sony

The path of totality for the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse ran right through my backyard, and it was my first experience photographing totality. Total solar eclipses, when the moon completely covers the sun, are rare. After this year's eclipse, the lower 48 United States will see a brief bit of totality up around Montana in 2044, and a major event across the US in 2045—and I'll be near retirement!

See the full-size image of the eclipse composite on Flickr.

The above photograph is a composite image of all the stages of the 2024 eclipse. I took the pictures in the midst of a few thousand people scattered Fruitland, Missouri, during the April 8, 2024 Total Solar Eclipse.

A couple weeks ago, as my kids settled into the car, I asked like I always do, "what songs do you want me to play?"

They have a range of favored earworms, from Baby Shark to Babaloo, and usually the songs are tolerable, at least.

But a few albums, like Bluey's soundtrack, transcend the children's genre. They're genuinely fun to listen to, for everyone in the car.

Well, that fine day, the kids chose Ladybug Music. And let me tell you, besides a few duds, Ladybug Music slaps. And the songs incorporate diverse styles, too, it's not just the same nursery rhymes regurgitated in a bubbly voice.

So I found the album on my phone and noticed the songs were all greyed out.

I tapped one, and nothing. Just this notice:

Not available in my region? Well, that's weird. I pay for Apple Music. And I know the artist is in the US, and I'm in the US...

This blog post is one of the few instances where, no matter how much you prefer reading to watching a video... you're going to want to watch the video.

The day after I interviewed Eben Upton, co-founder of Raspberry Pi, I went to the Sony UK Technology Centre in Pencoed, Wales to tour the factory where almost every Raspberry Pi has been made—50,000,000 of them (as of this month!).

I got to snap a picture with the milestone Pis:

...and yet I just bought a 2nd one!

Overall, I enjoy using Sony's current top-end APS-C model for my video work and occasional photography. But there are a few things that feel boneheaded and out of place that you should be aware of:

First let me be clear: I'm not, nor have I ever been, sponsored by Sony, Nikon or any other camera manufacturer, and all my photography gear has been purchased with my own money (usually used since I'm not made of money).

With that out of the way, after waffling on the decision for over a year, I'm selling all my Nikon FX DSLR camera gear, and switching to Sony's APS-C mirrorless camera system.

But why?

For me, there are two major reasons:

I've been primarily a Nikon shooter for all my digital SLR life; I started on film with some compact cameras and a Minolta X-700, but switched to Nikon starting with a D40, working my way up through the years to a D750 today. I love Nikon glass, I love the ergonomics, and I am very used to SLR photography and all it entails.

But after witnessing the steady rise in mirrorless camera popularity, I decided to start testing the waters with a Sony a6000. And one of the major benefits (at least in my usage) is that if you choose an APS-C system like the Sony a6xxx series, you can (in theory) have a more compact camera system that performs as well as larger SLR brethren.

In practice, you get what you pay for in terms of weight. The physics of light dictate that fast, good lenses will be pretty much the same size on whatever mount you use, and there are always some 'sweet spots' for compactness vs. performance on any kind of camera lens mount.

I have had a ton of trouble today getting a rented Sony HVR-Z1U HDV Camera to work with iMovie '11 - I was having trouble both importing pre-recorded footage (in VCR mode) and importing live footage (in Camera mode). QuickTime Player would allow me to import video from the camera at DV quality, but I couldn't get HD.

I found that the camera was downconverting the video to regular DV (squeezing the pixels so it would still be a 16:9 widescreen picture) when using the i.Link (FireWire/IEEE 1394) port. After trying out a variety of settings, I was finally able to set up the camera so it would import (both in VCR and in Camera mode) HD video, directly into iMovie '11.

You simply need to set the following settings in the camera's menu: