Saturday, February 26, 2011

Himself and the Story of the Camera.







The rain is pouring out of the heavens this morning and I'm not complaining. It's a lovely sound to hear. It should give the snow a good cutting. Mind you, it's going to take more than a days rain to get rid of what we have on the ground.

I've been feeling that spring is in the air lately even though I know we will no doubt have more snow off and on and chilly days. Still, the feeling is there. So with that, I bought a fire pit when we went to Gander on Thursday for our monthly shopping. Yep, I've got great plans for spring and summer this year. I even bought cloths to go on the garden tables and colourful serviettes. Call me crazy but I've even hauled my box of seeds out and have been dreaming of what to plant.

Himself has been talking for some time about getting a digital camera. He spent years using a film camera and has taken some brilliant shots from many places around the world. However, this digital thing, well, he's had a hard time getting his head around it. At one point he tried to read the manual that came with my camera and gave up in defeat saying he'd never get one of these things. Anyway, on our monthly trip last Thursday, he decided the time was right to get a camera. I said, what about learning how to use it, you know how frustrated you get. With that he said, well I have all the time in the world on my hands so I'll just take the time to learn.

After arriving at our destination, we went into the camera shop. After much fussing about he saw the camera he wanted, it's like mine only two steps up. He was asking the woman there questions about the camera but unfortunately she knew little or nothing about it. This got himself in a bit of a state to say the least. Then he said he'd like to see the manual that comes with it. "No manual comes with it" she said "you have to read it off the computer. " Well, that did it. I almost left the shop in embarrassment! I leaned over close to his ear and said, "For heavens sake, will you stop yelling and swearing, everyone in the shop is staring at you." He says, "Every things gone to hell in this X Y Z world (as he likes to call it.) So he asks to see another more expensive camera, one that has a manual in the box with it. Now, I forgot to mention that I'm phoning my daughter in St. John's with questions he wants asked and answered about these cameras. So, he asks the woman if this camera takes macro shots. She doesn't know! He's getting himself in a right state now. She says she will try to get a hold of someone who might know. She does and it does. Okay, so now he asks if the first camera takes macro. She says she thinks the button with the small flower near it is a macro button. She calls the person again and gets confirmation that it is. Himself erupts...." How is a person to know that a flower by a button means macro." (I haven't put in the swear words.) Well, without going any further, he bought the first camera. I was exhausted to say the least as this was going on for an hour at least. I won't go into detail on what happened when we got home just to say that friends dropped by and tried to convince him that he could learn to use the camera one step at a time. He said he was taking it back. Two days later, and the camera still hasn't been taken out of the box but he's relenting a little saying that maybe he will try to use it.

A couple of pictures I took this past week.

12 comments:

Cicero Sings said...

Oh dear, these new dangled gadgets! There's some that never get used to them. It is hard to keep up I must say. Hope Himself manages to wrap his mind around the camera because digital really is nice.

We have been in a cold snap and now they say more snow is coming.

Tricia Ryder said...

Oh dear, oh dearie me.... In some ways I can empathise - manuals seem to be more and more online rather than in the box these days and it assumes everyone has web access!!

One step at a time sounds good to me...lol

And long may that hose pipe from the sky wash away the snow!!

The Quacks of Life said...

lolololololololololololololololol

tell him he'll get there. what make and model?

love squidgy and the first two are atmospheric

oldcrow61 said...

Cicero and Tricia, the rain has shrunk a lot of the snow and the pile up on the roof of the house has not disappeared. Snow slated for later today but not enough to worry about.

Pete, lol, I did burst out laughing a few times when doing the blog this morning. In retrospect it is quite funny. What fools us mortals be, lol The camera is a Canon Power Shot SX30IS. It's gotten great reviews and as it's much like my own camera that you suggested I get a number of years ago, I'm sure if he learns how to use it he will be quite pleased.

ShySongbird said...

Oh dear! I did have to laugh at the scene in the shop though!

I could feel his frustration, I remember how daunting it was when I first got my DSLR and most of the manual seemed to be gibberish! I think his best bet is just to 'play' with it for a while, he will learn more from experimenting himself than from any manual and the beauty of digital is of course that it doesn't matter how many mistakes you make you are not wasting valuable film.

Glad you got some rain to wash away at least some of that snow! Lovely photo of the Squirrel.

The Quacks of Life said...

well oc nick it. it has longer "reach" than yours :D

oldcrow61 said...

LOL Pete, I'm tempted!

Shy Songbird, lol, it was quite funny.

Nan and =^..^= said...

What a camera story, I had to read it to my husband! Oh, that camera he got is the one I've been dreaming of! I bet that once he tries it, he will love it! Maybe you could show him the basics for it may not be too far off from yours! It's a shame that it doesn't come with a manual for it sure is handy to have it close by but I find the manual with my older camera is difficult to understand!

I just wanted to mention that I had been having sporadic problems with my digital camera...it would suddenly keep zooming in and out or stop while extended and indicate there was a lens error and to restart the camera. After some research online I discovered that with many digital cameras it is best not to keep them in a case that has any kind of lint or dust etc. for the static can work its way into the lens mechanism and cause that sort of problem with the lens. I also found out it's best not to touch the lens when it is in the process of zooming for that can also aggravate it!
Here's some helpful info:
http://www.fixya.com/support/t5559387-lens_error_restart_camera

Sondra said...

*GIGGLES* I bet once he fires it up and takes a few shots he will be pleased as punch--and after he learns all the little "icons" he will be very proud of his new Knowledge!
Hope that snow melts fast--'
Ive started my lettuce seeds inside and they are UP--

oldcrow61 said...

Nan, thanks for that information. It's appreciated. It's good to know these things.

Sondra, You'll be eating home grown lettuce before you know it, lol.

Anonymous said...

Tell your hubster to hang in there. My previous digicam was six years old and in need of replacement. Hubby bought me a nice little Sanyo VPC-S120 for Christmas and its great! Takes amazing photos. If there's anything wrong with the pics, it's the user's fault, not the camera. LOL!

They really aren't difficult to use, you just have to practice a bit and get used to the tech terms.

My that's a pile of snow! I've been living in England for a decade and can't imagine more than a dusting now.

Victoria said...

OC, I hope your husband learns how to use his new camera. I can sympathise with his frustration, as I am one of the most technological-challenged people in the world! But if I can learn (and I did, slowly) anyone can! But if he can't manage, then I agree with Pete...nick it! :D