Sort of, I think it is due to plant breeders working to get melons that will go into small refrigerators. Also, families are smaller today. If you grow your own you can still get seeds for the giant varieties. Happy eating Jerry

Thanks I will have to try that.

Canon 60D, Canon 15 -- 85, ISO 800, f11, SS 1/3000. Probably zoomed to 75 mm. Hand held as I left my mono pod at home. If I had the pod I would have reduced ISO and shutter speed, and perhaps used fill. I really like this lens, very sharp even wide open and focuses down to 14 in. Thanks to all who commented. Dave

2 more pics from our garden

Wisteria

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The local Master Gardeners maintain a strolling garden at the County Nursing Home. These are a few photos that I took the other day.

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I believe it is a catalpa, very fragrant, but not at all like a lilac. It has been like fruit in the Fall.

No!!! Gigapixels are a measurement of sensor sensitivity and are never used as an index of lens performance. Used as Tony does it has no meaning. Pure garbage.

I prefer the use of stacked lenses, a primary lens attached to the camera and a second lens reverse mounted in front of the primary lens. The reversed lens must be a prim, the primary lens can be either a prim or a high quality zoom. This preserves all of the functions of the primary lens and is much easier to use. It is no more expensive than the single reversed lens system, as most of us have a suitable zoom, say a 70 - 300, and a 50 prime. The equation for determining magnification is (focal length of the primary lens / focal length of the reversed lens) .IE 100 / 50 = 2 or 200 / 50 = 4. Note you can get very extreme magnification this way.

Technically the canon SX50 is not a point and shoot. it is a bridge camera. Terminology is important.

The size of a digital image is the number of pixels it contains. It does not have physical dimensions. In other words the size of the sensor does not determine the size of the image. The sensor shape does determine the shape of the image, in other words if the sensor shape is 4x by 3x the image shape will be 4x by 3x. But this does not determine image size. In contrast film does have physical dimensions.

Two 24 megapixel files one take by a full frame camera the other taken with an APS-C camera are the same size.

"If you make a print from an image file, an APS-C image will require more enlargement than a FF image. For example, to make an 8x12" print is roughly an 8X magnification from a FF file, while it's about a 13X magnification made from an APS-C file. The more magnification that needs to be done, the more loss of IQ that will occur."

This would be true if you were using film, you are not. A digital image has no physical dimensions, its size is determined in pixels, not by the physical size of the sensor. If the files are of equal digital sizes, in pixels, there will be no difference in the amount of magnification need to reach a given size print.

In general I agree with the remainder of your analyzes, the choice is largely one of personal preference.

This is probably a fine camera, but is not a bridge camera. It has interchangeable lenses and a one inch sensor. This is nearly the size of an APS-C DSLR, not a bridge camera. Please don't confuse things the OP asked about bridge cameras not mirror-less camera.

Computers do fail. And yes you and I can repair our computers, most people can't or won't. My point was that for most today's computers are adequate so the temptation to up grade every two or three years is gone.

Yes and no, but the Mac is an Intel based machine too. PCs including Macs can also run Linux, Berkley, and other operating sysstems any of which can be a gamers machine although not all can run PS.

of course