June 28, 2014
Stroke City
Mirjam Wouters managers the hostel I stayed at in Derry. A cycle touring Dutch woman who has been on the road for thirteen years now. Working in the hostel this Summer and other such occasional jobs help finance her cycling, which has taken her round the world via Central Asia, around Australia and now, she is cycling the Americas beginning in Iceland, which she is taking a break from before returning in September. Below is a link to her website.
When I got to Derry, I was pretty tired, even after only two days fully-loaded on the road; although in total, I had ridden four days in a row, having covered a fair distances on the two consecutive days before I set off. In four days I rode three hundred and fifty kilometres over fairly hilly terrain and with somewhat headwind on the last two, so I did what I'd normally regard as a good uninterrupted week's riding before the need for a rest day. Two days off the bike is usually enough, but today is my fourth day. I got this journal up-to-date on the mornings of the first two days, then sightsaw in the afternoons.
The reason for being here four days is as follows: having used what is called a Bridge Camera, a compact with a super-zoom, I've been mulling over the idea of upgrading to a DSLR for quite a while. I began, and toured for years without taking photos, then one year I brought along three single-use film cameras, which led me to buy my first camera back in 1999, a Canon Powershot (film), which took lovely sharp pictures. My interest in photography peaked in 2006, when sometime shortly thereafter I realised that, I either didn't have what it takes, and during a cycle-tour, taking really good pictures require sacrificing riding time. More recently, going back over my journals, I see that the photos, although not great in a general sense, are great in a sense of kind of bringing back a day a year ago, three years ago or even four. Now I wish I'd photos from my tours in the nineties and pictures from my first tour in 1988 would be priceless. Your memory is one thing, but a photograph is something physical that you can look at and see yourself much younger and what you saw that day.
There isn't a great difference quality wise between Compact and DSLR, not that you'd notice. But its been documented that the later can be used to better results in strong sunshine and/or shade, and also with distant detail, dynamic range. I saw this with the photos for my final day in Iceland last year; at which point, I was cycling with another cyclist using a Pentax DSLR. His photos of broad landscapes with clouds, were clearly sharper than mine, and he lent me his card to upload them to my computer and allowed me to use them.
Another point is you've less control. You press the button on a Compact and there's a short time delay before you can press it fully down and take what you wanted to take, by which time it is maybe too late. Also focusing is totally in the hands of the camera. The autofocus many times, will not focus, and so you've missed a shot. Given these drawbacks, there isn't any reason for not taking good pictures with a Compact though, as good photography is more to do with learned skill of a person, than the person owning expensive kit. In that way it is much like anything. With this sentiment, I had reservations about spending money which isn't exactly necessary, and if I did buy a DSLR, the price would have to be right. I don't want anything more than the basics, so have been shopping around. Here in Derry, I think I've found what I'm looking for and have gone and bought it, a Sony A3000 for £200, classed as an enter-level, is complete with a 18-55 lens. It is extremely light; as light as my Bridge Camera and not much bigger. I hope this factor doesn't mean poor durability. Only time will tell. And the extra time here has been one of reading the manual, working out what does what and accustomisation.
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