|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Macular degeneration help
I haven't had any issues with macular degeneration, though I did once experience some vision problems with diabetes, years ago, so I can sympathize with those having such vision problems. I tried just about everything to adapt to my ever changing vision caused by diabetes, including magnifiers, reading glasses and so on. Hand-free magnifiers, such as the B&L Hnads-Free, helped for reading and needlepoint, as did reading glasses, but neither helped much when looking at a computer screen or across the room, since magnifiers have such short working distances. For more distance work, I did get some relief with compact binoculars that had a good close focus. The Pentax Papilo 6.5x binocular, with it's super close focus of only 1.6 feet would be a great choice in this regard and it has eneough eye relief to also be used with glasses.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
The birds are singing.
Biking in to work on Saturday morning, the sun was shining and the cardinals were singing up a storm. That is as sure a sign of spring as any. Forget the mp3 player, CDs or iPod. Who needs digital technology with such sweet music floating in the air? If you are out trying to spot those beautiful red vocalists with your binocular or spotting scope, look for the highest perch, around. The males like to get that song out there with the greatest coverage. Get out there and listen.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Eclipse of the moon wish
The moon was shining high in a very cold sky, this morning, as I rode to work on my bicycle. Made for a spectacular ride, what with the light dusting of snow we had on the roads this morning. Mornings like this make me wonder why more people don't commute on bicycles in the winter. Okay, more to the point, the moon looks prime and ready for the lunar eclipse, tonight. I will have my astronomy binoculars ready, one at hand and another mounted on a tripod. Will also have a digital camera, fully charged, to get some pics. All of this, of course, assumes we have a clear sky. (Please, please, please.)
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Cross country skis next?
With all the snow, this winter, my local bicycle shop has done a landmark business in renting cross country skis. Now that's something I would like to see us carry, here at OpticsPlanet. Skis would make a nice addition to our line of binoculars, spotting scopes and telescopes. Been meaning to buy a set of skis for a long time, now, but this is the first winter in many years with enough snow to justify the purchase. Doing some cross country skiing may even be as much fun as ice biking!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
mp3 players and safety
There is a time and a place for mp3 players, even for someone who loves music as much as I do. One place I don't like to see mp3 players, though, is on people who are riding bicycles. To put it as bluntly as possible, being plugged in to an mp3 player and listening to music as you ride a bicycle is just plain stupid from a safety point of view. A bicyclist needs to hear traffic approaching from behind at all times. I know - I ride a bicycle every day and a bicycle is my only means of transportation. When I carry my iPod on my bike, it is tucked away in my bike bag. It does not get turned on until I reach the park to take a break and eat lunch. When I am riding, the hum of the wheels on the road, the calls of birds and the wind whispering in the trees make all the music I need.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Summer pics and winter cameras.
February is cabin fever month for may of us. The days are getting longer and spring is just around the corner, or say it says on the calendar. Still, I need a little more in the way of assurance, so these cold winter nights find me reviewing all the pics I took with my digital camera over the summer. It's a real boost to the spirit to see all those wonderful, old familiar trails in their full summer dressing after seeing them covered with snow for so long. Of course, I will no doubt review many of my current winter shots later this summer, when the heat turns these same trails into a sticky insect heaven. The moral of the story is to get out with your camera, no matter what time of year and take more pics.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Computerized telescopes
I personally disdain any computerization in my telescopes, but I know that a computer on a telescope does make navigation easier for a beginner and most telescope computers, these days, are relatively simple to get set up and aligned. More importantly, I know a computerized telescope is the most practical option for a light polluted area, since learning to navigate the night sky, manually, is tough to do when you can't see a lot of guide stars. Still, I can't help but think we are losing something when we need a computer on a telescope to find objects in the night sky that can be found by taking a little time and effort and a good star map. Just one old gal's opinion. Of course, I'm also the type that would rather curl up with a good book than watch television or surf the internet.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Winter photography
I find myself wishing for a digital camera at some of the oddest times. I was bicycling home the other night in the snow and decided to walk the bike over the Des Plains river bridge, rather than fight the traffic. As I looked out over the river, I was rewarded with a vision of the dark river flowing through a winter landscape of snow and trees. It was a scene of great tranquility and peace and quite at odds with the insanity of traffic only a few feet away to my right. There was enough light reflecting off the snow for a shot in a good digital point and shoot camera, but then, that's the beauty of a digital point and shoot - you can take one just about anywhere, even on a bicycle in a snowstorm.
|
|
|
|
|
Rode the bike through yet another snowstorm, this morning. Aside from lightly plowed side streets, my biggest challenge was avoiding "snow bombs". Snow that had accumulated last night on tree branches plummeted to the ground in this morning's high winds, sometimes in spectacular fashion. Nothing like getting hit square in the old helmet with a pile of unexpected snow. All in a day's ride, though, for this gal. Hard to believe that in only another week or two (I hope), I will be sitting out at the marsh with my birding binocular and spotting scope. We all handle spring fever in our own way. Birding is just one of many ways I get hit, but I love it.
As we get older, we get a little wiser, though some folks may say we get a bit lazier. Anyway, during the total eclipse of the moon, last night, I had a choice. I could go the traditional route and step out onto the patio in the single digit cold we are having, here in Chicago, or I could opt for a view from my bedroom window. Peering through the frosty air, astronomy binocular in hand, and watching the earth's shadow crawl slowly across the moon would be the way most dedicated astronomers would choose. On the other hand, a lot could be said for setting the binocular on a tripod in the bedroom, listening to some music, popping a bowl of popcorn and sipping hot chocolate. Guess which one I chose?
Okay, so you want to go out tomorrow night with your little digital camera and get some shots of the moon during the lunar eclipse. Is this possible? Sure. Just remember, even at 3x or 4x optical zoom, the moon's image size is going to very small. The good news is that you can crop and play with the image when you get it into your computer, so get out there and fire away. If your digital camera has a night mode, use it. Otherwise, set the exposure for at least several seconds and longer is better (up to a point). The idea is to experiment with different ISO settings and exposure times, so now's the time to learn how to do manual override on your digital camera's programs. Since you are shooting digital, there is no excuse for not shooting up a storm. The more you shoot with your camera, the better the chance of getting some keepers. In other words, it's time to become a digital … lunatic (sorry).
It's Valentine's Day and, again, I have no sweetheart. They say there is someone out there for everyone, but, in my case, that someone is probably on a different planet. Even worse, with 200 extra solar planets discovered so far, I don't even know which planet he calls home. Wherever he is, though, you will most likely find him behind a binocular, spotting scope or telescope. If you are out there, doing a little inerstellar traveling, just tap him on the shoulder (or whatever passes for a shoulder on that planet) and tell him hello from his sad and lonely Valentine here on planet Earth.
Don't forget spotting scopes for astronomy! I talk to many shooters, birders and so on who are surprised when I tell them that spotting scopes can be used for some basic astronomy. After all, what is a spotting scope? A spotting scope is nothing more than a small telescope, designed to be used by day. A spotting scope is, however, still a small telescope and there is no law that says it cannot be used at night. No, you cannot get the high magnifications of a typical telescope, but the lower magnification of a spotting scope is still very useful for many deep-sky objects, including open star clusters, globular clusters and brighter nebulae and even some galaxies. No need to wait to get started in astronomy if you already own a spotting scope.
Riding a bicycle to work the morning after a big snowstorm has its pitfalls, to be sure, but it also has its peaceful moments. The ten plus inches of wet, heavy snow made driving a car, not to mention riding a bicycle a real challenge, but that same snow managed to coat every tree, tree branch and twig a pure white. As I rode down a plowed road through our local forest preserve before sunup, the forest literally seemed to glow in white, despite the darkness. It was too dark for a small digital camera, but with the right lens, I know I could have captured the scene with an SLR camera. Not to worry, though - that scene has been stored in my memory to cool me down, later this summer, when the weather turns hot and muggy.
At the risk of enduring some cliché jokes from my colleagues about birders and their bird sightings, I am delighted to report that I had a close encounter with a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker on Sunday. While not a rare bird, it is certainly not a common bird in our area (it is officially listed as an uncommon migrant). Regardless, I was happy to see it fly a few feet in front of me and land in a nearby tree as I was bicycling on the way to church. It is a subtly beautiful bird in its plumage and all the more so in my Nikon 5x15 monocular, which is my constant companion. You don't need a monocular or binocular, though, to spot this woodpecker. It is the only one in most areas to have a white vertical stripe on its wing. The similar Downy and Hairy woodpeckers have a white stripe on their backs, not their wings. A Sapsucker also appears darker from a distance.
© 1999- OpticsPlanet, Inc
- telescopes,
binoculars,
microscopes,
riflescopes,
rangefinders,
& more.