23 September 2007
Jessops in "We know nothing" Shocker!
29/09/2007 16:10 Filed in: Photography
So we were going to Boots earlier to get
cold meds, and we went past our local
Jessops. I decided to pop in and have a
play with the newest Canon DSLR, and the
one it's replacing.
I've not paid much attention to the details of the new Canon because I don't really need a new camera body, so I asked one of the chaps working there what the difference between the old camera (EOS 30D) and the new one (40D) was, apart from having more megapixels.
He looked at me like I was an idiot and said "It has a bigger lens, it lets in more light, which is good".
(I'll add here that both of these cameras are DSLRs - which means you can change the lenses on them. The comment about the size of the lens would be appropriate talking about a compact camera or about a bridge camera, neither of which have interchangable lenses, but it is not a factor at all when comparing DSLRs)
Dave and I gawked at him for a moment, and re-stressed that I wanted to know the difference between the two cameras - lens size had nothing to do with it. The salesbod all but rolled his eyes as he patronisingly repeated what he said before, adding that a larger lens meant better pictures.
We walked out.
After we got the cold meds, we walked back in and spoke to the manager, who explained the guy was new and clearly didn't know much yet. We explained that it's better in that situation to explain that and go get some one more experienced. And the store manager replied by saying they weren't experts.
This is a chain of shops that bills itself as being No 1 in Photography. Their website boasts about their staff training. I accept they are not experts on everything they stock. But they have a real problem if they don't know the difference between a camera and a lens. And it's not unfeasible that some one moving up to a DSLR would ask them that question, and get utterly wrong advice.
I've not paid much attention to the details of the new Canon because I don't really need a new camera body, so I asked one of the chaps working there what the difference between the old camera (EOS 30D) and the new one (40D) was, apart from having more megapixels.
He looked at me like I was an idiot and said "It has a bigger lens, it lets in more light, which is good".
(I'll add here that both of these cameras are DSLRs - which means you can change the lenses on them. The comment about the size of the lens would be appropriate talking about a compact camera or about a bridge camera, neither of which have interchangable lenses, but it is not a factor at all when comparing DSLRs)
Dave and I gawked at him for a moment, and re-stressed that I wanted to know the difference between the two cameras - lens size had nothing to do with it. The salesbod all but rolled his eyes as he patronisingly repeated what he said before, adding that a larger lens meant better pictures.
We walked out.
After we got the cold meds, we walked back in and spoke to the manager, who explained the guy was new and clearly didn't know much yet. We explained that it's better in that situation to explain that and go get some one more experienced. And the store manager replied by saying they weren't experts.
This is a chain of shops that bills itself as being No 1 in Photography. Their website boasts about their staff training. I accept they are not experts on everything they stock. But they have a real problem if they don't know the difference between a camera and a lens. And it's not unfeasible that some one moving up to a DSLR would ask them that question, and get utterly wrong advice.
|
The Legacy of the Protestant Reformation
26/09/2007 23:44 Filed in: Around
And About
There is a short series on TV about the
Protestant Reformation, and how it shaped
our modern world. The premise is
interesting, which is why I've tried to
watch it. The presenter presents a
problem - most of his expressions seem
unnatural, as if his producer has said
into his earpiece that he should look
interested now, or tilt his head a
different way, and his style of
presenting is, for me, far too shallow to
do the material any justice.
That aside, he made a comment about how Protestants were the first serious diarists, writing down every moment of their life, the better to work out if they had strayed from path of righteousness. So, in the manner of some of the rather tenuous links made elsewhere in the program, I propose that without the Protestant Reformation we would have no bloggers.
(I also deeply objected to his comparing Protestants with storm troopers, and to the Concerned Woman of America he interviewed who had a very weasel way with words (apologies to any weasels who read this)
That aside, he made a comment about how Protestants were the first serious diarists, writing down every moment of their life, the better to work out if they had strayed from path of righteousness. So, in the manner of some of the rather tenuous links made elsewhere in the program, I propose that without the Protestant Reformation we would have no bloggers.
(I also deeply objected to his comparing Protestants with storm troopers, and to the Concerned Woman of America he interviewed who had a very weasel way with words (apologies to any weasels who read this)