Sunday Snapshot: My New-To-Me DSLR

Last week, I was at a loss about what to do with my malfunctioning Nikon D70.  I talked to a photographer friend about it, and he offered a most profound observation.   He said, "It's going to be hundreds of dollars to repair your D70 ... used ones are about $75 online."

Why didn't I think of that???

I surfed around online, looking at used D70s, but hesitated.  Something didn't feel quite right.  There were things about my old camera that I would improve, namely the display screen.  A bit of research and reading and opening up my search criteria led me to this:

Meet my new-to-me Nikon D90, fresh out of the box!  It has a better processor than my D70, a larger screen, and it can use all of my lenses.  It's old technology, minted in 2006 or so, but I'm perfectly comfortable with that.  I wasn't comfortable with the prospect of paying a lot of money for a camera that I use only occasionally, which is what would have happened if I had shopped for a new camera.  (To be honest, the thought of that made me queasy.)  

That thing in this post I said about rose season passing me by while I was without a 'good' camera ... 

Nevermind.

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Sunday Snapshots are posts devoted to moments in time that represent glimpses into everyday life in Hartwood, or wherever else I happen to be at the time.

The Garden is Getting Glorious ... and My Camera May Be Dead

My trusty, ancient Nikon D70 is acting up.  I use it a lot during rose season to take photos of the garden in bloom.  The camera in my iPhone 8+ takes good photos, but the Nikon is better at capturing accurate, large, close-up images.  I really hope that this problem is something that can be easily sorted out.

Here are the facts:

In order to get the photo files from my camera to my computer, I download them directly from the camera to my PC, using a USB cable.  Earlier this morning, I hooked everything together, and highlighted, copied, and pasted the files like I always do.  There were about 40 photos, ... the last dozen or so came out distorted.  Corrupted files, I'm guessing.

IMG0247, looks perfect as it downloaded initially.

I deleted the wonky files from the PC, and attempted to download them again ... figuring that something went astray during the first transfer process.  This time, ALL of the files on the memory card were distorted.  They were compressed to one side and overlaid with black lines, lime green bars, and most of the frame was blank.

IMG0247 now looks like this, when viewed from the memory card.

A quick Google search and some reading on various forums indicated that the problem could be a bad memory card, faulty USB cable, or something REALLY wrong with the camera.

The easiest thing to test was the USB cable.  Tried to transfer files with another one ... same problem.

Switching out memory cards, and now I get a CHA error.  Turn the camera off, then back on, the error goes away.  I took a few test shots, which didn't write to the memory card, then the CHA error comes back.  This happened with all three of the three memory cards that I tried.  On my last attempt to transfer files to my PC, it got even worse:

Catastrophic failure is never a good thing.

Same error, and worsening chain of events, with two different USB cables and three memory cards, tells me that it's probably a camera issue.

So .... it looks like my iPhone will be my only photo-taking tool this season.  I am thankful to have it, because it really can take great photos. Folks over on Instagram saw this one that I took yesterday morning.

"Connie's Favorite Gallica" straight out of the phone, with watermark added in Photoshop.

I'm not giving up on the Nikon just yet.  It may be an easy fix.  I'll have to get a recommendation for a good camera shop and see what they say.

No Christmas Tour Photos Today :(

The Fredericksburg Candlelight Christmas Tour was this past weekend.  Every year, during the second weekend in December, a number of historic houses in town are decorated for the holidays and are open to the public ... with hosts and hostesses in each room telling about the house, the history, and some of the more interesting furnishings and decorations. 
 
The Husband and I always volunteer to do a shift in one of the houses ... on Saturday, he was on the porch of our assigned house telling about the architecture and the the history of the original family, and I was showing guests the living and dining rooms.  On Sunday, we went out to breakfast and then headed to town to be among the first in line to tour the rest of the houses.  I had my trusty Nikon D70 camera with me, and I took lots and LOTS of photos.  The day was cloudy and a bit drizzly, but I still think I got at least a few really nice shots of the outsides and decorations on the tour homes.
 
Earlier this morning, I hooked up my camera to download the pictures.  Nothing happened.  I checked the camera's playback, and I got this:

(This is a simulation, because my iPad camera wouldn't set its exposure compensate for the brightness of the LCD screen to photograph the actual words.)

 

 

I took about a hundred photos yesterday, and I know the images were there as I was taking them, because I checked the playback numerous times to make sure I got the shots I wanted.  Somehow, the photos vanished.

 

This happened to me once before ... while I was in Sacramento at the rose conference in October.  I hooked up the camera to my laptop to download my photos, and the last 75-or-so of my 400+ photos from that day disappeared.  Gone. 

 

I suspect that it may be the memory card.  I have three that I use with this camera, and I wonder if this was maybe the same card I was using that day in California.  Just in case, I have put that one aside and now I will go back to using my tried-and-true original 512mb card that I KNOW has never let me down.

 

(Just so you know, I don't use any camera software to download my photos.  I read the files directly using a USB cable and Windows Explorer, cutting and pasting them into the destination folder on my computer.  This morning, there were no files on the card at all.)   

 

I really wish I could have shared the tour photos with you.  I can get streetside shots again on another day, but many of the photos I lost were views of the parts of the outside of the houses that are only available if one is actually IN the private parts of the yards.  No interior photography is allowed, but I did sneak a few shots through the windows while I standing outside.

 

Have you ever had this happen to you?  If so, did you ever find out what caused the problem?

 

 

This was Supposed to be a Post About Pruning Climbing Roses ...

Yesterday was a perfect day to be in the garden.  The sun was shining (making a necessity of a thorough application of sunscreen moisturizer), we had temperatures in the 60s (16-18C), with a light breeze.  What a wonderful day to grab my pruners and other tools and head to the garden to work on the climbers.

Photo of Pink Perpetue from last year.

I started with the pillar roses on the Arcade, because they're the easiest for me and require the fewest decisions.  Working left to right, taking each rose in turn, I was making pretty good progress.  As I worked, I realized that this would make a good blog post (and a good section in my presentation on climbing roses).  I always have my little camera with me, so I pulled it from my pocket and took photos at intervals as I worked. 

Swan Lake, also last year.

At one point while working on Sombruiel, or was it Parade, I sat the camera down on the ground ... intending to pick it right back up.  As I stood up, I accidently put my knee onto the camera, and the retractable lens is now jammed.  The camera is 'stealth bomber black' and I just didn't see it sitting there.

Yes, Folks, I have destroyed another camera.  Here is the last photo it took:

This is what the base of Swan Lake looked like after I pruned out the dead, damaged, and puny canes.

I don't think I can repair this one, like I did when I broke the LCD screen on my last camera.  (Did you miss this story last year?  Click HERE to catch up.)  I guess I'll be camera shopping this weekend.  Until then, there will be no more impromptu photo opportunities, pulling a tiny camera from my pocket.  Instead, I will be toting around my Nikon DSLR, and treating it very gingerly.