thefourthvine: Two people fucking, rearview: sex is the universal fandom. (Default)
Keep Hoping Machine Running ([personal profile] thefourthvine) wrote2007-10-20 05:38 pm

174: C'mon, Get Happy

First and foremost: do any of you have a digital camera you really love? A source of digital camera purchasing advice you really trust? A link to the camera you wish you had? Please tell me. We are purchasing a digital camera, but thus far my attempts to make active steps towards the purchase have followed this process:
  1. Open camera-vending store in tab. (Recommendations for online camera stores also gratefully accepted, by the way.)
  2. Stare at cameras for a while.
  3. Say, "There are really LOTS of camera of in this world. Lots and lots."
  4. Close tab.
Too many choices! Head explodey! Halp!

Okay, and now in recommendations: I had the week from hell. No, really, it sucked in so very many ways - not every way it could have sucked, no, but each day was a new and festive cavalcade of minor and major disaster. I reached the end of the week in a shellshocked state, prone to crying at, well, pretty much anything. In this state, only vids can avail. So today I'm recommending four vids that have made me happy at the end of my awful, awful week.

The One That Proves That, When It Comes to Emo, Gerard Way Has Nothing on Spike. Or on the Bee Gees, Oddly Enough. Tragedy, by [livejournal.com profile] dualbunny. Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Here's the first thing you need to know about this vid: it is absolute proof that auction winners can use their purchasing power for evil. [livejournal.com profile] laurashapiro, [livejournal.com profile] jarrow272, and [livejournal.com profile] heresluck won [livejournal.com profile] dualbunny in the VVC auction, and they decided to have her vid the most evil song in the world. Scientific determination of the song's evilness was made in this very household; testing showed that people exposed to it just once sang it regularly for upwards of a week afterward, sometimes in public, no matter what efforts were made to stop. Repeated exposure resulted in seriously unfortunate dancing by the helpless victims of this song's mind control powers. EVIL, I tell you.

But what better for Spike than an emo, evil song? None, I would submit to you. Plus, this is the ultimate summary of Spike's journey, his character, his very personhood. (Vamphood? I don't know. Things get complicated when you're talking about people who are technically dead.) Every time I see this vid, I grow more convinced that this is precisely the song Joss Whedon had stuck in his head when he created Spike. It would explain so much.

And this vid makes me very happy. It is impossible to feel sorry for yourself when gazing at Spike's WOE set to DISCO.

The One with the Best-Ever Use of a Basketball Bounce. You Can Call Me Al, by [livejournal.com profile] sdwolfpup. Due South.

I will be honest with you. I hadn't previously recommended this because I was convinced that every fan on earth had watched it. And that was right and good and just, and I was pleased. This is a vid that everyone needs. It is gorgeous and hopeful and it fits the characters (both Rays and Fraser, in case anyone was worried about someone being left out) and the show so very well. It's distilled love in vid form. I turn to it whenever I am down and need to be reminded of the good things in this world.

So I was merrily going along, assuming everyone had this essence o' love in their lives. And then I discovered that a friend of mine - a close personal friend who I will not name here because after all public shaming is counterproductive - had not seen this vid. At all. Despite loving the song AND the show. And I was sorrowful and downcast, as I'm sure you can imagine. I tried to put things right for my friend ("DOWNLOAD THIS," I said, "OR I WILL BE FORCED TO COME OVER THERE WITH A BASEBALL BAT" - sometimes you have to be direct about these things), but then I had a horrible thought: what if there is another person in that situation? A fan of vids or due South or just, you know, wonderful things, who has not seen this vid? That would be even more of a tragedy than Spike, I tell you. So now I am recommending it, doing my bit to bring us into a better, happier, more loving world. A world, in short, where everyone regularly watches this vid.

So, hey, no pressure, but if you don't watch this right now, you're standing in the way of world peace. I just thought you should know.

The One in Which Rodney McKay Cain't Say No. Do I Need to Say More to Get You to Download It? I Would Hope Not. Atlantis!, by rache, aka [livejournal.com profile] wickedwords, and Sandy, aka [livejournal.com profile] sherrold. Stargate: Atlantis. (Note: Imeem and download links available there.)

First, let me just mention that while I am normally a fan of musicals, I have a tragic allergy to Oklahoma! No, not the whole "no legs, no jokes, no chance" thing, just - I like corn, and I like cheese, but I am not so much a fan of corny cheese on stage. (It's possible that I was just too young for Oklahoma! when I saw it. You know how they say if you feed a kid certain foods at too young an age, you increase the chances that the kid will be allergic to said foods? Well. I suspect that that's what happened to me with the corn and cheese fest, pretty much. I'm lucky I didn't develop an allergy to the entire Midwest.)

Except. It turns out that when rache and Sandy do Oklahoma! SGA-style, I am suddenly and totally in love. Or, okay, to be more precise, I'm laughing helplessly. (But it is loving, sincere, and earnest laughter. Honestly.) You really would not think that SGA had a perfect one-to-one translation with Oklahoma! (And let me just say - thanks to Helene Hanff I know that that exclamation point has been irritating everyone since before the show's premiere, and right now I guess it's my turn to wish it dead. I don't want to put random exclamation points in the middle of sentences anymore. Bad punctuation. No biscuit.), but apparently it does. Seriously, it's amazing. And did I mention funny? Also, it turns out there's a reference to fan fiction right in the musical. It's awesome.

Given that this vid was inspired by Rumble, by [livejournal.com profile] astolat and [livejournal.com profile] cesperanza, another vid in which a musical is perfectly mapped onto SGA, I have to wonder if you could do, like, SGA x A Chorus Line. SGA x Sweeney Todd. ...Oh dear god. I need to stop thinking about these things right now.

The One That Makes Biplane Fighting Look Like Ballet. Cathain, by Jill, aka [livejournal.com profile] klia. Flyboys. (Note: This vid is password-protected, but it takes only one password to get all the vids of Jill, Kathy, Kay, and Lynn, and I heartily recommend them all, so, seriously, get the password. You will get much shiny in return!)

I have a strange, abiding, and intense obsession with the WWI fighter pilots (It's, yeah. It's kind of sad. These things just take a person sometimes.), so when I saw this vid at VVC I sat bolt upright and watched very alertly. I suspect my mouth may have been hanging open slightly, although I hope no one noticed. I was certainly totally entranced. Months later, I still have that reaction. Whenever I watch this vid, pretty much. Because there is nothing like watching planes dance to Irish music (at least, I think that's Irish; feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) to make a person happy, I find.

Yes. Planes dance. It is awesome beyond anything. And, okay, if you are deeply peculiar and thus unattracted to the concept of dancing planes, let me add that there are also characters in this vid, with a remarkably well-cut slashy story. And a lion. Really, this vid has everything you could possibly want.

In terms of sheer rewatching, this is one of my top three vids from VVC 2007, and there's such a good reason for that: it's gorgeous, gorgeously edited, matching movement to music in a way that would totally make my heart sing even if there were not WWI planes involved. It is entrancing, and it is lovely, and I love it dearly. It makes me deeply happy. I cannot recommend it strongly enough.

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2007-10-21 03:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! Good to know. Of course, now I'm wondering what you do with optical zoom - I mean, zoom, obviously, but why? - but I'm sure this will be obvious once I am actually taking photos.

*adds optical zoom to the list of features she wants*

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2007-10-21 03:37 pm (UTC)(link)
See, I thought that, too. Because I LOVED this vid, so very much. Maybe it got lost among all the fandoms people knew? (I didn't know the movie when I went to VVC, though I have since seen it, but I did know WWI planes, which kind of made it a familiar fandom for me.) Just, the editing is so gorgeous, I would have expected it to stand out anywhere.

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2007-10-21 03:41 pm (UTC)(link)
I think there are a few questions you need to ask yourself -- what are you planning to use it for? I'm assuming you're looking for a point-and-shoot?

Yup, point-and-shoot. Because the alternative appears to require things like SWITCHING LENSES, and I am just not that organized. Or skilled. I'd end up picking a lens and leaving it on anyway, or totally forgetting I needed a lens. Or something. My point is: give me a camera that complicated, and I will definitely screw it up.

If you're looking for the options to do something artsy

*giggles madly*

I am the farthest thing from artsy you will ever meet, especially in fandom. I am hoping to take dog pictures, basically. Maybe I will branch out to photos of people eventually.

What do you want for video capabilities? Are there any other modes you'd like?

*blinks*

Aaaand right here is where I got lost. A camera has video capabilities? And modes? OMG, I so totally have not done the research here.

Hopefully that textual explosion will be of some help.

*makes frantic notes*

OMG, so helpful. Thank you!

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2007-10-21 03:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Is it not the VID OF LOVE?

(Although, OMG, don't tell me you hadn't seen it. How can so many good, deserving people have missed this vid? It's very sad.)

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2007-10-21 03:51 pm (UTC)(link)
I spent weeks doing frantic research and being all overwhelmed when I was going to get a camera.

POSSIBLY WE ARE RELATED. Because, seriously, this is me. Precisely. Except I haven't reached the point of doing research yet; I'm still totally overwhelmed.

Do you like the camera you got? What camera did you get? *suddenly very, very nosy about cameras*

[identity profile] soupytwist.livejournal.com 2007-10-21 04:38 pm (UTC)(link)
I HATE buying electronics for that very reason. Once I've found the right thing and I own it I can be all happy squealy tech-geek joy, but deciding? Eep! OMG what if I don't pick the very best thing for the least amount of money and oh my god how does anyone ever see past the sheer number of things that could possibly be better in a different model and *flail!* Good luck, yo.

And I love Call Me Al omg so much but did not have a downloaded copy, so thankyou for that, and OH MY GOD SPIKE'S EMO ANGST. That kind of makes life a lot better, just in and of itself. So I hope it helped for you, too. :)
celli: due South's Fraser reading a journal or book (Fraser reading)

[personal profile] celli 2007-10-21 04:56 pm (UTC)(link)
I hadn't. I know, I can't believe it either! Aren't you glad you recced it??

[identity profile] joandarck.livejournal.com 2007-10-21 05:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Although it makes me wonder - given that I am not a photographer at all (my photo-taking experience is pretty much limited to pressing buttons when tourists insist and then getting far away before they look at the picture), does that mean I need zero pixels?

Hmmm. Probably I still need a non-zero number of pixels, or there's no point in having a camera.


Heh! Rough guide, on the off chance you haven't already got this completely taped --when I was looking into this last year, it was like this:

cell phone camera -- maybe 2-3 pixels (image okay, grainy, funny colours)
average cameras -- 5-7 pixels (mine is 7-pixel Sony, pictures look like this (http://pics.livejournal.com/joandarck/pic/000p2y4t), but I have a friend who takes gorgeous landscape photos with a 5-pixel Olympus)
more expensive cameras -- 9-10 pixels

It's my impression that if you don't plan to blow your photos up to poster size, it really doesn't matter if you have 10+ pixels, but I'm no photographer. Anyway, average pixels per camera seems to be going up all the time, so 5 may be ridiculously low at this point.

Oh, and Canon always ranks the highest no matter who you ask (I know -- Canon -- snerk -- I nearly bought one just for that) -- but I find their cameras kind of blobby and not pleasing in shape, so I didn't get one.

Okay, I am really done now. Good luck!

[identity profile] joandarck.livejournal.com 2007-10-21 05:07 pm (UTC)(link)
my photo-taking experience is pretty much limited to pressing buttons when tourists insist and then getting far away before they look at the picture

sleepy enough that I just processed this remark. to which: HA! Me too. I strongly suspect that not only will they only find some washed-out piece of glare later, but I may have ruined the surrounding several photos as well. I've tried backing away rapidly with my hands up saying "I have a curse," but they never listen.
lapillus: (Default)

Camera rec

[personal profile] lapillus 2007-10-21 05:39 pm (UTC)(link)
I love my Lumix dmc-fz5 (the current, slightly more exciting version is the fx8 a review of which can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/2cegau

It works very well as a point and shoot camera with a great zoom, which if you like taking pictures from a distance either because you can't get closer - you spotted the scene down the block, you don't want to startle the wildlife/child, you like architectural details three stories up - is very useful. I also like it because it is very light weight for it's capacity but is large enough to hold onto easily and it has really good motion control, all of which make my otherwise rather shaky grip still permit clear pictures.

Also it uses SD cards for memory and those a)readily available b) have gotten damn cheap - you can get a 2 GB for under $20 and it will hold several hundred pictures easily.

If you eventually start feeling more adventurous it even has some ability to add attachments like filters without the weight/expense/full flexibily of a dslr.

If you want to get a sense of the image quality here is the link to the pictures I took with mine in the UK this spring: http://flickr.com/photos/lapillus/collections/72157600041781939/ just click on any of the collections and browse.

[identity profile] norah.livejournal.com 2007-10-21 05:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes Canon powershots. They take movies that are high-quality enough that we don't use our digital videocam anymore, and the resolution is great. They are easy to use, but if you want to do fancier things you can a little, too. I am a camera bozo and I can still use one easily - and they are small enough to fit in my smallish purse. Buy whatever the highest-res one is and get a big memory card and an extra battery and you will probably never need anything else. The older models don't take low-light photos as well, but the new ones seem to do much better.

[identity profile] geeky-dani.livejournal.com 2007-10-21 08:11 pm (UTC)(link)
BTW, this (http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-SD950IS-Stabilized-Titanium/dp/B000V1VG2O/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-5793500-6998319?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1192995804&sr=8-1) is the one that I currently own. 12.1 megapixels and 3.7x zoom. It's brand new so it's a bit expensive, but the 850IS (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Q30420/sr/ref=pd_cp_e_1/104-5793500-6998319?ie=UTF8&qid=1192995804&sr=8-1&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_r=0J36Q65PT95CE3MGKBNV&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=250314001&pf_rd_i=B000V1VG2O) is the less expensive cousin with 8.0 MPs.

If you decide to go for any of the powershot family, I definitely recommend the image stablizing technology - it definitely has made a difference in that quality of my photos/video. They all have rechargable batteries, which is very nice. Many people recommend a second battery - I have never found myself needing a second one. But, especially if you take a lot of video, a large SD card is key - my last one I got a 2GB one, this time I upgraded to the 4GB as my excessive video recording when I am on my trips tended to fill up my card pretty fast.

[identity profile] sdani.livejournal.com 2007-10-21 08:17 pm (UTC)(link)
There are two types of zoom.. digital zoom, which he thought was mostly worthless, stretching the image out and making it fuzzier, and optical zoom, which is more like the zoom on a 35 mm camera and actually can gain you better closeup pictures, that are clearer and keep the details crisp in your picture.

I'm sure others could explain it better, hopefully that makes sense.

[identity profile] bitter-crimson.livejournal.com 2007-10-21 08:41 pm (UTC)(link)
"Atlantis!" is one of my favorite vids evar and never, ever gets old. I rewatch that thing all the time, hee.

I really liked that Flyboy vid and now I'm gonna have to see the movie.

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2007-10-21 09:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you for the recommendation; after a full day of clicking between these comments and various websites (so much safer when I only have to look at them for a very short period), I'm pretty sure we'll be getting some variety of Canon PowerShot, so I am very glad to hear you like yours. (And, um, I'd offer congratulations on your new purchase, but since your last camera got eaten by a river, I'm not sure congratulations are in order.)

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2007-10-21 09:53 pm (UTC)(link)
YCCM is one of the most happy-making vids ever. I love it dearly. (And all the more because it seems like I waited forever for happy-making vids in dS; when I started watching vids, there were lots of gorgeous ones for dS, but they were almost all REALLY SAD. Now the fandom has a good balance between joy and sorrow, which is a very good thing.)

Also, I LOVED the Biplane vid (and all the other vids rec'd here).

It really is a deeply awesome vid. I love it so.

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2007-10-21 10:00 pm (UTC)(link)
When I set out to give my sister the digital camera my parents had bought her for the previous Christmas (don't ask)

But...but...now I'm curious. It's probably one of those unfortunate family things, though, isn't it?

Also, if you would like me to check CR for you, I would be happy to do that.

That would be deeply awesome, if you have the time. (If you don't have time, no pressure, truly.) Thank you!

So THAT'S the problem. *Fed-Exes copies of vid to all major world leaders immediately*

Yup. I'd been wondering what the hold-up was on the world peace front, hadn't you? Turns out this was it.

<3 and <3 and <3 --> Q

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2007-10-21 10:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

And, wow, I didn't even know about the 50% off companies. How out of it am I? Obviously, there is a down side to having almost all your ads turned off in your browser. (Although the ads I do see tend to be for things like jumping stilts and discount Christian goods, so perhaps the real problem here is that I've been placed in the wrong market category.)

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2007-10-21 10:04 pm (UTC)(link)
OMG. OMG. HOW AM I SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS VID? THIS IS SO VERY WRONG I AM BEING DRIVEN TO ALL CAPS JUST TO EXPRESS THE WRONGNESS. THIS VID WILL BE ON THE TEST TO GET INTO HEAVEN, YOU REALIZE.

(Also, seriously, don't make me come down there. I've already located a baseball bat dealer in your fair city, just in case. WATCH THE VID.)

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2007-10-21 11:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

I have dropped this camera on cement and it survived with only a few tiny scratches.

This is happy news (not that you dropped it, I mean; that it survived), because I can totally see this in my future.

I will probably try to get a Canon PowerShot, but with anti-shake, because frankly I can use all the help I can get in that department.

And, yup: must remember to buy a larger memory card with the camera.

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2007-10-21 11:18 pm (UTC)(link)
I HATE buying electronics for that very reason.

See, I'm fine with, you know, picking out computers, or DVD players, or whatever. Those things are easy. I understand what all the options mean, and I know what I want. But when it comes to cameras - OMG, I have never even looked at cameras before. There are modes! Functions! Choices! I just cannot cope.

And I am really not good with decisions. At all.

OMG what if I don't pick the very best thing for the least amount of money and oh my god how does anyone ever see past the sheer number of things that could possibly be better in a different model and *flail!*

PRECISELY. OMG, this is exactly my train of thought! Fortunately, I have my friends list handy to, you know, gently educate me and coax me through this process. *squeezes friends list so tight*

OH MY GOD SPIKE'S EMO ANGST

Hee hee hee hee. Is it not AWESOME? I love [livejournal.com profile] laurashapiro's twisted, twisted brain and [livejournal.com profile] dualbunny's demented vidding skills.

So I hope it helped for you, too.

Oh, it did, thank you. There's nothing like Spike's TRAGEDY! to make me a happier person. Which probably says something bad about me, but I totally don't care.

[identity profile] kitaloon.livejournal.com 2007-10-21 11:48 pm (UTC)(link)
It's better than that, actually; I was holding the camera in the palm of my hand and tripped, landing on that hand on the cement. It's survived my klutziness, it gets my stamp of approval.

I know the 800's through 900's have anti-shake, although I'm not sure about the 1000. The 600 was a good camera for my budget, but if you want to invest a little more for those extra features, I can definitely see them being useful.

[identity profile] fanofall.livejournal.com 2007-10-22 04:31 am (UTC)(link)
I...don't think a threat to come visit is quite going to have the effect you intend. :-D

But I will watch it, even so! I WILL! I PROMISE!
lorem_ipsum: Chiana in profile, head back, eyes closed (Default)

[personal profile] lorem_ipsum 2007-10-22 04:32 am (UTC)(link)
P.S. Yes, the music is Irish. I'm always really startled by that particular style of Irish music, but the credit to Liam O [something] seals it.

(airplanes! ♥)

[identity profile] keswindhover.livejournal.com 2007-10-22 07:54 am (UTC)(link)
You can congratulate me when (if) my insurance company finally pays up, the foot-dragging bastards.

*ahem*

I hope you are happy in your new camera.

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