July 9, 2023

Been trying to decide which camera to get

So I am thinking sometime down the road of getting maybe a Fujifilm X-T camera. However, I am still confused about something. On the Fujifilm X-T5 the shutter speed is 1/180,000 sec using the electronic shutter, while the XT-4 only does 1/32,000 second. I have asked on DP review and they weren't really specific. So what really is the difference between an electronic shutter of 1/32,000 second vs 1/180,000 second? Granted it isn't the only thing. The XT-4 has a faster continuous shooting of 30 fps vs just 20 fps for the XT-5. However, I am trying to decide if the faster electronic shutter speed of 1/180,000 sec on the XT-5 is worth it.

Again I am looking at other cameras, but this question has been bugging me and still really has not been answered.

May 7, 2023

Music from Chechnya

The group is called Nur-Zhovkhar (sometimes spelled Dzhovkhar)

I don't know the translations, but I think the third video is something referring like homeland/mountains. The second one might be something involving marriage or something of that. Keep in mind that Chechens, like most people in the North Caucasus, kept to themselves for the most part until the late 1700s and especially the 1800s.

February 11, 2023

What are some of worst weather you have been in?

I have been in quite a bit, from Hurricane Irma, to having a blizzard in Maine. But one storm I remember well was the derecho on June 29th, 2012. On that day, I was living in Northern Virginia and it was hot, 100 F with heat indexes up to 120 F, thus Excessive Heat Warnings were all over the place. It was like a sauna. Early on that day, thunderstorms were forming in Iowa, as time went on, the extreme heat produced a powerful line of storms known as a derecho. About an hour or so before it hit Fairfax County, it was warm and very humid. My sister was working at a Wendy's at the time. Lightning was flashing almost every second, and the wind gradually picked up. By around 10:30 pm that night, it hit full force with high-end storm force winds (65-70 mph). My sister was driving home from the rain and wind. The power went out, but unfortunately, that did not cool things down, as we had the same temperatures the next 3 days with no power. So to say it was warm and difficult to sleep was an understatement. Lots of trees were down and we had to go out in air-conditioned restaurants every now and then because it was hot in the house. Of course, we lived in an area that was near a creek, so if it was flooding, one of the roads would close, not to mention our neighborhood was on top of a hill, so you couldn't see the cars coming from the ascending side. It still remains as one of the top storms I have ever been in.

February 5, 2023

Anybody try and use these as burger buns?

I tried it this evening. It's tricky to cut, but it can work.