Ireland

FLOWERS IN ALL THEIR GLORY 28 APRIL 2023

April 28, 2023 by infomatique

I USED A SONY FX-30 CAMERA

Flowers have long been appreciated by humans for their beauty and pleasant scents, and also hold cultural significance as religious, ritual, or symbolic objects, or sources of medicine and food.

Most flowering plants depend on animals, such as bees, moths, and butterflies, to transfer their pollen between different flowers, and have evolved to attract these pollinators by various strategies, including brightly colored, conspicuous petals, attractive scents, and the production of nectar, a food source for pollinators. In this way, many flowering plants have co-evolved with pollinators be mutually dependent on services they provide to one another—in the plant’s case, a means of reproduction; in the pollinator’s case, a source of food.

MR SQUIRREL WAS DISAPPOINTED

April 28, 2023 by infomatique

BECAUSE I DID NOT GIVE HIM ANY FOOD

A few years ago, while visiting the Botanic Gardens, I overheard a woman complaining to a member of staff that she had been bitten by a squirrel.

Until recently they often had red squirrels feeding on the ground, especially around Pine Hill. Since 2005, however, they have not been seen. Red squirrels are displaced by the introduced grey squirrels, which are able to eat unripe nuts, thus outcompeting the red squirrels by eating most of the food resources before they are palatable to the reds. The spread of pine martens across the country is often a forerunner of red squirrels successfully making a comeback so they may return from the populations on Howth Head and Killiney Hill. Although the grey squirrels are delightful to watch, please remember that they are wild animals – not pets, they often bite.

MY FIRST TIME TO VISIT EAMON CEANNT PUBLIC PARK IN CRUMLIN

April 23, 2023 by infomatique

23 APRIL 2023 – I USED A SIGMA DP1 QUATTRO CAMERA

Eamonn Ceannt Park in Crumlin is named after one of the executed leaders of the 1916 Rising.

Eamonn Ceannt Park is located between Sundrive Road and Clogher Road, in the Crumlin area of South Dublin City. It includes numerous mature trees, an athletic track, playing fields, tennis courts, basketball court, children’s playground and a state of the art cycling velodrome.

Crumlin covers the area from the River Poddle near the KCR (Kimmage Cross Roads) to Sundrive Road and Crumlin Cross at The Submarine Bar to Crumlin’s village core and the Drimnagh Road, to Bunting Road, Crumlin Road then along the Grand Canal from Rialto Bridge to Sally’s Bridge. It is situated near to the city centre, on the Southside of Dublin city. Neighbouring areas include Walkinstown, Perrystown, Drimnagh, Terenure, and Kimmage. Crumlin is contained within postal district Dublin 12.

A few years ago i was offered a Sigma DP1 Quattro at a very good price and while I had a bad experience with all my previous Sigma cameras I decided to accept the offer especially as the camera could produce .dng images but, as you may have guessed, there were many problems that can be really annoying.

The DP1 Quattro is a fixed lens camera aimed at enthusiasts who demand the best image quality in a reasonably portable form factor. Announced in September 2014, it’s a unique camera in many respects, employing an unusually-shaped body, a fixed focal length lens and a sensor unlike any outside of Sigma’s range. It also eschews modern features we take for granted on other new cameras such as Wifi or even a movie mode. The DP1 Quattro is all about still photo quality.

ST STEPHEN’S GREEN 15 APRIL 2023

April 15, 2023 by infomatique

SONY NEX7 CAMERA AND 18-105MM LENS

Cared for by the Office of Public Works, the park is an important public resource in the area, and provides an oasis of green calm in the middle of a bustling city. Its four centuries of history are eventful and complex, involving such important figures as Arthur Guinness, 1st Baron Ardilaun, and Countess Constance Markievicz. The park itself hosts a large number of important sculptural monuments to Irish history. Many species of birds and plants also call the park their home. Public facilities at St Stephen’s Green Park include a playground and a garden for the visually impaired.

A few days ago I discovered that I had a Sony E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS lens which I do not remember buying and what is even more confusing is that I do not purchase anything other than full-frame lenses. Sony describes the lens as follows: This G Lens for E-mount cameras delivers stunning still or movie imagery with the flexibility of 6x power zoom. Maximum aperture is a constant F4 from 18mm wide angle to 105mm medium telephoto, with excellent resolution and contrast throughout. A lever and ring on the lens barrel allow zoom speed to be freely adjusted as required while maintaining a sure, stable grip.

When I used the 18-105mm lens with my FX-30 camera [APS-C sensor] I was very disappointed with the results as many of the images had focus issues or suffered from motion blur. I could not decide if the lens was the problem or if there was something wrong with the camera body so I used a Sigma 14mm lens yesterday and the results were more than acceptable. However, before concluding that the lens was substandard I decided to try it with my very old NEX-7 body [purchased Christmas 2011].

The Sony α NEX-7 is a digital camera announced 24 August 2011 by Sony. It is a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera and as such inherits a smaller body form factor than a traditional digital single-lens reflex camera, while still retaining the sensor size and features of an APS-C-sized model. It is targeted at experienced users, enthusiasts and professionals. It is replaced by the ILCE-6000 (α6000). At the time of its release, the Sony Alpha NEX-7 had the best image quality among any mirrorless interchangeable-lens compact camera which had been tested by DxO Labs and also the best APS-C Sensor camera from Sony. Sony α65, Sony α77 and NEX-7 have similar sensors and received DxOMark Overall Scores of 74, 78, and 81, respectively. The image quality of NEX-7 can be comparable with Nikon D7000 (score 80) and Pentax K-5 (score 82).

I failed to reach a conclusion but I do like using the NEX-7 even though I need to bring at least four spare batteries with me.

TREES AND MORE TREES

April 14, 2023 by infomatique

THE BOTANIC GARDENS IN GLASNEVIN

Because of restrictions that applied as a result of Joe Biden’s visit one of the few options open to me was to visit the Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin … I could not believe how cold the weather was and it rained a number of times while I was exploring the Gardens.

I used a Sony E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS lens which I do not remember buying and what is even more confusing is that I do not purchase anything other than full-frame lenses. Sony describes the lens as follows: This G Lens for E-mount cameras delivers stunning still or movie imagery with the flexibility of 6x power zoom. Maximum aperture is a constant F4 from 18mm wide angle to 105mm medium telephoto, with excellent resolution and contrast throughout. A lever and ring on the lens barrel allow zoom speed to be freely adjusted as required while maintaining a sure, stable grip.

I was disappointed with the performance of the lens as many of the images were not properly focused and there were many examples of motion blur. At the time I could not decide if the fact that the FX30 does not have a viewfinder might have contributed to the poor performance or that I was to blame. On the following day I used a sigma 14mm lens and there were no issues … at a later date I will try the 18-105mm lens with my old NEX-7 whit is not a full-frame camera.

The National Botanic Gardens of Ireland are an oasis of calm and beauty, and entry is free. A premier scientific institution, the Gardens contain important collections of plant species and cultivars from all over the world. The National Botanic Gardens in Dublin are located in Glasnevin, just three kilometres from Dublin City Centre, and are famous for the exquisitely restored historic glasshouses. The National Botanic Gardens in Wicklow are located in Kilmacurragh, where the milder climate, higher rainfall, and deeper, acidic soils of this historic Wicklow garden, provide a counterpoint to the collections at Glasnevin. The two gardens have been closely associated since 1854. The National Botanic Gardens of Ireland are operated and managed by the Office of Public Works.