.
 
Happy day after all.

Entry 1506: Blog: 4

So I cleaned away all the nasty spiders from behind the big Mitsubishi monitor
and placed it in the lounge. Next up I set up the Microvitec for the Amiga. 
I decided I needed to check whether the A1200 was still working given that she
had not been on for five years. This computer has a 3.5” hard drive inside. 
Anyway she dithered a bit but then she would have been searching for the
Squirrel and the external drives. In very little time she fired up and I had
forgotten she had OS3.9 on her.
 
So I placed the two external SCSI drives, CDRom and Iomega ZIP drive next to
the 1200 and connected the Squirrel. I then fired up the external drives with
their own power switch and all seemed fine. Next I plugged in the HD external
floppy drive and I was ready to rock and roll. On went the brick and the mount
list launched showing the Squirrel being accessed from the PCMCIA and next
there was a whir from the drives and she was running.
 
I opened Dopus and found all the drives working. There was even a CU Amiga CD
in the CD drive. I played a few of my old animations. Ran Valhalla and Sensible
Soccer from the hard drive and she was working perfectly. The clock is
registering 2009 for some reason. I even opened YAM and read some of my mails
from 2005.
 
So that was a warm glow I have to say.
 
The computer was purchased through Amibench from a guy in Southampton in 2002.
It came with a tower which never really worked. In the end I salvaged it and
installed a new motherboard.  And so some 13 years on the computer is still 
running fine. Saying that all my computers tend to work. Well I hope they do.
 
 
Happy days.

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Last updated 20th May 2015


Chandraise Kingdom




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