Upgrading my camera gear (tech. gurus welcome)

In September 2003 i jumped into the digital waters of photography. Well, i should better say i moved into another world... but anyhow...
That time, my first D-slr was a 6Mp Nikon. It served my quiet a good job, very reliable although i was missing some features on that.
For instance:
- ISO settings below 200
- Mirror Lock-up
- better behave in low-light ( color noise )
- faster series shooting ( only 3 frames a second )
- better and bigger Viewfinder
- Sandwich exposure ( shoot multiple times on the same picture )
- Faster shutter ( 1/4000 only )
- faster flash synch. ( X-synch 1/180 only )
- more battery power / longer duration
- better white balance ( Need to work it out to get colors right )
- better dynamic range
- no cable connection for Studio Flash
- more buttons for functions instead of scrolling through the menu
- Less vibration from the mirror when releasing the shutter

Wow, now i am wondering myself how did i work all those years with that camera...
Although its not all that bad, but it could be better...

My new 10mp camera is better in many things but still not quiet the right camera that i want. Propably, the only solution to solve my problem will be to get a deep gap in my pants and buy the Nikon D3 ( about 4000,- Euro ).

But finally, i found another "solution"
My new camera in details:
- 18MP resolution
- ISO settings starting from 25
- Mirror lock-up
- Better behave in low light / less color noise
- series shooting up to 5,7 frames per second
- one of the best viewfinders i ever look through
- Sandwich exposure as often as you like
- X-synch 1/250
- fast Shutter of 1/8000
- long battery life
- No probs with white balance,filtersets for every light
- very good dynamic range
- cable connection for studio flash
- All important functions with buttons
- Camera vibration from the Mirror and shutter is minimal

And there is my new Working tool:

It`s the old toy-boy Nikon F4s. This analog film camera, manufactured from 1988 until 1996, was one of the most succesfull and reliable pro-slr ever made. It is a real pleasure to work with it. Get it in your hands and you might understand what i mean.

The mentioned 18mp resolution will be reached, if you scan the film with the filmscanner Nikon coolscan 5000 or 9000. If using high-end scanners like Imacon flextight, you will get results far above 18MP.

Samos presentations in high definition (HD, 720p) quality

Here is the link to my new channel concerning Samos, which I will use for publishing high quality (HQ) and high definition (HD, 720p) media via the internet:

"Experience Samos!"

I have already rendered some of my presentations in HD (720p) quality and published them on this channel.
Please pay a visit!

Since the HD video files now have large sizes, anything between one hundred and several hundreds of megabytes, I recommend to start the download of the stream and wait until at least two thirds of the stream have been downloaded before starting to watch the video. Of course, it all depends on the speed of your internet access and your computer.

"House of the setting Sun"

Samos-town has a lot of different faces. For example, the beautiful and elegant boulevard Themistokli Sophouli along the harbour, the Platia Pythagoras or the Archeological Museum! Many tourists will visit these sites while they are staying on the island of Samos.

Strange enough, there is one really ugly place along the boulevard, the building of a former hotel, that seems to be - already since many years - a monument for I don't know whom or what! This building resides directly on the boulevard Themistokli Sophouli, on one of the best sites in Samos-Town!
The building looks pretty dilapidated and like it could collapse at any moment!


It is uninhabited and surrounded by a - meanwhile rusted - fence.


There is a house in Samos-town,
best place to view the setting sun,
it's been a sad building for many years,
when are they going to pull it down?

Oh listen, mayor of Samos-town,
don't you see this misery,
it’s such a terrible sight to see
tourists turn away with a frown.

Now the only thing Samos people want
Is to pull this damn thing down
Use the free space to build something new
in the middle of Samos town.

(You can sing the words along with the melody of "house of the rising sun" by "The Animals")

November rain

November 18. & 19. have been rainy days.
Check out what means a rainy night on Samos island...

Video taken on November 19. 1:06am

Rain on Samos Island, Greece

Drive-In café on Platia Pythagoras

Seen in October 2008: looks like a market in Samos-Town for the sale of motorcycles and motorscooters. But it isn't!
After most of the tourists have gone, there is room enough for all those fancy vehicles on the Platia Pythagoras again. Quite a challenge, the "real art" is to place your vehicle in a such way that nobody can overlook it!


To me it seems that Samians don't want to walk too much, they need instant access to the cafés on Platia Pythagoras and their scene. Not more than a couple of meters walk and then they want to sit down, take their mobile phones and "communicate". The café Iraion is one of the noisiest places I know on the island! ;-)

Photographers and their habbits

I think every photographer, like all humans, has his habbits....
And some things will never change :)

First picture taken August 2005

Second picture taken October 2008

Well, if i where nasty i could also say: he is not a pro if it takes him that long to get the shot right hahaha... ;)

Sunny outlook on life

For several days we had rain, dark clouds, grey skies, relatively low temperatures. But yesterday the weather was nice and the air clear with good visibility. On my way to Samos-town I stopped and took this photo!
These people from Holland had just arrived on Samos the day before and they sat down on this bench to enjoy the breathtaking view over the gulf of Samos with Samos-town and its harbour in a distance and the old houses of Ano Vathi on the slopes of the hill in the front.