STATUS QUOtes — 20170930

Today’s STATUS QUOtes

 

“Linger longer in the unrepeatable present.” — Dorothy Harsen

“Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.” — Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

“Each of us when he appears before his fellows is clothed in a certain dignity. But every man knows what inconfessable things pass within the secrecy of his own heart.” — Luigi Pirandello

“Even Einstein had to rely for his time on his clock.” — Stanislaw Lec

 
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STATUS QUOtes — Picture Quote — 20170929

Today’s Picture Quote

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. - e.e. cummings

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” – e.e. cummings

Via

 
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STATUS QUOtes — 20170929

Today’s STATUS QUOtes

 

“Life is an adventure in forgiveness.” — Norman Cousins

“There is frequently more to be learned from the unexpected questions of a child than the discourses of men, who talk in a road, according to the notions they have borrowed and the prejudices of their education.” — John Locke

“Leave your front door and your back door open. Allow your thoughts to come and go. Just don’t serve them tea.” — Shunryu Suzuki

“I was doing some musical research, and I found out it was actually white people that came up with rap music… only, they call it square dancing.” — Bruce Baum

 
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Fuji X T-2: When Support Helped Save a Vacation


Picture of boat in OR out of focus

On my very first major trip with my new Fuji X T-2, I had a problem. It is hard to tell, but the boat is not in focus.

We recently returned from a hiking trip along the Oregon coast. This was in the planning stages for well over a year and it was the main reason, I purchased my new camera, a Fuji X T-2. JBRish followers know that I have taken the camera out for a few spins, but I did not have extensive experience with it prior to our departure.

I don’t recommend this protocol, but I live in the Sonoran Desert where summer temperatures are quite hot so I only made a couple of forays with the new camera. Naturally, I had plans to take other cameras to serve as a back up in case disaster hit and I couldn’t use the X T-2.

You might think that the word disaster is an overuse of the term, but for a photography hobbyist with their first advanced camera, disaster can come in many shades and so I needed to be prepared and glad I was to have made such plans.

After an initial, very brief evening walk to take a couple of photos (more about that in a later post), I was anxious to begin our walk around Astoria the next day to take some snaps with the new camera. Unfortunately, the weather had not improved and the day remained completely overcast and grey. Not great for photographs, but I wanted some photos for the blog and I hoped to concentrate on some subjects that were not too sunlight dependent and would allow me to write about this part of our Oregon experience.


Picture of birds on the beach in OR out of focus

Nothing appears to be in focus even though I used a very small aperture, i.e. f/14 (+/-).

I took a number of photographs, but in doing so, I must have pressed a function button or something. The almost brand new Fuji X T-2 stopped autofocusing. I believe I was trying to use the AEL or AEF buttons and I might have pressed some strange combination that included other buttons as well. I just don’t know. what I did know was the autofocus would no longer work. The green square did not snap into place as I half-pressed the shutter button and was AWOL for many attempts. As you might imagine, this was very disconcerting.

I tried using manual focus and focus peaking, but with the little experience I had with the new camera, this was not much help either. I continued to try to use the X T-2, off and on, but I could tell the camera was not focusing accurately most of the time.

I relied on my other cameras from this point forward. I did have the X T-2 reference manual and user’s guide for the camera. I began to change or modify settings that had taken me hours to initially configure. With trial and error and reading the manuals, I still could not get the camera to respond appropriately.

My thoughts were: 1 – Did I royally mess up something and break the camera?, 2 – Will I need to send it in for repair? and 3 – Is there any way to get the X T-2 back in working order for the remainder of the trip?. Remember, this was my very first day of our hiking/walking vacation down the coast of Oregon and then to Crater Lake.

Since we were in the middle of our exploration of Astoria, I put the Fuji into the bag and decided to stick with my other cameras for the remainder of that day. This was my backup plan which would still provide good documentation of our day’s experiences.

The next day we were off to hike in the state parks along the shore. Once again, I took the Fuji with me trying to use it a couple of times with no more success than the previous day. What was I to do? There was more than a week left of our trip and I wanted to use the new camera.


Picture of ship in OR out of focus
The ship was not in sharp focus. Take it from me, the letters on the ship are blurry.

We often knock those companies that don’t put the consumer first, but rarely do we read or hear stories of those manufacturers who treat their customers well and provide resources to help them use their products. Well, kudos to Fuji!

I called Fuji’s help line from the car at the state park. It was rainy and drizzly. I was put on hold for a while, but it seemed like forever. In reality, it was only a few minutes. Then Steve answered the phone and listened to my situation. We checked the settings I had which seemed fine to him as they did to me. Understanding that we didn’t want to waste time, Steve offered a solution I had also considered.

We decided to reset the camera back to the default settings. Once we accomplished that, he instructed me to take a few photos, check that the autofocus was working and review the pictures to see if they were recorded appropriately.

Sure enough, the camera was back in order and seemed to be working as desired. I thanked Steve and was glad that I could easily call Fuji and get this assistance. I am glad to report that the camera worked well for the rest of the trip and I was very careful to avoid inadvertently pressing function buttons, etc.

Thanks to Steve and to Fuji for helping to salvage my photographic exploration of Oregon. It was a great relief!

The picture below is the first picture I snapped after the camera reset. It was raining so we were sitting in the car while I was on the phone. The green focus box was back on the screen and the camera was working as anticipated.


Picture of car after focus was reset

Takeaways

  • I was prepared for this mishap by bringing several cameras on the trip; especially since the Fuji was so new to me. It would have been total disaster (perhaps) had I relied solely on the X T-2.
  • On prior hiking/photography trips, I had taken a computer with me to examine the photographs each evening to assure that the camera was working correctly. I didn’t bring the computer this time, but wish I had.
  • It is important to support companies like Fuji that provide resources to help their users resolve issues as easily as possible. No company is perfect, but obviously some are more consumer oriented than others. I have read about Fuji’s support of their base for a couple of years and this helped to confirm my choice of selecting one of their cameras.
  • Until you learn how to use the camera very well, be sure to have access to the reference manual and user guide. I made sure I loaded copies on to my iPhone and iPad. This provided a sense of comfort and helped me several times during the trip when I needed to review settings or procedures.
  • Modern cameras are actually computers and they are not infallible. It is nice to have a number of function buttons, wheels, dials, etc., but they need to be “respected” and understood.
  • The X T-2 can save custom settings. Saving the settings so they can be easily restored at a later date would be a step in the right direction when assisting in recovering from a problem like the one I encountered.

NOTE – This article is not aimed at knocking other camera manufacturers and to suggest that they do not offer the same type of support that I received from Steve at Fuji. They very well might the same service(s), but I have never had experience with them.

What I am trying to explain is how well Fuji handled my immediate problem and to extend special appreciation to Steve who made sure my camera was back in working order before he ended the call.

Thanks again Steve and thank you Fuji!

 
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©Jeffrey B. Ross – 2017



STATUS QUOtes — 20170928

Today’s STATUS QUOtes

 

“It hurts because it matters.” — John Green

“Either you decide to stay in the shallow end of the pool or you go out in the ocean.” — Christopher Reeve

“Knowledge and timber shouldn’t be much used till they are seasoned.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes

“There goes the famous good time that was had by all.” — Bette Davis

 
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STATUS QUOtes — Picture Quote — 20170927

Today’s Picture Quote

Everyone has gone through something that has changed them in a way that they could never go back to the person they once were.

“Everyone has gone through something that has changed them in a way that they could never go back to the person they once were.”

Via

 
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STATUS QUOtes — 20170927

Today’s STATUS QUOtes

 

“The hand cannot reach higher than does the heart.” — Orison Swett Marden

“Let us not overstrain our abilities, or we shall do nothing with grace. A clown, whatever he may do, will never pass for a gentleman.” — Jean de La Fontaine

“Live so that you can at least get the benefit of the doubt.” — Kin Hubbard

“When I ask what time it is – I don’t need to know how the watch is built.” — Anonymous

 
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Train Vide-Oh: Drone On – Flight of the Year?

I must say up front that I know nothing about flying a drone or taking pictures or movies with one. All I can say is that many of the blogs I follow have examples of drone usage and some of them are absolutely stunning.

I don’t want to address any of the legal issues of this phenomenon, but I do want to share a video with you that shows some of the skills users have developed in flying these amazing technological wonders.

I don’t know what all these words mean – Gapping, Perching or Powerlooping, but I am sure if you watch this video you will see examples of them. If the video is a bit long for you, you can get a good flavor of it and see most of the moves if you start at the 2:15 mark.

Whether you approve of drones, like, dislike, etc., you will probably have to admit that it takes much skill to do all of this with a flying machine.

 

More Vide – Ohs

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STATUS QUOtes — 20170926

Today’s STATUS QUOtes

 

“Genius and craziness often share a fence line.” — Michael Finkel

“Most people think everybody feels about them much more strongly than they actually do; they think other people’s opinions of them swing through great arcs of approval or disapproval.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tender Is the Night

“Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.” — Henry David Thoreau

“Frankly, I’m suspicious of anyone who has a strong opinion on a complicated issue.” — Scott Adams, Dilbert cartoon

 
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STATUS QUOtes — 20170925

Today’s STATUS QUOtes

 

“Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy.” — Lao Tzu

“The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely.” — Louisa May Alcott

“Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.” — Peter Drucker

“We would all like a reputation for generosity and we’d all like to buy it cheap.” — Mignon McLaughlin

 
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All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross – 2017