Flashback 2001: Remembering an early Digital Camera. The Sony F707.

I stumbled across this article while drinking my morning coffee and smiled all the way through.

Back in 2001 I was working part-time at an electronics retailer in Mainz, Germany besides school. At that time, digital cameras were found in the computer department and not with film cameras.

The F707 was a small marvel. It looked utterly alien for a camera even back then and boasted a few incredible features like proper infrared night vision that could either work on its own or a a focussing aid in almost complete darkness. It also had a LASER focussing system which was insanely cool and worked quite well.

Back then, Sony reclaimed goods if they weren't sold in stores after a while and before that happened, they were usually offered to store employees at a heavy discount. I snagged the one remaining F707 we had in the store, making this not only my first digital camera but my first own camera, period.

It holds a special place in my heart and the fact that it still works is just bonus.

I'll need to publish these photo posts more often, so I can catch up to the current month at some point :D

January was a pretty quiet month in terms of photography until I went to a company conference but the conference will get its own post.

This photo happened during an early look at the Fujifilm X-Pro2 and the XF100-400 tele zoom lens, I was lucky to get.

I rarely use the Classic Chrome film simulation but I feel that this shot came out really nice, benefitting from the slightly subdued blue tones.

And that last one is the obligatory dog picture. This time of a very sleepy Mika who really doesn't like being told not to sleep on the bed.

The Road Runner cartoons were my favourite cartoons when I was a kid and they my still be. They were zany, surprising, completely bananas, and I still grin whenever I read "ACME" on anything, wondering what the coyote is up to again.

Chuck Jones, the creator of the Looney Tunes and many of the characters in it, wrote down a set of rules for creating Road Runner comics and after reading them, the cartoons will make more sense.

Chuck Jones' rules for writing Road Runner cartoons.https://t.co/O3tYdis1fc pic.twitter.com/NiqQankmhN

— One. Perfect. Shot. (@OnePerfectShot) February 27, 2016

Everything said in this video still makes more sense than anything Donald Trump blasts out his orange maw. Example: Trump contradicting himself on major issues:

Thanks to @NicholasPegg for the link to the Trump video.

Presented without further comment.

Turn on the sound 😋

Found on: Tastefully Offensive

I've watched Batman v Superman a couples of times now. I enjoyed the movie for the most part. It has some very serious problems with representing women that were hard to look past most of the time and made me cringe. Walking out of the cinema on premiere weekend—fittingly, the Metropolis in Frankfurt—discussing the movie with my sister, I felt that apart from aforementioned issue, something was off with the movie, that it felt like a bunch of snapshots of events put together, making it hard to find any sort of golden thread.

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across this interesting video review with an overly sensationalistic title, capturing this particular issue pretty well:

All in all, it was an entertaining film and the extended edition is a bit better, in my opinion.

Yes, Wonder Woman was severely underrepresented in the movie but what saved it for me was the feeling that in the few moments Wonder Woman was on screen, the writers, the director, and most importantly Gal Gadot managed to capture the core of the character. She's educated, smart, more experienced and more level-headed than Batman or Superman, strong, a formidable fighter, and a true warrior.

There was a scene in the fight against Doomsday, where she was thrown back by a mighty blow of the creature but catching herself, the look on her face showed determination and the joy of battle.

It reminded me of one of my favourite moments in DC's New 52 run when Superman and Wonder Woman became a couple. Batman was explaining his misgivings about their relationship to Superman by showing Supes a number of boxes stored in a secure corner of the Bat Cave. Each of these boxes contained countermeasures for each member of the Justice League, should they ever go rogue. The only one he didn't have a countermeasure for, was Wonder Woman. He deemed her so powerful that the only way to stop her, if turned evil, would be Superman.

I sincerely hope that the 2017 Wonder Woman and the Justice League movies capture all facets of the character; the grace, the wisdom, the unshakeable belief in doing the right thing, the knowledge that sacrifices are sometimes necessary in battle, and not just the looks and fighting skills. The ComicCon trailer does look promising:

Bonus: "Everything Wrong With Batman v Superman"

It's no secret that I love the XKCD comics dearly and this one is no exception. Superzoom compacts are incredibly powerful little cameras and this comic perfectly captures their appeal.

Source: XKCD — Superzoom

After one visit to the local animal shelter and three walks supervised by a dog trainer, Bijou moved in with us one year ago today.

Bijou, the first time we met her at the animal shelter in Trier

The shelter didn't have much information about her and we were only able to piece together a little more: She supposedly was about seven years old when we met her, is a mix between a Border Collie and a German Wirehaired Pointer, has lived not too far from Trier with a woman for five years, who adopted her out of a French animal shelter when Bijou was not even two years old. When the woman died unexpectedly and no one in her family would take Bijou in, she ended up in the animal shelter in Trier.

The day she moved in with us, completely exhausted

The first few months after the adoption haven't been without issues, what with the surprise that the spayed dog we picked up going into heat about a week after she moved in with us, the discovery that the reason for some of her crooked claws is a genetic disorder which thankfully hasn't resurfaced again, so far, and the surgery she had to go through in December 2015 to have her spleen removed because her vet discovered growing masses in it.

Bijou after her spleen removal surgery, in a children's dinosaur onesie that we got her in lieu of an Elizabethan collar

The good thing is that Bijou didn't mind the frequent visits to the vet and quickly became the staff favourite at the clinic because she was so incredibly relaxed, never showing even the smallest signs of aggression during the examinations.

Relaxing after a long day at the beach in the Netherlands

The way she behaved towards the staff of the veterinary clinic was the first indicator that had found an incredible dog. She also has little to no hunting instinct which, on a few occasions, made for fun encounters with cats, foxes, deer, horses, and cows. Especially deer were surprised not to be chased or barked at, to the point of coming closer to us during a few walks.

On the other hand, she's a walking food vacuum and loves to try anything and everything as long as it smells tasty. I do consider this a positive, though, because we can get her to do all sorts of things for food.

First attempt at teaching Bijou a patience trick

I grew up around dogs and have met all sorts. I can say without a doubt that I've never met a dog as relaxed as Bijou. She seems to be utterly and completely unflappable. We were particularly happy to see that all she needs to accept a new environment or situation, is seeing me and my girlfriend being at ease.

She's a bit protective towards us when it comes to other dogs and we found out that she seemingly never learned to play the way dogs usually do. She never reacts aggressively towards playful dogs, though, and she is quick to accept anyone that we consider a part of the pack. Like Mika, a dog from a family member that we had the pleasure of caring for for a few months while they were recuperating from a knee injury.

Bijou, Mika, and I napping in the bean bag chair

One thing Bijou never understood, though, is Mika's obsession with digging in the ground hunting rodents:

It's been an eventful first year with her with a few downs and many, many ups. She has enriched our lives immensely in innumerable ways and we hope that she will spend many more years as part of our family.

Bijou, watching us eat our Christmas dinner from the couch

This was just another one of youtube ads that starts playing before the video you actually want to watch but the narrator's voice and the immediate shushing by the nun stopped me from clicking it away after five seconds.

Watch it, it's a well made ad about an incredible person:

If you want to know more about the Iron Nun, here you go:
Meet the Iron Nun, the 82-Year-Old Ironman World Record Holder Who Can't Be Stopped