About Me

I adopted the online handle of "Woodsman" back around 1990 when beginning to access the internet in BBS days. With the advent of the"internet" in windows based GUI interfaces, I continued to use the handle in picture art newsgroups through to about 2003. Around that time I started taking photographs with my wifes 1.4 Megapixel camera. It had been years since I had dabbled in photography, having gotten rid of my old Pentax SLR's (yes the old screw mounts), many years ago. I enjoyed taking pictures again particulary in the new medium of digital. It allowed me to use some of the skills I had developed in Photoshop over the years to touch up my photos

About the same time I found alt.binaries.photography.originals and started posting some of my photos there.

I have enjoyed getting back into photography the last few years. Purely as a hobby mind you. I enjoy reading and participating to a limited extent in online photography forums. I wish I had more free time to spend out and about with the camera. Perhaps one day.

I take photos for my own enjoyment and use them for sharing online. So far I have no interest in printing my photos and do not even own a photo printer. I prefer looking at photos on a computer screen.

About "The Tools" aka "The Cameras"

Since 2004 I have added additional cameras to the selection of tools I use. One can never have enough toys. Below are the cameras currently in use in the order they have been obtained.

Olympus D-460

The first camera. my wife's. A small 1.3 Megapixel pocket camera from about 2000. And it still works great and in many respects takes a better picture than some of the higher end later models. We both still use this little doll for those quick snaps and it works fantastic for Ebay auction pictures. It operates on 4 AA batteries, and batteries last a long long time

June 2007 - The camera has gone missing, perhaps stolen from a car. Seph... liked the camera so much we got another off ebay as a replacement. It does take a good picture and is simple to use.

2009 - Guess who found the missing camera. Now she has two. Nuff said :)

Minolta A1 - Retired

In 2004 I decided to get a camera of my own and picked up a Minolta A1. A higher end prosumer (non DSLR) 5 Megapixel camera, but with a lot of customizable features. It works well but I was a tad disappointed in it's low light noise levels. Very grainy. Other than that it has worked well for me until early Dec 2006. One morning the image through the camera or on photos was purple, wavy, lined and distorted. I immediately knew it had to be the CCD sensor. Luckily I had purchased a cheap extended 3 year warranty from the camera store and took it in for repair. No problem. At the time of this writing it is still undergoing repairs and should be back within a month. Subsequently I discovered this is a known issue with cameras built between 2004 and 2005 that use a Sony CCD. A known bad Sony CCD component. I am very glad I had the extended warranty as the camera is still a good camera and I want to use it for every day carry around.

March 1, 2007 - After almost 3 months I got the A1 back from repair. Takes pictures again BUT now the function dial is non functional. That means I am unable to change ISO, drive mode, meter mode and the like. Virtually unusable, so back its gone for repair.... Another 2 - 3 months I'm told. And by that time it will be off warranty. I have a feeling this cameras days are numbered.

April 5, 2007 - Well its back from the second run through for repair. Initial testing shows it works now. It will be nice to use this as a take everywhere camera. It sure seems small now compared to the D-50. I guess the 3 year photography store extended warranty really paid off this time. As of July 2010 it is still working well

September 2013 - I still like this camera but at 5MP I believe it is time to update my bridge camera to something more modern. So a Nikon Coolpix P510 has been ordered as the MInolta A1's replacement. I am going to hang onto this camera though, its still a good camera with lots of memories. :)

Olympus D-540 - THROWN OUT

In early 2005 I wanted a pocket camera to take on business trips, so size was a major consideration. I picked up an Olympus D-540 3.2 Megapixel camera due to the good experiences we had with the D-460. "Big Mistake". It runs on two AA's and eats batteries. On my first trip I wanted to take a picture out the plane window and had only taken a few pics prior to boarding and the batteries were dead. I have found I can get maybe 7 pictures on two AA's including rechargeable 2300maH NiMH. The batteries will even go dead in the unit overnight when not in use. In July 2010 I pulled it out and tried it one more time, same thing, 4 shots and a set of 2AA batteries are dead. Threw this piece of junk away

Nikon D-50

When the Minolta A1 went defective in early December 2006, I went out same day for a replacement. Time to step up to an entry level DSLR was my thinking (ok it was a good excuse). So I picked up a Nikon D-50 DSLR 6.1 Megapixel camera with the kit Nikor AFS DX 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 G ED lens. So far I am very pleased with the camera and it works great for my needs. One day I will add a longer zoom lens. But I am very impressed with the low light capabilities and lack of noise. It is light years ahead of the Minolta A1 in that regard. It would have been nice if the function display on the top of the camera had been backlit for low light use, but thats a minor inconvenience. I chose this over the newer D-40 as there were some features dropped in the D-40 I wanted, and I had no need for in camera photo processing since I use photoshop to process externally.

March 7, 2007 - A new lens a Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO D Macro Zoom has been added for the Nikon D-50. This should help with some of the critter and distance shots

Canon A630

July 4, 2007 - Picked up this for a small point and shoot to replace the Olympus . TD-540 above which due to its terrible battery life. According to the specifications the A630 has extended battery life with it's 4xAA batteries. I tried a Canon A570IS in my hand at the store and found it too small causing my finger to bend uncomfortably when using the shutter release. The 8MP A630 has a larger sensor and feels solid in my hand. A bit heavier and larger but with the same lens and features, no IS but I do not see that as a problem. I was also a little leary of the 2xAA design of the A570IS, once bitten I guess you tend to shy away from similar designs. I still use this in 2010 and it takes a great picture, great color and remain totally satisfied with this little gem

Polaroid I1036 - THROWN OUT

July 2010 - I wanted another small carry around camera for my side or laptop bag. The 4AA's of the Canon A630 make it a little bulky and heavy for that. So this one although already discontinued came at a good online price of around 65 bucks for a 10MP carry around that runs on 2xAA's. We will see how the quality is. The only draw back is the lack of a program dial, the program function change is through a menu. But for the price it is worth a try. I just ordered it and have not yet received it so the jury is out but my fingers are crossed that it will perform satisfactorily.

What a disaster. Talk about a battery hog, If I got 10 shots out of the two AA's it was a miracle and if I left the batteries in overnight the would be dead by morning. I even tried high capacity rechargeables. It was always dead when I needed it. This dog has been thrown out.

Panasonic Lumix ZS5

January 2011 - After another carry around pocket camera disaster with the Polaroid above I still wanted a ligther carry around than the Canon A630 so I decided to get a quality camera in the travel zoom class. I decided on the Lumix DMC ZS5 by Panasonic, a 12 MP camera, rechargeable battery.

It takes 100's of shots on a camera charge and the color is great. Even the digital zoom gives good results although seldom used. It really does fit into a shirt pocket.

The only downside is the proprietary smart battery makes it difficult and expensive to find a spare battery but I bit the bullet and got one from B&H Photo.

A definite keeper.

Canon EOS T3 (1100D)

March 2012 - I have been thinking of giving a Canon DSLR a try. Since Airmiles were expiring in June and this was an Airmile reward option I picked one up through Air Canada Airmile Rewards. A Canon EOS T3 (1100D) 12MP DSLR camera with the standard kit lens. I added a Canon EFS 55-250mm IS II F4.0 Lens courstesy of Ebay. In September I had it cleaned for what appeared to be oil spots on the sensor from manufacturing when pictures were shown on screen taken with the telephoto against a solid background like the sky.

I like this camera and the picture quality is excellent. I think the EV adjustments and some others may be easier and quicker on the Nikon D50 because of the dual control dials but the extra pixels come in handy on the T3 and the color redition is excellent.

Nikon Coolpix P510 (My Bridge Camera)

September 2013 - My first try at a manfuacturer refurbished camera. I always like the Minolta A1 as a bridge camera but thought at only 5MP it was a bit dated and needed an update. The Nikon P510 is a 16MP bridge camera with an optical zoom of 24-1000mm (42x) one of the longest ranges currently available. Being a refurbished camera the price was right. I am anxious to see how it performs. I hope I like it