My Birthday Present

My birthday came around quick, or so it seems anyway. I have had a busy year with my photography so time has appeared to have flown by. Last year my youngest son bought me a Fuji Instax camera that I have enjoyed using through the year. This year he surprised me with a Nikon Coolpix L810 Compact Bridge Camera. 

I thanked him for his thoughtful gift and admitted that bridge cameras have never really caught my eye until now. To be honest I wasn't expecting it and it really cheered me up. Having never used one, nor even seen one up close, I headed to the Nikon website for the manual and to see if it needed any firmware updates. 

The Nikon L810 was unleashed upon the photography community in 2012 and positioned as a happy medium between a well featured compact and a basic DSLR. It boasts a 16 megapixel CCD sensor, lens shift vibration reduction, a 3 inch led screen and motion detection. 

The built in lens is a super zoom that ranges from 4mm to 104mm which is equivalent to 23mm to 585mm in focal length on a full frame sensor, which is no mean feat in such a tiny package. It also has a built in flash and 720p HD video too. The hand grip is a "cunningly disguised" battery compartment that takes four AA batteries and it is also where I found the SD memory card slot. 

I installed four Duracell AA batteries, a 16GB SDHC card and closed the compartment. I switched it on and it came to life straight away. It was on it's default settings so I spent a little time exploring the simple menu. On paper it looks like a point and shoot camera, so how about we go for a wander and see how it performs in the wild.

I took a wander along the farm road and captured various photos, some familiar and others I spotted along the way. Peak autumn has well and truly left us here in Wigan and what is remaining of the colour hasn't got long left. I was hoping the CCD sensor in my Nikon Coolpix L810 would bring out that colour to share it's last hurrah with us. 

As it often happens at this time of year, the heavens opened and it started to rain about halfway through my walk. With the camera not being weather sealed, I put it back in my bag and headed home to dry off and have a brew. 

A couple of days later the sun decided to shine brightly and I headed off to the farm again to give my Nikon Coolpix L810 another outing. The sun may have been shining brightly with hardly a cloud in the sky, but the cold wind from the north had the temperature hovering around freezing point. 

It was a great test of the camera and it performed admirably. I could probably use it at lower temperatures, but zero celcius is about as cold as my aching bones can handle these days. I soon got the photos I wanted and headed home again for another well earned cup of tea.

When sorting through the jpegs from my new camera, I was pleased to see that Nikon had fitted a decent lens to the Coolpix L810. I was also pleased to not have to do too much to them in Affinity Studio. A few tweaks here and there was enough to get them looking presentable. The lack of RAW files didn't worry me, nor did the auto focus hunting as it tried to zero in on my chosen composition. I did miss having a viewfinder, but we can't have all of the cake and eat it.

Is it the best camera? Nope, but it's not supposed to be. It's a point and shoot with a few things I have in my DSLR. The scene modes helped me get my photos with their automatic shutter speed and apertures and are easily selected via the handy button on the back of the camera. The 26x zoom is quick and I soon got used to framing up my compositions with it. The macro setting sometimes fought against the zoom and autofocus, but I figured it out. 

Overall, I enjoyed using my Nikon Coolpix L810 for the first time. It was a nice surprise gift and to be fair will probably be with me when I go out in future. Here's a few photos from my Nikon Coolpix L810 taken on a dark, wet, cold, dull and gloomy day in Wigan. I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Nikon Coolpix L810 - Part 1 
Nikon Coolpix L810 - Part 2

Rollei Retro 400S - Agfa Isolette I

 Have you ever had one of those days when you find a camera in a bag and there's several shots already done? This happened to me in early November when I was sorting a bag for my OM cameras and I found my Agfa Isolette I in a bag and I had taken 8 photos with it. For the life of me I couldn't remember using it, which is a hazard you face when you have had a stroke, no matter how mild it may have been.

I totally and utterly forgot when I started this film! With it being in a bag with my Nikon D90, you would think that would trigger a memory. It did, but not the one I really wanted so I finished the final four frames whilst out and about with my OM-1n and OM-2.

I had to know what was on it. I developed the roll in Bellini Euro HC 1+31 dilution B for 6 1/2 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised my roll of Rollei Retro 400S with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi medium format film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 size led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Photo 2.

I took one look at my freshly developed film and the penny dropped. I had nipped out to the Post Office to send my colour film for developing and after finishing that task, I took a few photos with my Isolette. I totally forgot about it! I get that sometimes and it bugs the crap out of me for a bit, but we get there in the end. Don't say I'm losing my marbles, I know they are in my pocket...

I shot eight frames in town on a bright day and had started to lose the light that I had enjoyed for an hour or so and headed home. I shot the final frames around the local farms and I got a little action as the Farmer was grading the dirt track road. I grabbed a shot with my Isolette and my film was done!

Here's a few faves from my roll of Rollei Retro 400S shot with my Agfa Isolette I. As always I have placed them and more in a album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Rollei Retro 400S - Agfa Isolette I 

Autumn Colour with my Nikon D90 and AIS 50mm f/1.8

 It's not often I go out with my DSLR, but Autumn is irresistible, especially when I use my Nikon D90 and manual focus 50mm f/1.8 AIS longnose lens. The Nikon D90 was unleashed upon the world in 2008, around the same time as the legendary pro grade Nikon D3 and the semi pro D700 full frame DSLR's. With it's 18x24 APS-C CMOS sensor, the Nikon D90 gave us HD Video for the first time in any Nikon DSLR, but that's not the reason I bought the camera. I bought it back in 2017 for the glorious colours it renders, which is perfect for the most colourful times of year, spring and autumn.

Sadly the autofocus on my D90 stopped working some years ago, but it still works perfectly well with any one of Nikon's splendid AI and AI-S manual focus lenses. I was given the 50mm longnose by my mate Muzza along with an F801 some years ago and decided to try it on my D90. Oh my giddy aunt! it was the best thing I ever did with that lens and it has lived on my D90 ever since. 

When out and about with my DSLR, I shoot it in RAW and process the RAW files with Affinity Photo 2. If I decided I wanted an easy time of it, I could just have the camera save my shots as Jpeg's and post them straight to my Flickr account when I get home. The colour profile on the D90 is what makes this one of my favourite digital cameras and I enjoy using it when I'm out and about. Its simplicity is its strength and you can pick up a decent low shutter count example for around £100. Add an auto focus 18-55mm DX lens for another £50-£60 and you have a lightweight digital set up that punches way above it's class.

Here's a few of my favourite photos from my walk in the park to enjoy the autumn colour. I have placed these and more in an album on my Flickr account you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Autumn Colours - Nikon D90 - 50mm f/1.8 AIS