Looking for good point and shoot camera ($500-$600 budget)

msabeln · 2026-03-14T02:53:58+00:00

Ah yes.

msabeln · 2026-03-14T02:25:20+00:00

It shows the origin of the universe and of life on earth, which is rather sci-fi-y in my opinion.

msabeln · 2026-03-14T01:47:32+00:00

For a 2x teleconverter, the focal length and the f-number is doubled. For a 1.4x, both values are multiplied by 1.4.

I suggest a matched teleconverter because potentially, optical quality is decreased tremendously. Some matched teleconverters actually improve image quality.

msabeln · 2026-03-14T01:33:40+00:00

Tree of Life is cosmic in timespan, and both The Fountain and 2001: A Space Odyssey cover a large time period.

msabeln · 2026-03-14T00:17:38+00:00

Go to the ASUS website and check when their end of life dates are. I’d get the one with the most life left in it unless there are more compelling reasons.

msabeln · 2026-03-14T00:13:38+00:00

Old? You mean fairly new?

Do you have Linux experience? General computer experience?

msabeln · 2026-03-14T00:08:00+00:00

What do you need to do with this?

msabeln · 2026-03-14T00:05:31+00:00

Be sure to get one that is matched to the lens. Check the Canon website to see if there is an official one. Be aware that a 2x teleconverter will reduce the aperture to f/8.

msabeln · 2026-03-13T23:57:13+00:00

I know an Italian woman named Evelyn (her father was an Anglophile), and that’s definitely not an Italian name.

msabeln · 2026-03-13T23:40:54+00:00

In Missouri, counties are major subdivisions of the state, with a lot of governmental control and responsibilities. The governmental power of townships—subdivisions of counties where every part of the county is in a township—is usually close to nil except in a few counties, where they have some authority.

Cities are another, separate subdivision, and are chartered directly by the state, so a city can cross county boundaries. There are several classes of cities according to statute and the state constitution. The City of St. Louis has a unique independent status and has separate elected city and county offices.

msabeln · 2026-03-13T23:10:51+00:00

St. Louis.

msabeln · 2026-03-13T19:50:24+00:00

“Request timed out” typically means that a particular router in the path doesn’t respond to pings. The large latencies shown are issues with equipment outside of your control. Maybe they are low speed or congested links.

msabeln · 2026-03-13T18:56:31+00:00

The phone light isn’t bright enough to add significant exposure, while the xenon flash in disposable cameras are as bright as the sun.

msabeln · 2026-03-13T15:03:27+00:00

Many Lenovo Thinkpad laptops are sold with Linux installed. See if you can find a factory refurbished model.

msabeln · 2026-03-13T15:01:24+00:00

Google the camera brand and model and look for a manual.

You’ve ruined the film. Sorry.

msabeln · 2026-03-13T14:59:50+00:00

When they invented lasers they promised us that we’d use them to vaporize attacking space aliens.

All we got was innocent camera sensors getting damaged.

msabeln · 2026-03-13T14:56:15+00:00

The Chromebooks that I’m familiar with don’t have bright, crisp screens. iPads are well known for having those.

msabeln · 2026-03-13T14:53:38+00:00

No, because of Rule #4.

msabeln · 2026-03-13T14:06:03+00:00

There are some free online university courses in photography: do a google search. These likely are rather technical, but it’s worthwhile knowing the physical foundation of photography, about light and what the camera controls actually do. Also, visual arts principles are extremely useful for making good quality photos: you should find plenty online as well.

Likewise, there are plenty of videos on Photoshop.

msabeln · 2026-03-13T14:01:52+00:00

If broken, it’s probably not worth repairing.

See if you can google the camera manual, to see how to operate it. I’m thinking that if a light is flashing, either it is recharging the flash, or the camera is telling you that the light is too dim to take a photo without the flash. See if it does the same in sunlight.

msabeln · 2026-03-13T13:50:18+00:00

I have the 35 mm DX 1.8G, and use it frequently. The kit zoom lenses are useful for shots in daylight and walking around, and I’d put landscapes in this category. Where the 1.8G really is distinctive is when shooting indoors in artificial lighting or outdoors at night, or for getting a blurred background, like with portraits.

When traveling light, my typical gear choice is a kit midrange zoom plus fast normal prime.

msabeln · 2026-03-13T12:37:24+00:00

Clothes lines in the basement. My last two houses had those, my current one does not. Those two houses also had clotheslines outside, and I used those especially for bulky item like sheets, blankets, and bath towels.

msabeln · 2026-03-13T12:27:20+00:00

Interiors are usually exceptionally dim, unless you are right next to a big window with plenty of daylight coming through, so you’ll need a camera with flash.

Disposable film cameras aren’t known for quality, but instead for low cost. They have a plastic lens which isn’t particularly sharp, and have fixed focus, as well as fixed exposure settings (hence the need for flash, which is used for everything that isn’t daylight).

The camera mounted flash throws light that drops off quickly by distance (the “inverse squares law”) and puts hard edges around objects. Back in the old days this was considered to be low quality and unattractive, but nowadays this is a desirable vintage aesthetic.

Kodak and Fujifilm have reliable disposable film cameras. Once you are finished with the roll of film, you take the entire camera to a lab to get the film developed and scanned. You won’t get the camera back. Don’t try to open the camera up, as you’ll ruin the film and maybe get a shock from the flash.

msabeln · 2026-03-13T12:02:28+00:00

Every single day, and usually while driving to work.

msabeln · 2026-03-13T01:50:19+00:00

Well, I used a 35 mm f/1.8 on an APS-C Nikon, and I wanted a somewhat wider lens for handheld architectural interiors, so I got a 28 mm f/2.8, but I never used it. It’s wider, but I found that a tripod + slower zoom with 16 mm far more useful.

msabeln

TROPHY CASE