Film & digital - both these photo systems are well-placed to support the photographer. Film with it's long history and rigour needed to get that perfect shot, digital with the ease of use and experimentation encouraging a fast learning experience.
The first camera I remember using was broken - a German-made Balda "Super Baldina" 35mm rangefinder camera bought in the late 50's. Playing with it allowed me to see how the basic camera functions worked - focus, the different apertures what the different shutter speeds did, as well as to appreciate German build quality.
Then came the Kodak Instamatic model 233 which was the family camera for years and, with it's cheap and cheerful build, did sterling service. Of course all the photos are turning red now, but with it's ease of use and go-anywhere capability it resulted in a faithful documentation of the trials-and-tribulations of growing up in the 1960's & 70's.
Finally, a camera of my own - the Canon Sure Shot Ace with infrared remote control! Auto-everything meant I wasn't learning about the technical side but it worked so well I enjoyed taking it with me everywhere. With it I gained confidence in being able to capture the beauty I could see around me.
The mighty Casio QV10A digital camera was next to catch my eye. With it's LCD screen (the first such camera) giving instant feedback and swivelling lens you could look at yourself while you took your photo - people loved it! A resolution of 320x240 didn't make for very clear pictures though, but in strong light the photos are great for the web.
By now my appetite was thoroughly wetted for digital photography, instant review of photos meant less wasted shots and more possibility to capture the moment as I wanted to. Plus I'm a geek so it was a match made in heaven when Casio hit the market with the world's first consumer camera with over 3 megapixels of resolution, the amazing QV-3000EX/Ir. It still takes great photos the colours are perfect and with a few hacks there's nothing it can't do. This meant real photos and with a website of my own, I began to collect information about it. It sort of grew from there.
Lately I've made the move back to film in a way I was never able to before. I've been given two old manual focus SLRs, a Canon AE-1 and a Minolta XG-9 which have great lenses and still take great photos. I continue to learn in a way that benefits both film & digital and that both benefit from.
Santa brought me a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 (black), with a lovely long (36mm-432mm equiv) Leica zoom and optical image stabilization, fantastic stuff! Only thing lacking is raw format, but the rest is so good ('cept low light focusing) that I can forget that. Small & light enough to be everywhere with me, fast times between photos.
- What's New
- What's new on the site
- 29 May 2006: Another year has passed, too busy taking photos to play with the tech side of things. My Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 still gives me lots of fun, including some more magic keystrokes to play with.
- 28 April 2005: After a year's hiatus, I've addded the first page devoted to the Canon PowerShots, Fun with Canon PowerShots , this outlines how to upload 3rd party software (like Tetris!) onto the camera, and transfer pictures without using ZoomBrowser or a card reader
- 12 April 2004: the Casio EXILIM EX-P600 has a service/testmode menu too, which also enables raw mode!
- 3 November 2003: Added a page about the hidden REC INFO mode - this gives extra recording information when you are taking a picture, like the focus distance in millimetres - very handy!
- Finalised the look of the menus and site and put in an intro and sitemap (long overdue)
25 July 2003: I received this email from Casio Support Centre Japan asking me to take down the hidden test mode menus page as too many people are stuffing up their cameras, requiring EXPENSIVE REPAIRS to fix them. Remember, YOU HAVE TO PAY not Casio, for any repairs resulting from using these settings, as you probably void any warrantys (according to laws of your country).
- 2 July 2003: Added a page about hidden test mode menus - 4 camera models and counting - the QV2000UX, QV3000/3500EX, QV4000 and Exilim Z3 are all listed or linked to.
- 26 June 2003: Added news about a wireless remote controller to the Remote Control page
- 2 May 2003: Will slowly start to redo the look, feel and layout of the whole site, so stay tuned!
- 1 May 2003: Added Casio raw format files page.
- 3 Dec 2002: Added 'Opening up the camera for (flash) repair' process to Hidden features & keystrokes page and tidied it up a bit.
- 6 May 2002 Removed some dead links from the firmware upgrade page.
- 28 Oct 2001: Added another Asian/Pacific download link to the firmware upgrade page, this time for many Casio models.
- 1 Sep 2001: Added 'Use camera as a removable drive' tip to Hidden features & keystrokes page.
- 23 Aug 2001: Added QVControl to Remote Control Software page.
- 22 May 2001: More details about the wired remote on the Remote Control Software page.
- 14 May 2001: Added QV3000EX Macro Recorder to Remote Control Software page.
Added link to the Lens/Filter Adapter for Casio QV-3000EX to the accessories page. - 9 May 2001: Added kernel patch link for USB access on Linux
- 25 April 2001: Tidied up the firmware upgrade page, so that it's easier to download
- 19 April 2001: Added link to 'jpegtran' in software page. Allows lossless transformation of JPEGs without losing EXIF tag.
- 13 April 2001: Thanks to Rick Kellaway, I can add links to the firmware upgrades.
- 21 March 2001: I've added info about the version 1.003 upgrade here and here.
- Howto's for Casio cameras (mainly the QV3000EX but also others)
- I've put together pages on how to do some things, so that it's all in once place
- REC INFO Mode - running the camera in REC INFO mode allows for extra feedback including focus distance
- Test Mode menus - the hidden menus used by Casio technicians to test the camera functions
- Handling raw format files from various Casio cameras - creating & converting raw format files created using the hidden test mode menu
- How to upgrade the camera firmware - user experiences upgrading firmware
- Remote control software for the QV-3000EX - also hardware
- Using the QV-3000EX with Linux x86 - lergely superceded by kernel updates
- Inside the firmware - meanderings through the camera's firmware updates
- Reading & writing Exif tags - including putting images back onto the camera
- Hidden features & keystrokes - not everything was created seen!
- Homemade Filter Adapter - how to make one, saved from oblivion
- Opening up the Casio QV-3000EX for repair - others have done this not me
- Casio Exilim Z3 Test Mode menus - this camera too has test mode menus