I am an old film shooter and have avidly gone digital. But I still use a lot of my old M42 mount lenses with a Canon adapter. Generally, results are good, but I do have a question. What part, if any, does the aperture ring on my old lens play ? When I shoot manual, I am in the habit of setting my camera ap to say 1.4 and my ring to the same. When I do this everything seems fine. But I am thinking is 1. set aperture ring to most open setting 1. set camera aperture to whatever you want as long as it is not lower than the ring setting. Is this right ??

Finally bit the bullet and purchased a "real" DSLR.

My parameters were based on-
Budget - didn't have thousands of bucks for this (or even a single thousand)
Sensor size - I wanted the largest sensor I could afford
Viewfinder - HAD to have a good viewfinder

So, all full-frames were too expensive, had to settle on APS-C.
I liked mirrorless models, but mirrorless with good (or any) viewfinders were out of budget.

Several months of research later, I found a terrific deal on a Nikon D5500, direct from Nikon USA with a two-lens kit, $599 - I jumped on it....

Took delivery yesterday, and initially I'm pleased.
It's got a little size and heft to it, and a good hand grip.
Gotta keep in mind, I'm a 70 year old dude who's cranked film since the 1950's, with completely manual cameras. I'm used to holding 5 pounds of glass and steel in front of my face, and I have big hands. So I'm pleased it's not tiny, the shutter has that reassuring SLR clunk.
The EVF is real good, IMO, very usable. Has a good diopter adjustment too.

Then I downloaded the 402-page manual.........seriously ??!!!
Could they make it more complicated you think??
Remember, I'm used to an aperture ring on the lens, shutter speed and ASA dials, and that's it. I never even used a light meter, I knew my film so well I never needed one.

OK, that's the world we live in now. So I'm currently wading through the manual, trying to figure out what all this "stuff" does. I'm sure I'll never use 90% of it, but......
Thankfully there is a full-manual mode as a bail-out for me, should I get frustrated and need a break from it all.

Slapped in a charged battery and a 64 gig chip. Ordered a few (what I feel) necessary filters, a UV for lens protection, a circular polarizer, and (my all-time favorite) an 81B.

Haven't really taken any photos yet, still familiarizing myself, but feeling optimistic.

Wish me luck........I feel like a raw neophyte, despite decades of experience.

These pictures are of the tunnel leading to the Texas and Pacific Railroad depot in Marshall, TX. The depot sits between the tracks where the lines split to head either North or East and the builders decided it would be too dangerous to have passengers crossing the tracks so they built a tunnel under the East/West lines. At some point in the last decade the elevator at the street entrance was added for wheelchair access. I could not get a decent picture of the end of the tunnel from the depot side because they are working on a new sidewalk that curves around the the first floor/ground level and boarding area and have much of the grounds fenced off. The tunnel is normally this dark. In the third picture you can see that the light is out. It is rare to see them all working at the same time. Also, what you see on the ceiling is not a crack but where something has leaked through and left a trail where it dried.

Holiday time - A Seasonal Reminder

With the holidays upon us I would like to share a personal experience with my family & friends about drinking and driving. As you may know, some of us have been known to have brushes with the authorities from time to time on the way home after a "social session" out with friends.

Well, three days ago I was out for an evening with friends and had several cocktails, followed by some rather nice red wine. Feeling jolly, I still had the sense to know that I may be over the limit. That's when I did something that I've never done before…….I took a cab home!

Sure enough, on the way home, there was a police road block, but since it was a cab, they waved it past. I arrived home safely and without incident. This was a real relief and surprise because I had never driven a cab before. I don't even know where I got it and, now that it's in my garage, I don't know what to do with it!!!

Happy Holidays
Mark

The problem is that I love my cameras until the new models comes out. It's frustrating because when the new models come out, I see all the weaknesses and flaws of the cameras I own and I like to have the latest and the greatest. I own the Sony RX100m4 and now the m5 is out which has much better focusing. I also own the Panasonic GH4 and soon the GH5 will be released and so on. I only can imagine what the improvements are going to be on the new GH5. It never ends. It wouldn't be so bad if I was rich but I'm not. I just purchased a house and now I need to use my funds towards things for the house. It looks like my upgrading days are over for a very long time. I think I need camera therapy! Please help me Hedgehogs! Thanks.