(Photograph: Courtesy ‘www.dpreview.com’)
It has been a while since I bought a Panasonic Lumix FZ8 and a review has been pending. I would have loved to explore the camera a bit more before writing this, however I decided I better do it before the model gets taken over by it’s newer rivals (from Panasonic itself).
Why Panasonic?
Well, before buying this out, I never ever considered Panasonic as one of the options. However thanks to this post for introducing me to this camera. I kind-of got carried away by it’s super zoom capabilities. Upon researching a bit, it turned out that this camera is a great buy in it’s segment and scores decently over it’s rivals. And I don’t regret buying it!
I’ll keep my review short as a complete in-depth analysis can be found here.
I’ve taken about about 1000 snaps with the camera so far, and it hasn’t let me down. I’ll quickly touch upon some of the features I liked about it.
- The Lens: It has got a LEICA DC VARIO-ELMARIT, 36-432mm (35mm equiv) lens. No more explanations. Leica is into world class optics for quite some time now.
- Usability: The camera has well thought aesthetics and controls which make it easy to handle and operate even for a beginner like me. The inclusion of a ‘joystick’ makes it quite intuitive to operate.
- Pre-set Options: Panasonic has put in a wide variety of shooting modes which cover almost every scenario you could run into.
- Manual Mode: The camera exposes all the features to be adjusted manually allowing you to experiment and take control of the camera. Once I got used to the basics of photography, I could appreciate all the manual features exposed.
- The Zoom! : This is what I love. The camera has got a 12X Optical Zoom which makes it fall into the super zoom cameras we have in the market. Also, this gets extended to 18X if one reduces the image quality to 3MP. 18X is awesome! We are getting close to integrating telescopes into cameras!
- Optical Image Stabilization: FZ8 has got a great image stabilization algorithm which allowed me to take great shots even at relatively lower shutter speeds and/or greater magnifications without blurring the images. However don’t expect any magic over here. You would still need a tripod for longer exposers.
- Tele-Macro: Recently I have been experimenting with some Tele-Macro photography and I am satisfied with what FZ8 offers. Allows you to take great portraits with the depth-of-field effects. However I can’t focus on anything less than a meter or so when while at the farther end of the Tele mode (12X). No complaints as such. Even a meter is actually great when you consider the zoom.
I could go on. However I would be repeating most of the features already described in the review pointed earlier. I would recommend this camera to anyone with a budget of about US$ 250-300 (Not sure how much it costs in India). The Panasonic FZ8 has got everything to take you from a beginner to a mid-level photographer.
Some of the snaps I took over the last couple of months:
It has been some time since I traveled to a place for the sole purpose of relaxing. Finally the wait was over and I had a great weekend at an unheard (just came to know about it 2-3 days before I decided to explore it) place called Lansdowne. Precisely it’s a hill station in Uttarakhand which not many of us would have heard of. I am putting this down for a couple of reasons:
- Share my experience
- Serve as a guide to anyone planning to give it a shot
Some history and geography of Lansdowne before we move ahead (collated from the web):
“Lansdowne is the one of the closest hill station from Delhi, just 260 kms away.
Unspoilt nature, bracing air and a magnificent view of the snow-covered peaks inspire peace and tranquility. If you dream of the romance of the mountains then Lansdowne is the perfect place.
Surrounded with the world’s highest and most beautiful mountain ranges – the Himalayas, naturally Uttaranchal Hills are endowed with extraordinary beauty and most of it is unseen in the outside world. This makes Lansdowne an ideal location for eco-tourism. A clean fresh and invigorating environment makes Lansdowne a preferred destination to relax and unwind and it is a truly rejuvenating experience.
Lansdowne was originally a popular hill station with the Britishers. Attracted by its salubrious climate and natural beauty, they established a cantonment here. It was founded by Lord Lansdowne in 1887 A.D., thus the place has been named after him. The famous Garhwal Rifles of the Indian Army also has its command office here.
Lansdowne is situated at an altitude of 1,706 m enroute Kotdwar-Pauri road, 45 km from Kotdwar, engulfed by thick oak and blue pine forests. It is a very charming place for a quiet holiday as it is devoid of the usual hustle and bustle of hill stations.”
Getting there:
The route is very simple. Delhi-Meerut-Bijnor-Najibabad-Kotdwar-Dugadda-Lansdowne. After reaching Begum pul in Meerut, take a right turn to Bijnor, state highway starts from here. From Kotdwar, the hilly drive starts for around 45 km. After 30 km uphill once you reach Dugadda, the journey becomes more beautiful and views more breathtaking and memorable. You will be literally driving in Pine forests.
Nearest railway station is Kotdwar. Trains are easily available from Delhi. The best option is to take Mussoorie exp. from Delhi at around 2300 hrs, it will drop you to Kotdwar at around 0600 hrs in morning. From there, you can hire a cab for 400-500 rupees to Lansdowne, just a two-hour journey.
Activities
There are amazing mountain views of the Western Himalayas from a number of vantage points in Lansdowne like Snow View and Tiffin Top. Like other hill stations in north India, Lansdowne too has its fair share of temples and shrines, most of them devoted to the various forms of the Mother Goddess. While you are in Lansdowne, make a wish at Jwalpa Devi, 47 km from Lansdowne on the Pauri-Kotdwar Road, or visit the Durga Devi temple (24 km from Lansdowne) and the Tarkeshwar Mahadev (30 km) with its special Shivlinga. This temple is one of the oldest Sidhpeeths in India.
Things to pack:
Light woolen clothing for summer and heavy woolen garments for winter. Carry rain protection gear in all seasons.
Accomodation:
Some of the places to stay:
- Retreat Anand
- Fairydale Resort
- GMVN Tourist Bungalow
I stayed at Fairydale resort. The location and ambiance is superb. Rooms are decent, however, a bit damp. Food was nice. Hospitality was great. It was not very expensive. The overall experience was good and I would recommend it.
Personal Experience:
While the above should serve as a guide to plan a trip, I would highly recommend one to consider Lansdowne for a cool and relaxing break. What I loved was the drive from Kotdwar to Lansdowne. I witnessed all types of weather in a couple of hours! Sunshine, rains, fog, clouds, mist…you name it and it is highly likely that you will encounter all of this during the visit. Most importantly Lansdowne is not yet commercialized. There is a very relaxing aura about the place. It feels untouched, unexplored. You are bound to forget the everyday work hassles. I didn’t go for any activities like trekking etc. Still I could appreciate the place.
Interestingly my mobile connection (Vodafone) didn’t seem to work there! It was a pleasant change not to receive any calls and SMSes for a couple of days! I realized how intruding mobiles have become to us. Airtel works intermittently. Not sure if anything else works over there. So be prepared for this.
Also, there is no fuel station at Lansdowne! So if you are driving down, ensure that you get your vehicle refueled at Kotdwar. In case you run out of fuel, ask for ‘Chakki ki dukan’ in the ‘market’ at Landowne. You can buy petrol/diesel at a premium (not sure about the purity). However, try to avoid this at all costs.
Once again, apart from the stay at Lansdowne, what was so refreshing was the drive to and around the place. It was just out of the world. The only thing which was a bit irritating was a landslide which held us back for about 4 hours while returning. On the positive side, that gave me an opportunity to capture some breathtaking surroundings through my new camera.
Seeing is believing:
“A picture is worth a thousand words.” Lansdowne is a photographer’s delight. Look for some of the ones I captured over here.
It has been some time since I wanted to write on this. I held myself off this to ensure I don’t over react and put in something out of frustration. Usually, I have a lot of patience and don’t lose my cool easily but there’s something which has been bugging me for some time.
It is about undisclosed expectations. Now what’s that? I’ll have to build up a story around that. Let’s assume that there’s a kid in your neighborhood. You’ve got a family and there is a kid in your family as well, but he is too small to the world outside. You come to know of the neighborhood kid, meet him and somehow like him. Luckily you’ve got a chocolate with you and you give it to him. A couple of days pass, and by chance, you meet your little friend while taking an evening walk in the adjoining park. He greets you and and this time you offer him a chocolate again. Days pass on, and it becomes a sort of a routine. You buy chocolates for the neighborhood kid, slowly more because of an obligation rather than anything else. On the other hand, the kid has developed a shuttle expectation within himself, that you’ll offer him chocolates whenever you meet him. The kid has grown up, and so have the expectations. You think, now that the kid has grown up, probably he doesn’t need chocolates anymore. You’d rather give those to the kid at home, who has grown up enough to try out the chocolates now. You stop giving chocolates to the neighborhood kid and reserve them for home.
What happens now? In all probability, the neighborhood kid would start feeling uneasy and react. He would probably not think of all those days you’ve offered him chocolates, but will definitely react to the situation at hand. Assume that you can afford to give chocolates only to one kid. That makes it straightforward to be the kid at home rather the one in your neighborhood. You don’t really like the neighborhood kid’s reaction. Though he can’t claim those chocolates on you, he’ll show his resentment in one or the other ways. That makes you annoyed. You think you offered him the chocolates all these days you could, and now that the kid in your family needs you’ve just switched the attention. You think why should the neighborhood kid react like this?
In the above fabricated story, who is to be held responsible for the situation? You for offering chocolates initially and then pulling off? Or the kid for not acknowledging the fact he got chocolates out of nothing for all those days and should not complain for something which was never a norm?
Well he was just a kid! If you do this to the eldest of people, the situation is not going to improve. It is a human tendency to take things for granted, if they happen on a regular basis. We are bound to complain if it goes missing, even if it never belonged to us. It takes a lot of guts to happily acknowledge the fact that losing something which never belonged to you is not a loss at all! Why to complain? It was a bonus anyway. You can’t hold anyone responsible for not offering the bonus consistently.
It has happened to me is some way. It turns out that to avoid such situations, one should not stretch beyond limits on a regular basis. It sets that ‘Undisclosed Expectation’ which is very difficult to break. The ‘delta’‘ or the additional effort you put in should never be comparable to the ‘mainline’ effort. The undisclosed expectations could be very dangerous. Since one just can’t force this upon, they tend to react in unjustified ways.
Notes to myself: If I have to avoid setting ‘undisclosed expectations’ , I need to make a deliberate effort not to stretch beyond the comfort zone . Else, I’ll be in trouble. Anything which is within the comfort zone is fine, even it has some ‘delta’
Can anyone guess something out of the title of the post? We’ll you possibly can’t because I myself figured it while writing the last sentence in the post. So read on…
I’ve been juggling between roles for some time, at my work place. The last six months have been quite exciting in terms of happenings. Though the situation has been pretty hectic and quite demanding for quite some time now, I could figure out some humor in it.
In the software industry, people usually start as software Trainees, and with time, aptitude and potential become Developers, Sr. Developers. Tech Leads/Team Lead, Project Managers, Sr. Project Managers, Account Manager and so on. And then there are loads of other things like hiring, branding, training, pre-sales, accounts etc. which you can contribute in, based on your inclinations.
After a brief stint into development, I decided that it is not something I like the most. Just to emphasize, the ability to develop and the willingness to develop are two different things. However, the willingness (lack of willingness rather) can easily jeopardize the ability. Getting back to the roles, I guess an understanding of the development process definitely helps you when you move through the roles mentioned above. I’ve seen people coming straight into project management and creating a discomfort by virtue of having unrealistic expectation (there definitely are exceptions and I know a couple).
I’ve realized that I am not one of those who enjoy getting deep into development (though I respect people who do that), so after a couple of years of doing almost everything I mentioned above, I thought I am slowly getting into what I long for. Interestingly this is what actually happened:
Account Manager>Project Manager>Tech Lead>Developer..(hope it ends here! )
A reverse gear? Yup! Time and situation are really powerful. So now what next? Well I remember one of my professors at college saying,
“Anyone can excel in what they like doing, the challenge is to excel in something you don’t like and enjoy.”
I don’t even remember what subject he taught but do remember this point. Well, I am trying to motivate myself with this, not sure if this will help for long. Not that I do not enjoy coding at all, just that I enjoy the other things more which I may miss for sometime. So the professor’s statement applies to some extent.
So what’s the future? Well, next time when I move out of development (I hope it is soon) I’ll ensure that I have the right escape velocity so I don’t fall back and start it all again!
Enough of power cuts in the region I live and it became inevitable to buy an inverter/home UPS system. So I went ahead and did some very basic research before deciding upon buying the same. I am sharing the same over here in anticipation that it would help someone
With loads of power backup options available in the market, it becomes quite a bit of an exercise to get to the right product. More so because of the aggressive marketing of the products, which may be misleading. Before even getting into the options, one needs to figure out the needs. For example, in my case I wanted a solution which would give a back-up of 2-3 hours for the following:
| S. No. | Equipment | No. of Units | Approx. Wattage / Unit | Total Wattage |
| 1. | Fan | 3 | 70 | 70*3 = 210 |
| 2. | CFL | 4 | 25 | 25*4 = 100 |
| 3.. | Notebook | 2 | 75 | 75*2 = 150 |
| 4. | TV | 1 | 120 | 120*1 = 120 |
| 5. | Miscellaneous (Modem, Router etc.) | NA | 50 | 50*1 = 50 |
| Total | 630 W | |||
So, I need a solution which can give me 630 W of power for 3 hours at a stretch (assuming I run all of the above for 3 hours). Now let’s do some high school physics calculations:
P (Power in Watts) = V (Voltage in Volts) * I (Current in Amperes)
Before we move ahead into the calculations, let’s clarify a couple of points:
What is the difference between an inverter and a UPS?
Well some think that these two are competing concepts, however the bottom line is that an ‘inverter’ is an equipment to convert Direct Current (D.C.) into Alternating Current (A.C.) where as an UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) is a circuitry which allows an instantaneous switch to the backup power source in case of a power failure thereby ensuring an uninterrupted power supply to sensitive equipments like a computer.
Now the only thing which needs an uninterrupted power supply in my list of equipments is the notebook, but that is anyway ensured by the notebook battery. So do I need a UPS? Well yes, I would want an uninterrupted internet connection in case of a power failure so I need the modem and router running in continuum.
Now that I know I need an inverter with UPS, do I need to look into anything else? Well yes, there are different types of inverters available in the market:
Square Wave Inverters: Popularly known as ‘Digital Inverters’ produce a Square Wave AC output which is not so great to run appliances as all the appliances are designed to run on a Sine Wave Alternating Current Pattern. Also, you would notice a humming sound in some of the appliances. Though electrical appliances would bear this, running electronic appliances over Square Wave is not at all recommended.
Sine Wave Inverters: These inverters produce the right wave pattern (Sine Wave) for which the appliances are designed. One can safely run most of the appliances on such current output.
Quasi Sine Wave Inverters: These fall somewhere in-between the above. I am not too sure about the internals. Also, didn’t find them in the market. But apparently they offer a low cost solution to run PCs and other electronic equipments on inverters.
Now what remains is the power storage medium, which, of course, is the battery. Again loads of options available which only confuse you. I didn’t think a lot over this and decided to go with an Exide Tubular Battery. Let’s have a real quick glance at the main options available relevant to inverters:
Standard Batteries: Loads of them available in the market. But they need maintenance i.e. putting in the distilled water on an ongoing basis.
Maintenance Free Batteries: While some claim they don’t need maintenance throughout their life-time, most of the maintenance free batteries need maintenance once a year or so.
Tubular Batteries: These batteries are superior in technology, construction and the quality of material used within. While you can figure out some nitty gritty here and here, they offer the following advantage:
- They are maintenance free.
- Long life (5+ years)
- Faster Charging
- More efficient
Though tubular batteries are a bit expensive, but considering their advantages I concluded that in the long-run, they actually turn out cheaper.
To wrap this up, let’s quickly get back to the calculations. So I needed a solution which could provide me with 630 Watts of power for 3 hours. Inverters available in the market are generally rated in VA/KVA.
Since, V*A=P, I need a 630 VA inverter. A very important point to keep in mind is the power factor. You would never get the rating mentioned in the inverter specifications. Considering a power factor of 0.8 (again figured out with some research) I would need an inverter with the following rating:
xVA * 0.8 = 630 VA
=> x= 630/0.8 = 787 VA
Luckily, for me we have 800 VA inverters available in the market, which perfectly fit to my needs. Note that this is a limiting factor w.r.t. the total wattage of appliances you can use. For instance I can’t run a 1000 watt appliance on an 800 VA inverter!
Now the battery. Inverter batteries are usually available in 12 V and are rated in Ampere Hours (AH). Since P=V*I and I need a backup for 3 hours,
630 W * 3 Hours = 12V * x (Ampere Hours)
=> x = (630 * 3)/12 = 157.5 AH
Again, luckily I discovered that we have batteries rated 165 AH in the market. So I decided to go with it.
Bingo! I have the details now. I need an 800VA inverter and a 165 AH battery for my needs. I just need to decide upon a brand based on the reviews.
Also, note that the above calculations are indicative. To quickly figure out how much back-up you would get while running a subset of the wattage considered at the time of buying, use the following:
Backup Time (Hours) = (Battery Voltage * Rating (in AH))/ Wattage required.
So if I just run 3 fans, i.e. 210 Watts, I would get a backup time of (on a fully charged battery):
12*165/210 = 9.4 hours
I can also run two moderate air coolers for about 7 hours. That’s sufficient for a night’s sleep
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