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Comments
I'm quite sure they are buddies. Have you given your 330 a name yet? I'm usually pretty good with this kind of stuff but haven't hit on a good one yet. I considered "Rex" but I don't want to give my insurance company the wrong idea about my style of driving. I'm leaning toward some of the funny words we saw while doing ED (ausfahrte, poggibonsi) but haven't quite gotten comfortable with anything yet. I need a good Teutonic name, I think. Maybe I should just call it ButMyWife! Think of the anagram possibilities...
The wait is almost over, Mr. Bach.
ButMyWife
I liked the comment made about film probably being equivalent to a manual transmission and a niche for enthusiasts. I've started to become "tempted" to make the jump, partly because of the greater convenience of straight digital instead of transforming film to electrons.
My concern are threefold. The first is what I personally call an image's "maximum potential" - - resolution that I may not necessarily want in a print today, but might realize tomorrow (or a year from tomorrow), which means that I want it in my original image. I was reminded of this when I visited my local Mom&Pop camera store last month, and saw a ~15 year old photo of mine back on display in the store. Gee, I probably should get around to scanning that one :-) To this end, I expect that I won't be leaving film behind until digital is able to deliver 16-25 megapixels of resolution (in the consumer market), although I do expect to pick up a casual point-n-shoot digital in the near term.
My second concern is over system performance. Battery life isn't wonderful, many digicams often have delayed shutter releases, and memory remains fairly expensive. I went on a cruise in Alaska last summer and saw all three of these crop up. For example, a coworker who heard that I had shot $300 worth of film suggested that digital would have been less expensive, which due to its recyclability nature is true, but because of my trip's logistics, I would have needed to have had $3000 worth of memory with me, even after accounting for deleting undesired images. Like a performance car, some applications are better suited for a different technology.
My third concern is archiving. A really good read on this subject is Clifford Stoll's "Silicon Snake Oil". In essence, maintaining a digital archive is going to be more work, as standard formats change, etc. Its the old bit about needing to have both an English set and Metric set of tools all over again, except that the tools are tied to hardware which have significantly shorter life cycles, so you can very easily lose your data through PC obsolescence.
-hh
Thanks!
The first is what I personally call an image's "maximum potential"
I don't disagree, but personally, I was far from the maximum potential of film anyway. Using my digital camera has actually increased my potential.
Last week we had some professional pictures taken. The photographer has been taking digital pictures for about a year now. I'm sure he doesn't want to reduce his potential. In fact, using Photoshop gives him more editing control than you could have with film.
Battery life isn't wonderful
True, but a set of 4 nickel metal hydride rechargeable batteries last for dozens of pictures and it's easy to swap batteries when a set goes dead.
many digicams often have delayed shutter releases
This is due to the auto focus and can be improved by using manual focus, but this is still a bit of a problem when shooting action.
memory remains fairly expensive
For $300, you could buy six 128 Mb cards. That would be close to 1000 pictures with my 3 Mp camera. I'm not sure how many film photos you took for $300. If you travel frequently, I would suggest buying a laptop to download, save, backup and view the pictures. $1500 would do well in this regard.
In essence, maintaining a digital archive is going to be more work, as standard formats change, etc
IMHO, there will tools for viewing, editing and printing jpegs for several decades. I could be wrong, but the fact that there are billions of jpeg pictures taken every year means there will be a market for quite awhile.
I've heard this concern for storage. Personally, I keep every photo I take on a hard drive and back that up to several CD's (I'm a bit anal about backing up). I'm certain I will be able to quickly transfer my photos from my hard drive to whatever technology replaces it. New technologies usually coexist on the same computer with old technologies for some time (5-1/4 and 3.5 floppies, 3.5 floppy and hard drives, 3.5 floppy and CD-RW, etc.).
One other point I forgot in my previous post:
-Still cameras take lousy video and video cameras take lousy still photos. Get the camera for your primary needs.
-murray
The car I learned to drive on was silver, and it was (along with white) the easiest color to maintain that I have ever driven. It looks great washed, too. When I was talking color with my dealer, he said "with a 325i, there are three colors, light, dark, and red". I agree with his appraisal. All of the dark colors have basically the same color value, and all of the light colors (except white) are a variation of silver.
o battery life - using Nickel Metal Hydride batteries and primarily the optical view finder to frame picture, I get 120+ pictures over two month period on one battery charge. Charge time is about 2 hours using the charger that came with the camera. I carry a spare set all the time.
o regularly get 54 shots with 1024x768 resolution (4:1 jeg compression) on one 32Meg card (~$40.00 at a photo shop). I carry two cards plus the 8Meg card that came with the camera.
o delays - regularly use a two step exposure process: shutter half-way down to set exposure and focus at subject distance; shutter all the way down to take the picture. With this technique, the picture is taken instantly when you press home the shutter.
o I think formats have solidified: TIFF for RAW, JPEG for compressed. Most SW tools supplied with the camera are upgradeable (i.e Windows XP) by the manufacturer at no cost.
I rather like the Brigita name, though I can't spell it.
As for the digicam's, just use similar logic to film. Get what works for you. If you anticipate a lot of photos between downloads, get extra memory (film). You have the options for zoom in both worlds too. Some digi's have macro. Just examine your needs.
If you aren't going to email photos or just do it occasionally, try getting a scanner, instead of shelling out for the digital camera. Me, I'm a geek and like technical stuff, so I WANT a digital camera. I don't know what I'll do with it other than take pictures of my cars, but I want one.
I can picture taking both a digital and my Minolta SLR with me on mountain hikes, or other places where I'd like to have both. Neither weighs that much and I have great packs for hiking and carrying the cameras. If anybody is interested or cares, www.crookedhorn.com has a great thing called the Bino system that lets you carry cameras, binocs, digis and other stuff while you hike, hunt, etc, and it retracts up against your body when you're not using it. Pretty cool stuff.
-Paul
-murray
According to information I have seen:
Digit 11 is the plant code (e.g., L=Spartansburg, A=Munich, B=Dingolfing, D=Dingolfing, E=Regensburg, and N=South Africa).
http://www.dpreview.com/
I just picked up a very nice Sony dsc-85. The Nikon coolpix and 990 series is a very nice line as well. Cannon makes i very nice line of cameras to.(don't shoot me if i left a good manufacture i know i left out a couple)piont is digital cameras have arrived and is a very viable format for capturing photos.
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/cameraList.php3
and this site, which is reachable directly for a specific camera from the previous site, for reviews and pictures:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/hardware_reviews.html
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
Mine is a silver and I love it. Sure everyone has it, but to see it sparkle after a low effort wash or after running it through the wash makes it all worthwhile. Unfortunatley, it hides dirt so well that I dont get tempted enough to wash it more that every 1.5 - 2 months, so I drive around without the shine for quite a while.
I also wanted my 1st german auto to be Silver on Black. The next one (a 5er I hope) will be Black on Black.
btw, my wife also has a Minolta SLR but she has barely used it since we got the digicam.
Does anyone know if this is true?
Ummm, well, your information has a thread of truth, however, who ever gave it to you was, ummm, a little loose with the facts. Prior to March (I am only partially certain of the date) of this year, BMW stopped using Automatic transmissions built by a division of GM that is located in France. After the conversion date, BMW switched over to transmissions built by ZF.
It is my understanding that the transmissions that were formerly built by GM were completely designed by BMW, and were simply contracted out to GM. I have no information regarding the automatic ZF units as to whether they are of a BMW design, a ZF design, or some combination thereof.
Regarding the manual gearboxes, for the U.S. market at least, Getrag makes the 5-Speed for the 325i and the 525i, ZF makes the 5-Speed for the 330i and the 530i, and Getrag makes the 6-Speed unit of the M3 (and I'm guessing for the 540i6 and the M5 as well, although I don't have any information on these transmissions).
Just though I would help clear that up. ;-)
Best Regards,
Shipo
On the color topic. Although, it pains me to not have a unique color. I figured if I was getting a BMW, I wanted a classic color...even at the expense of individuality. Silver/black it is. Can't go wrong with a BMW. Can't go wrong with silver. Turns my head every time. Soverypoorwife will have a yellow Mini this fall. That'll be plenty of individuality for one household.
I forgot about the JS Bach thing. I need to go change that.
soverypoornow: Thanks, I'll check the O Circle to see what my date is. By the way, buymywife was a little subliminal but at least it wasn't MyWifesBut!
I don't disagree, but personally, I was far from the maximum potential of film anyway.
I am too, 95% of the time, but its a preservation of the ability to get more out of it later, if desired. Its really no different than any other type of enthusiast: do we not desire the handling characteristics of a 3 Series for what we know it CAN do (if we need it), as opposed to how hard we actually push it ~95% of the time?
... The [Pro] photographer... doesn't want to reduce his potential.
A digital 4x5 back runs $20+K. Pick one: this toy, or a new 325i. :-) And 35mm digital SLR's typically have a ~1.6x magnification built in, which boosts telephoto, but trashes wide angle.
Re: delayed shutter releases
... this is still a bit of a problem when shooting action.
Agreed. And digital's battery-saving "standby" shutdowns will cause some opportunity-based shots to be missed, particularly while waiting on wildlife shots.
If you travel frequently... buy a lap top.
Or the new, small hard drive "wallets". Any transfer device eats into baggage weight allowances, requires time to use it and power to recharge it.
... how many film photos you took for $300.
It was ~30 rolls of 35mm. At the time that we did the estimate, memory was still expensive, plus it assumed maximum resolution on all shots. While memory is cheaper today, the new cameras' have more pixels, so will now use more, too.
-hh
This is the first car that I have ordered, and while the wait is killing me, I have learned more about my new car from reading the great information on this group and on other sites than any other car I have ever owned. I have even read my entire owner's manual already. Twice :-) Thanks to you all for keeping me so well informed.
BTW: HOUSTON: I put a chrome longhorn underneath the 325i logo on my Artic Gray E36. It is slightly tacky and a little crooked, but now at least you will know its me.
I blew it on advertising my car for sale ahead of time. Now I feel I'm in a crunch. Plus it was in an accident in '98 & my windows have that not-really legal driver side tint which a dealer cannot sell. I won't get nada for it on a trade :-( Must unload.
Interesting discussion on camera's. What if you're in Kazakhstan & you run out of memory/battery?
Best Regards,
Shipo
With Jim I also drove a string of Japanese cars; a pure-blue '78 Mazda 626 (first model year, bought sight unseen in Binghamton, NY, just after finishing a PhD at Cornell and marrying--it had the look and feel of a BMW; $6000 to drive away). That was followed by an 86 Subaru wagon (for the snows of upstate NY: I was a prof at RPI); an 89 Mazda 323 (hence my nickname, mr323, a little self deprecating humor) because we needed a second car when the floor of our beloved 626 rusted out--the chassis had rusted badly, too, so there was no possibility of repair); a 98 Toyota Sienna (because our daughters wanted the roominess of a minivan). So, after all that, finally and at long last, dad bought his little BMW. I'm hoping it'll last 12 years or so, too.
Best wishes,
Ed (Colgate '73; Cornell '79, for any upstate alums on the board)
PS It seems new cars last us about 12 years but my wife and I have been together nearly 24 years and counting....
As for colors, I like it in silver, but chose to stay with traditional black. I ordered it without the optional date back (referred to on some enthusiast boards as "DB"), but I did spring for the leatherette carry bag and optional xenon speedlight.
Thanks!
if i was going to be driving it 150 mph for hours on end, i'd say don't patch it... otherwise, as long as it's not in the sidewall, my gut tells me that it would be ok...
good luck. post back what the other store says.
-Chris
The local specialty shop here in NJ (Eurotire in Fairfield), routinely does internal patches, including on Z-rated tires. I've had nearly a half dozen done within the past decade and never had a problem with any of them.
-hh
Best Regards,
Shipo
was a 3 series driver?? whatcha piloting now???
-Chris
If the set is new, for peace of mind, perhaps you will be happier with a new tire.
Half way, peoples advice sounds reasonable.
Almost slick, Hey a no brainer
Behold the new Bimmer: ;-)
The New Mount
Best Regards,
Shipo