10th May 2009,  Near Geeveston

These things are tiny, just a few millimetres across. I’ve only seen them on the lower half  of horizontal (fallen) trees. They reach out to get some light, although there’s usually not much light available where they grow. They are translucent.

10th May 2009, near Geeveston.

To continue on with my previous post “You may think it’s yours, but…“, I have an answer from Panasonic. There has been speculation as to whether Panasonic withdrew it’s position on not allowing the use of generic batteries in many of their cameras. Here is their answer:

“Thank you for taking the time to contact Panasonic with your enquiry.

Panasonic is able to confirm that due to faults and damage that can be caused by using non genuine batteries. The current Range and Firmware update for Cameras will stop non genuine batteries from being used.

Please contact Panasonic Customer Care on 132600 for further support”

If you have one of the Panasonic cameras targeted by this change that is able to use generic batteries, it is because it does not have the latest firmware update installed and it was manufactured before Panasonic’s dodgy decision – see previous post “You may think it’s yours, but…“.I have personal experience for being so critical of this action. I used to own a Nikon Coolpix E8800. It was a high end camera for its time and it cost me a small fortune. After buying it I went to the local camera store to get a uv filter to protect the lens. I couldn’t find one to fit even though the store had the whole range of sizes. What Nikon had done was made the filter thread size on this camera non standard – 53.5mm. The only filter I could get for this camera was from Nikon.

There were at least two problems with this: cost and availability. The cost was more than the best Hoya filter available, but worse was that the filter couldn’t be found – It wasn’t available. It was on back order for three months before I finally got it. That was an apprehensive three months for me; my cameras tend to suffer the extremes of climate and conditions.

Two years down the track and after lots of use in said extremes, the filter was looking worse for wear. I decided to replace it. I couldn’t find one anywhere in any country; the only filter available was a neutral density filter. Neutral density filters are probably the least used and definitely not something to leave on your camera – which is why there was still old stock available. Nikon had simply stopped making the UV filters when they stopped selling in reasonable numbers.

The same thing is happening and has been happening with these Panasonic Cameras. Many of the early purchasers of these cameras with the limitation of only working with Panasonic batteries had to wait months before batteries were available. Pretty frustrating, especially when you have an exceptionally power hungry camera like the G1 or GH1.

If you assume that this decision of Panasonic is a financial one, then it is just as logical to assume that they will stop manufacturing these batteries when it is no longer profitable.

I shall wait to see what Olympus comes up with in their micro four thirds range and just hope that they don’t make a similar decision, or if they do, let it be known up front so that people can make a fully informed choice before purchase.

17th June 2009, Wiebke’s place.

This is a shot of Dufus, Wiebke’s cat who recently passed away. In the background is an aloe vera plant sitting on the window sill.

I finally thought I found the closest thing to an ideal camera for me. It is the Panasonic Lumix G1. It is a tiny camera with a 4/3rds sensor and interchangeable lenses like an slr.

But, there’s a catch. In the last few firmware updates for this and some other Panasonic cameras, there is code that prevents the camera working with generic (and much cheaper) batteries. Any of these cameras manufactured after June 2009 will come with this updated firmware already installed.

You may wonder why would anyone update their camera with this new firmware? It’s because there are some genuine improvements in it as well. For example, one improvement is better focus in low light situations – this is something of great importance to most photographers.

Of course there are a lot of people out there who have had these cameras for quite a while, and using them with generic batteries. Now they will have to decide, or already have done, whether to install the update and lose the use of their batteries or forgo the improvements. If they choose the update they will then have to pay big bucks for replacement batteries.

Panasonic is trying to suggest that this is for safety reasons. Although, as pointed out on many online photography forums, the only high profile battery disasters to date have been with OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) batteries in laptops, phones and mp3 players. In my research I haven’t come across any stories of Panasonic cameras being destroyed, or any camera being destroyed, by using a generic battery. I’ve been using generic batteries for over ten years.

Scepticism is rife. The main reason is the cost of Panasonic batteries. The store I was going to get my camera from sells the Panasonic batteries for $189.00 au; the generic batteries at the same store are $59.00. You can buy generic batteries for much cheaper.

There is absolutely no reason for a camera battery to be this expensive, except for profit. There is a huge choice of new cameras for under $200.00 that come with lithium ion battery packs – the same technology as the Panasonic batteries being discussed. Panasonic simply wouldn’t sell many batteries at this price for their cameras if people were able to buy the much cheaper generic ones.

The average person who wants to buy one of these cameras would be unlikely to find out this information before, or during, their purchase. I have been researching these cameras for months, and only came across the information when searching for cheap generic batteries. You can still buy generic batteries for any of these cameras from reputable stores with no warning that they won’t work. I assume that many of the sellers aren’t aware of this; online stores like those on ebay rely on positive feedback, so I can’t imagine that they would want this trouble.

The G1 in particular is power hungry. I would have bought two extra batteries for a total of three to cover extended trips away from civilization (bushwalking trips etc).

Some people have reported that their generic batteries are working normally after the update. There is discussion as to whether this was/is Panasonic reversing their decision (with no public anouncement) due to outcry from the photographic community, or was it a short lived update no longer available that was released without the offending code. I have contacted Panasonic Australia to try and find what the truth is – I’ll post the answer if I get it.

10th May 2009, near Geeveston.

These are only two to three millimetres across.

Where I work there are different sections. To a degree there are also different cultures, habits and customs that have formed over time in these sections.

The section I used to work in, there are some obvious customs. One custom is to attach a paper tail, made out of paper hand towel, to the back of your pants without you knowing. It is pretty comical to see someone wander past with a tail dangling behind them.

And it evolves. A new person started there – he is from the north of Tasmania. He quacks, like a duck. As he walks past you hear ‘quack quack’. Now, at different times, everybody erupts into a quacking frenzy that runs for a few seconds then just stops. This has caused some questions from those not in the know but within earshot.

The area I work in now, they grunt For example, an office person on an errand came in and tried to ask a question – she received a cacophony of grunts and roars. She laughed, waited till the idiotic response died down, then tried again. As soon as she mouthed the first word the cacophony erupted.

Back in her office, she thought she might get an intelligible response to the question via email. The primitive mass discovered the hitherto unused web cam that was given to us for the misguided hope that it might be used for online meetings. It was removed from the cobbled together dalek idol (see below for likeness) that the mob used for worship and some questionable rituals and reincorporated into the magic gizmo that allowed us to browse the internet and do email. A response was choreographed and recorded (with sound) of what she had experienced on her first attempt at questioning and sent as an email attachment.

These people have built up a primitive but effective vocabulary with their grunts. I’m beginning to understand some of the meanings, and sometimes catch myself grunting in acknowledgement. I’m also beginning to wonder, if they could have communicated with primitive man, or present day primates?

There is more, like the negative choice game, used to explore your social and moral boundaries.

27th May 2009, Mt Field National Park

The rain has stopped; it looks like four days of good weather, at least.

I rode my motorbike to work this morning, and home again this afternoon in the sun.

Even the locals are saying this has been more rain than usual. It has been hard to get motivated to do stuff outside. So, I’ve been mostly researching cameras and lenses – I still can’t decide – and doing other indoor things. Every time I go outside, I’m wearing gum boots.

Everything here is now in flower – flowers are appearing around the block. A really nice thing about Tasmania is that people have planted daffodils everywhere. You can see them in the middle of paddocks and on road sides.

And the parrots have arrived, eating the kernels of fruit that fell to the ground earlier this year.

29th May 2009,  between Derwent Bridge and Queenstown.

Tasmania has little pockets of rain forest scattered about. It makes me wonder what the forests used to be like – I don’t think I’ve seen a rain forest here that hasn’t been logged at some time.

There are still a few areas of old growth forest, but they are actually under threat right now, or being logged right now.

After the protests to stop the Franklin dam in the early 1980’s, legislation was passed to lease public lands to interested logging companies for a token amount. By doing so, public lands became private property. This means that logging companies can put up locked gates on formerly public roads through formerly public forests, and commence logging. If anyone does go there to protest, they can be arrested for trespassing at the least.

This is insane to me. People who want to see these magnificent forests aren’t allowed to; businesses who want to cut these (our forests) down, are allowed to. And it gets worse. It is taxpayer’s money that put the roads into these areas that are used mostly by logging companies. And it is an industry that is subsidised by tax payer’s money in lots of other different ways (and here).

The links I’ve supplied are quick and dirty – there is an abundance of information on the net re these issues. It’s old news in Tasmania. It’s also old news in Gippsland, where I used to live.

29th May 2009, between Derwent Bridge and Queenstown.

I found some photos from a few months ago. I was about to delete them off my system. I shall try to show them over the next few weeks.

They are mostly from the magic place near Geeveston and the Strahan trip. I stopped posting them because I had already posted a few fungi shots.

Right now it is cold. There is snow on peaks every where I look. I was beginning to think the worst of Winter was over.

And the rain! It has rained most days for the last three weeks. I’ve been taking advantage of this to check out waterfalls. They are roaring with water – hard to photograph because of all the aerated water floating about, the camera gets wet as soon as I pull it out.

Tonight’s picture is from the walk into Nelson Falls; we were there in June. It is with Wiebke’s camera – essentially the same as mine but no flip out screen. The mushroom is low down on a tree trunk, so I was showing Wiebke how to set the camera up and take the shot blind (not looking through the camera’s viewfinder to compose the shot, holding the camera facing up). I’m pretty happy with this one – it was my second attempt.

23rd August 2009, near Judbury

This was on a Pandani Bushwalking Club walk. I like going on walks with them, they are great company. I can also focus on enjoying the scenery and looking for a photo opportunity, instead of navigating – relating what I see to the map I’m following.

I would like to visit the falls again when it is raining. It was an interesting walk in – a steep sided rain forest with lots of fungi and huge areas of moss covered ground and trees. We could also see where cockatoos have been chomping on trees – their debris covering the ground beneath.

22nd August 2009 Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, Hobart

Plants have been flowering for months now. It always seems that the plants themselves are trying to make Spring happen – they start to flower in miserable weather.

I think the above photo shows this; Winter and Spring coexisting.

22nd August 2009, Cornelian Bay Hobart

Visiting cemeteries is a strange thing to do. It is something I started in Gippsland with Ella, a whippet who used to live with me. There were rabbits everywhere and she would go crazy chasing them. Sometimes Saffy, another whippet, would join us and then it was really comical. They would often collide. It was like the Keystone Cops – two over eager whippets chasing a rabbit between headstones right past a group of other rabbits that would be eating leisurely and look up after the chase had passed. Then they’d go back to eating. The whippets weren’t taken too seriously.

It is also an education – seeing who were the early settlers of the area, the prominent families, and the wars men served in, their rank and regiment.

In Sale, Gippsland, the early families were mostly Irish and some English. On the Irish head stones it would say what county in Ireland they were from. That cemetery was also segregated into the various religious nominations.

Here in Hobart, there are no rabbits and apparently no religious segregation. And the youngsters and youth of old seem to have fared better – Gippsland and Melbourne had high mortality rates for babies and children.