A new camera

I bought myself a new photo camera. The pictures you saw in my blog so far were made with a Fujifilm FinePix S5600. A great bridge camera, from 2005, with the good grip of a small SLR and a high quality 10x zoom lens, 5.1 MP resolution.

The other is my newly bought Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150. It's also a bridge camera, from 2011, with a 24x zoom lens and 12 MP resolution.

Both cameras are, in my opinion, among the best choices of the time in the bridge camera class, considering features, quality and value for money. This posting is a brief comparison of the two.

(Note: images are all scaled down to 1600x1200 pixels.)

Why a bridge camera?

The Fuji weighs around 480 g and the Panasonic 530 g. The weight is one of the reasons why I again went for a bridge camera and not a DSLR, which can weigh the double or more, depending on your model and lenses. The other is price and purpose. I take the camera on backpack holidays, on city tours, hiking, and the beach, where it can get stolen or damaged. I want to limit the damage in such a case, so I won't have to worry that much.

And why not a point-and-shoot camera? While they are more practical in terms of size and weight, and you can put them in your jacket pocket, they just don't make the kind of photos I like to take. And for quick snaps I can also use my smartphone.

Zoom range

The old camera, from minimum (38 mm) to maximum (380 mm) zoom:

And the new camera from the same position, from minimum (25 mm) to maximum (600 mm) zoom:

So now I got both a wider wide-angle and a stronger telephoto. All is optical zoom, of course. The detail I get with the new camera is amazing, thanks to both the better lens, the better image sensor and the digital stabilization. I can even read the small print on the car's number plate.

Portrait

Here's a half-zoomed shot, all-automatic, autofocused on an object in 5 meter distance. Both cameras do pretty well on this job.

 Macro

 And here's a full-zoomed macro shot from about 2 meter distance.

And then...

And then the new camera has a better LCD, features like HDR, face recognition, panorama assistance, better video recording, burst mode, and much more. Time will tell which of these are useful or useless to me.

Drawbacks

But I really must say I loved my old camera, and don't change from it easily. Not all new is better. A disadvantage that comes with the stronger superzooms is that the lense moves forward while zooming, which my old camera didn't do. Also the 25 mm wide-angle, as nice as it is, does show considerable distortion. And finally: the plastic casing. It feels solid and robust on my old camera, and sadly thin and cheap on my new. If I asked my hands, they'd vote for the old one.

Other candidates

Since mid-2012 there is a newer model on the market, the Lumix DMC-FZ200, with an even better lens, but I decided that the FZ150 is good enough for me. Other bridge cameras that made it to top places on my personal decision list are:

• The Canon PowerShot SX50HS, with its amazing 50x zoom
• The Fujifilm FinePix HS30, with its manual zoom as opposed to motor zoom
• The Fujifilm X-S1, with its superb feel (Haptik), but heavy (912 g)
• The Nikon CoolPix P510 with an also amazing 42x zoom

Building a pergola

During winter, for the (hopefully) coming up summer, I got into my head the idea of building a pergola around my terrace, to create a beautiful half-open green enclosure.

I started with pencil and paper and developed the construction. About half of my terrace is covered by the rounded balcony of the flat above. I wanted to use this structure, connect to it and extend it outwards.

I got all materials from a local building centre: impregnated wood, steel anchors, screws, and wood preservative stain (Holzschutzlasur).

I learned a lot on the way (for example, proper use of words like Sparren, Pfette and Kopfband :-) and my dad helped me with his tools and experience. (Thanks again!)

Long cuts were made with a table saw (Tischkreissäge), short cuts and 45° angles with a miter saw (Gehrungssäge). For rounded cuts I used a jigsaw (Stichsäge) and for the the decorative hook-ends of the rafters also a hole saw (Lochsäge). Drilling was done partly with a bench drill (Tischbohrmaschine) and partly with a cordless drill (Akkubohrschrauber).

Because in my design some beams come together at "special" angles, I custom-made these brackets from aluminum sheets. (Sawing, filing, drilling, countersinking, bending, burring.)

The posts sit in the ground on small fundaments. I made them from plastic buckets half-filled with concrete, and set them on sand beds in the dug-out holes.

Time to mount it!

One of the corners, before I added the angle braces.

Nearly finished!

It will not get a roof, I will leave it open on top. It is supposed to be mainly a climbing aid (Rankhilfe) for the scarlet runners and hops I will plant in May.

In der Zeitung

Ich bin übrigens heute in der Augsburger Allgemeinen: Online tippen, offline treffen -- Autoren des Online-Lexikons veranstalten regelmäßig einen Stammtisch in Augsburg.

Villa Stuck

Letzten Sonntag waren wir in München und haben die Villa Stuck besichtigt. Ein interessanter Bau, die Residenz des wohlhabenden Münchner Künstlers Franz von Stuck (1863–1928).


Innen gibt es zwei geheimnisvoll anmutende Räume, ganz in dunklen Goldfarben gehalten.

Und auf der Rückseite seiner Villa hat der Herr von Stuck, der offensichtlich die griechisch-römische Antike sehr verehrte, eine schöne Veranda gebaut, die einen statuenverzierten Garten mit einer Pergola-Wandelhalle zum Lustwandeln und Sinnieren überblickt.

Mönchsbart

Meine Liebste hat letztes Wochenende ein Gemüse entdeckt, das mir bis dahin noch unbekannt war. Es heißt Mönchsbart, auf italienisch barba di frate oder agretti, botanisch Salsola soda.

Der Mönchsbart ist aus der Familie der Salzkräuter, sieht aus wie saftiges Gras, fühlt sich ein bisschen an wie Schnittlauch und schmeckt ähnlich wie frischer Spinat.

Mönchsbart wird vor allem in der italienischen Küche verwendet, und die Kombination mit Pasta, Kirschtomaten und Feta (siehe Foto) war hervorragend. Auf dem Augsburger Stadtmarkt kann man ihn finden, allerdings nur zur Erntezeit. Im Moment ist Saison. (Vielleicht mal was anderes als der ewige Spargel-Hype, der jetzt gerade wieder beginnt...)

Schwanensee in Mohiniyattam

Gestern Abend ein kulturelles Highlight der ungewöhnlichen Art: eine hochkarätige Tanzgruppe aus Kerala tanzte das Ballett Schwanensee zu Tschaikowskis Musik im indischen Tanzstil Mohiniyattam.

(Königsbrunn hat spätestens seit der Eröffnung des Mercateums enge Verbindungen nach Indien, und so kam es, dass diese Gruppe auf ihrer Tournee außer nach Berlin, Stuttgart, München, Meißen und Calw auch in unsere Stadt kam.)

Hiking at the Lech

Spring is coming. The first flowery heralds are already there to announce it.

Yesterday (Sunday) Barbara and I went on a 17-kilometre hike from Klosterlechfeld to Landsberg am Lech. The weather forecast was only so-so, but we put on our hiking boots and raingear and started optimistically -- and rightly so.

We came along two barrages (Staustufen) of the Lech and saw sport-rowboats and many waterbirds. Lots of swans, but also grey geese. They liked to fly in pairs, always quacking -- to keep in acoustic contact, I suppose.

After we passed Kaufering, we made a lunch break. The weather remained good and we even had some sunshine for part of the way.

Finally after 4 or 5 hours, we reached our destination Landsberg and rewarded ourselves with a lovely Italian meal in the picturesque old medieval town. Then we took the train back to Klosterlechfeld.

Wer diesen Weg nachwandern möchte, hier ist eine Wegbeschreibung (PDF).

Stadtgraben am Jakoberwall

So romantische Stellen gibt es in Augsburg! Das Abendlicht war aber auch wunderbar.