From manure (read into that your favourite other word) good things grow

[GrahamH]

Xmas is coming and my wife was asking what to get me- ah choices, choices.
Then my camera breaks - making my decision easy.
The GOOD thing is that it was under extended warranty and so I get my cash from 4 years ago refunded to go towards the new camera. Whhooohooo!!
Sony A350 eventually gave up the ghost, now on order a Sony A77 - and for just barely more than half price. Score!!!!

Okay, so no on-camera flash over the hols(external still works fine, just no off camera control now, that I can handle), but they are letting me keep the camera until production gets back to normal (not just Nikon was affected by Thailand floods). Should have it by March/April. My habit isn't so bad, I can hang on, honest, I'm not addicted, the twitch isn't so bad.......

Also - had surgery today to clear blocked tear duct (out of my camera shooting eye - thank goodness for live view eh). Two years of 'is the camera not focussing or i,s it me?", all over at last (I hope).
So new camera and new eye. Life if better than it was.

Graham.

[PhotoRob]

Can't wait to see pics from the new Sony Graham (from one Sony shooter to another)...best for a happy holiday, tears, or no tears.

[jeeperman]

Graham, glad to hear the eye duct is back in working order. Sorry to hear about the A350.....but you will not be sorry. I am loving my A77.

[John C]

Just curious, how did the A350 die? Mine is still going strong?

[Glenn NK]

Also - had surgery today to clear blocked tear duct (out of my camera shooting eye - thank goodness for live view eh). Two years of 'is the camera not focussing or i,s it me?", all over at last (I hope).
So new camera and new eye. Life if better than it was.

Graham.

Be careful when you blow your nose or you'll spray the inside of your eyeglasses. I have had both of mine done - the procedure removes the one way valve that nature gave us so the pressure blows stuff out of the eyes.

Glenn

[GrahamH]

Graham, glad to hear the eye duct is back in working order. Sorry to hear about the A350.....but you will not be sorry. I am loving my A77.

And it is so difficult to find right now. I haven't heard of any other camera being so much in demand with so little availability.
Am I wrong? Let me know.
Looking forward to better ISO control and the higher frame rate AFAIK only the new Canon announced recently will have faster (and that is in JPEG only I believe, and at a MUCH higher price).
Graham

[GrahamH]

Just curious, how did the A350 die? Mine is still going strong?

First of all the sensor shifted so all of my pics were out of focus, seriously so.
On return the sensor was seriously out of alignment so it wasn't wysiwyg with the optical view finder.
Knowing that the camera was on the lemon warranty, I was hoping the sensor would shift again, fulfilling the ACTUAL warranty conditions (stated that the camera had to have problems with the same part three times).
However, on this final occassion the bulb of the on-camera flash blew.
(Other issues I have had: - focussing ring on a Sigma zoom kept stripping, suggesting that the camera focussing motor was too powerful or was over-running, the lens-camera connection was loose and I kept losing said connection so the camera wouldn't operate, (then on refinding connection, it would refocus, nasty when doing macro or trying to focus on a moving target), new flash unit blew after a couple of weeks (replaced by store) and replacement also blew after 5000 flashes (rated for 250,000 I was told). Overall it suggests that the camera settings were too powerful or not properly limited. All told, in 4 years the camera has been out of action for over 6 months (in repair).
BUT, now that cash goes to a new camera, so I'm happy overall.
Graham

[GrahamH]

Be careful when you blow your nose or you'll spray the inside of your eyeglasses. I have had both of mine done - the procedure removes the one way valve that nature gave us so the pressure blows stuff out of the eyes.

Glenn

Yuck.
Thanks for the warning.
Isn't there a lizard that sprays blood from it's eyes?
Currently have a stent in place, feels weird everytime I blink.
Graham

[jeeperman]

Graham, yes I have heard they are a bit hard to get ahold of. I got on the pre-order list and had mine in hand almost two months ago. Yes it is fast! But the fastest 12 fps is also limited to jpeg although full size jpeg. In raw you can get I believe 8fps. It is no low light wizard however keeps up quite well and is laughable how much better than my A100 was. Never used the A350 but I can assure you, this is a fantastic camera. Believe it or not...one of my favorite things about the camera is the OLED and I thought I was going to miss the optical view finder. Not even a little do I miss it. I really like seeing a 100% view....and what the difference in settings are doing to my image while eyeball in the view finder. Enjoy!!

[Glenn NK]

Yuck.
Thanks for the warning.
Isn't there a lizard that sprays blood from it's eyes?
Currently have a stent in place, feels weird everytime I blink.
Graham

Yes I've heard of the lizard.

I had both of mine done a few years ago (a month or so apart). The "stent" that my surgeon used was nothing more than what looked like dental floss (I saw it when he pulled it out) looped back on itself several times. I suspect what you feel is the upper end of the stent that connects the eye with the nose.

Something even more gross - on the second one, the lower end of the "stent" was starting to come down my nasal canal - I could actually feel it or if I tilted my head back, I could see it in the mirror. Fortunately it lasted long enough to do its job - which is to form a new duct directly from the eye to the nose.

They come out quite easily - the surgeon reached into my nose with tweezers and pulled them out.

Something I should have mentioned - he told me to use an ice pack on the side of my nose that was operated on - it really helps to keep the swelling and pain down.

Glenn