I haven’t posted a Manetarium photo in awhile. I make changes throughout the year to accommodate the various projects I get into throughout the year.

Yeah, all of sudden I’m a Sony fan boy. I had been shooting with Canon and Fuji gear for so long and now I’m strictly using Sony A7’s.

The motivating factor was the video capabilities which I found myself needing for various projects.

I’ve been stopping at the Buena Vista Bar and Grocery place ever since we moved to Valley Springs. It happens to be on my way home from work.

This place has REALLY good hamburger. I don’t know where the hamburger meat comes from but it’s definitely not the same place as McDonalds.

Since I’ve always been a Canon shooter it never occurred to me that the Sony hot shoe would be physically different then what I had always used in the past. This of course meant all the previous purchased hot shoe accessories or devices were not purposely designed to fit.

I found out about the physical difference when I tried to use my trusty wireless triggers made by Pocket Wizard. The specific model I use are the Plus II model.

What happens is when you install the PW’s into the Sony MI (Multi Interface) hot shoe the trigger never has a secure connection. Even though the thumb dial is tightened down completely the trigger will wiggle and will eventually pop off.

The other issue is the inconsistent flash firing.

We did it! The hydraulic wireless remote controller system is ready for purchase!

Well, another year has come and gone (just like the song by the Ray, Goodman and Brown). It’s heck of strange just how fast the days and months go in a year.

Tonight Mami will be cooking up chicken adobo to close off the year and start a new one.

I will be producing a bunch of training and promotional videos in 2022. This gimbal has been rated high with the Sony A7’s camera rig we have decided to invest in.

Transitioning from film cameras was a slow process. I was a big fan of the Minolta X-700 series (1981) then later upgraded to the Maxxum 7000 SLR that came out in 1985. I enjoyed the technical aspects of taking a photograph using film down to the science of what film to use in certain situations.

Then came the digital age. My first camera that used the digital format was a Ricoh RDC-2 that used the DM-2 attached mini monitor. I actually still have the one I purchased back in 1996. I paid close $700 bucks for that thing and I thought it was high tech with the massive 2MB internal storage.

This little clamshell configuration was super odd and it even supported a proprietary video format. The memory card back those days was called PCMCIA flash cards.

I’ve had many different digital cameras throughout the years. I tried different manufacturers as they released new models. This included Olympus, Nikon, Fuji and of course the Canon line.

I’ve been using Canon Gear for many years. It was the platform I decided to invest in out of all the big name camera company’s that were around in that time period.

This the first time since we moved up the hill that I had to do the X-Mas lights by myself. I definitely missed my helper. Wifey has been sick all day so I was on a solo mission this year.

I really enjoy the larger colored bulbs. I used to be a big fan of the white icicles but that seemed to be phase. The colored lights have the original vintage look I enjoy. I probably reminds me of my youth growing up where my folks had the old painted looking bulbs.

I’m eligible for a COVID-19 booster shot. There is a lot controversy about taking the vaccine. My stance is to be part of the solution rather than come up with reasons not taking the available vaccines.

As of now I’ve been test a couple of times for COVID-19 and each time with negative results. Once at the local library at San Andreas and the other the most recent at Kaiser Permanente, Stockton CA. Even though I myself have been tested only twice I’ve gone several times taking wifey to her appointment and checks.