My Canon Powershot A1200 slips into my shirtpocket (which I insist all my shirts have) out of sight and connected to a cord-like neck strap around my neck. Take remakable good photos considering I paid only $100. for it new (I believe it's out of production now). No -- it's not as good as my Sony A6000 -- but it's the small camera I can always have with me instead of a smartphone camera.

I have 10 Frank Sinatra PBS video shows (as originaly boxed and sold by PBS) and would like to transfer them to DVD's the easiest way possible. Are there any copyright laws involved here? Any comments would be much appreciated.

My wife and I took the Viking Danube cruise three years ago to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. We thought it was wonderful. I still don't think it is the best way to see European countries -- but when walking abilities eventually diminish with age -- this is next best in our view.

Have a look at Rokinon or Samyang 12mm f2 lens. Very low price and very sharp so lens testers say. I'm thinking about getting one for my Sony 6000 (with my camera the lens is said to have 18 or 19mm focal length). Internet lens test articles claim that Rokinon and Samyang are the same company and that these 2 lenses are identical although Samyang is priced a little lower.
Good luck.

I had one of these "Female Intuition" things with my wife just this morning. It is now 2:52PM and I was going to forward it to my wife (in jest) . . . but after thinking about it for a while . . . I reconsidered.
Do you think I made a good choice?

And don't forget Isola Bella!

I wonder how many out there in UGH land remember the Fair Trade Law days in the old days in the USA. As I recall stores that sold Fair Trade Law merchandise (such as Leica for example) could only sell it for the Fair Trade Law price. The obvious advantage of this is of course dealers advantage would have to be extra good service which would be for the customer to decide. I wonder how that would work today? When these laws were mostly done away with -- as I recall, the large company's (like Walmart) were able to buy in large quantity cheaper, and obviously would sell it for less money. Most internet business seems to be done this way and as a result many locals are closing up. Where I live there is only one full service camera store -- and I think their days of being open are limited. Too bad. Personally I would rather see one fair price that every business must sell for and let the businesses compete on the basis of good service. Obviously everyone will not agree with me.

Welcome to the club -- from someone married 53 years.

Very interesting photographs. Can you tell me what the Wisconsin was doing in Norfolk at the time you took the photos?

In late 1955 and early 1956 I was in the Carribean on my ship the USS Boston CAG1 (1st operational guided missile ship in the world at that time). I worked the print shop and we got a request (order) fron Captain Masterson (our Commanding Office) to print invitations for an officers formal party to be held in Norfolk, VA (my ship's designated home port) after returned there. As I was the only one in our print shop who had any experience with handsetting the type for this type of invitation I would be sent to The USS Wisconsin to do the invitations in their print which had the right type of equipment. That night we dropped anchor somewhere near the Wisconsin. Early the next morning I left via the Captain's gig enroute to the Wisconsin and when getting aboard both our ships left for our training mission as usual. I spent the whole day aboard the Wisconsin do the job that I was sent there for. In fact I had a friend aboard the Wisconsin that I looked up and we had lunch together. He was very surprised to see me.

That evening we anchored again near the Wisconsin and I returned to my ship with "mission accomplished".

Needless to say it was a memorable day and I shall never forget it.

Very interesting photographs. Can you tell me what the Wisconsin was doing in Norfolk at the time you took the photos?

In late 1955 and early 1956 I was in the Carribean on my ship the USS Boston CAG1 (1st operational guided missile ship in the world at that time). I worked the print shop and we got a request (order) fron Captain Masterson (our Commanding Office) to print invitations for an officers formal party to be held in Norfolk, VA (my ship's designated home port) after returned there. As I was the only one in our print shop who had any experience with handsetting the type for this type of invitation I would be sent to The USS Wisconsin to do the invitations in their print which had the right type of equipment. That night we dropped anchor somewhere near the Wisconsin. Early the next morning I left via the Captain's gig enroute to the Wisconsin and when getting abours both our ships left for our training mission as usual. I spent the whole day aboard the Wisconsin do the job that I was sent there for. In fact I had a friend aboard the Wisconsin that I looked up and we had lunch together. He was very surprised to see me.

That evening we anchored again near the Wisconsin and I returned to my ship with "mission accomplished".

Needless to say it was a memorable day and I shall never forget it.

During the 20 years that I was in the wedding and portrait business (in the 70's & 80's) I started out using Mamiya 330 and a 220 backup for a couple of years. Then I switched to 501 Hasselblad. The Hasselblad was smaller and nicer to use -- and customers were impressed that I used Hasselblad. From my point of view the truth is this. In a discussion with a photography friend -- he insisted that there is world of difference between Mamiya and Zeiss lenses as far as sharpness is concerned. There certainly is in quality of workmanship. There also is in the maximum and minimum f/stops. However I found that when I used the usual f8 plus & minus it was hard to tell the difference in the two brands of lenses. I did a little (for fun) test with my friend many years ago. I showed him two of my award winning 16x20 prints. One taken with Mamiya lens and the other taken with the Zeiss lens and then asked him to tell me which photo was taken with what. He could not tell me -- and neither could I if I did not already know. Truly the Zeiss is of a higher quality in manufacture than the Mamiya. But I think the biggest difference in sharp photo enlargements is obtained by trying to use the sharpest f/stop --usually around f8 (unless not possible when you are after a special effect) and by using a tripod if possible. I no longer own any of this equipment and now use digital cameras only. Hope this helps.

Having spent my life working for a newspaper in the production end of the business -- I am aware of a lens that engravers had available when needed. It's virtue was that it had the ability to to shrink in one direction only. I often wondered why such a lens could not be developed for interchangeable lens cameras. Perhaps it is and I am not aware of it.

It is a 1949 or 1950 Chevrolet.

Lots of good reasons given here why or why not. Here is mine. When I moved to where I now live (Palm Springs, CA with over 300 days of sunshine a year) I quickly realized that I could not "most" of the time see the image on my new digital camera that had no viewfinder because of the sun's reflection (for photos taken outside). I returned the new camera as a result and bought a Sony A6000 which has both kinds of image viewing (end of problem).

Volunteer work is one of the most satisfying things that I did when retiring. One can deliver meals on wheels, become a docent at a museum or art gallery, help children with their schoolwork and numerous other things that one can volunteer for.
In my case I chose to do COP (Citizen's On Patrol) volunteer who work for the local police department. We wore uniforms, had a limited police training and drove around town (Palm Springs, CA) in cars that looked like police cars but were marked Citizen's on Patrol. We did many other things as well. It was very satisfying. I did it for 5 years and then retired for health reasons. My wife and I are still friends with some of the people that I did patrols with.
All the best in your retirement.