the (un)real thoughts of realbt

Remember last September when I purchased a very, very cheap brandless digital camera as an attempt to get a cheap and not very high quality secondary camera?

Well the camera didn’t turn out to perform as well as I had expected, despite having very low expectations for the camera.

Still having a need for a secondary camera, I spotted the Samsung Digimax 202 at Future Shop. This camera doesn’t even come in a box; it’s one of those that ships in that hard form-fitting plastic cages. So I decided to pick it up and give it a try.

I brought it down to Oregon with me, and the photos turned out quite well. I did a small variety of outdoor shots before I left, and I was quite impressed. Indoor shots didn’t turn out as well, but that’s just a product of a cheap lens and bad light metering — something I was expecting. I’ll probably write something else about photo quality later, and perhaps do a side-by-side comparison.

As for physiccal specs, it’s very small and compact, and weighs just about right. For the price, it came with a set of disposable double A alkaline batteries and a small carrying case. Not too bad for $130. It uses MMC/SD, so I had to purchase a Secure Digital card in order to store more than 6 MB of worth of photos. It being only a 2 megapixel camera, only a small media card is necessary, especially considering it’s meant to be a secondary camera.

It has a fixed focal length, which is fine, and the lens has a built in automatic cover. The lens is also fitted with a permanent plastic flat cover that fits over and above the lens and cover. This means that the only thing I have to worry about getting dirty is this plastic cover. However, if this is scratched, it’s as bad as the lens itself. Interesting design choice. At least I got a free case.

The folks at UBC’s Main Library are keeping themselves pretty busy with construction. In case you haven’t been around the library lately (maybe you work on the far side of campus, or maybe you don’t even go to UBC … or maybe, you don’t even live in Canada!), they are currently undergoing a major process that involves tearing down all of the Main Library except for the 1920s gothic core. Say bye-bye to the Riddington Room. It’s gone. And they’re starting to tear down most of the old stacks, too.

It’s been quite the war zone around the library since the beginning of September, which is why I’ve chosen to call this series of photos Ground Zero, UBC, which adequately (in exaggerated terms) reflects the destruction around the library.

Looking through a chain-link fence to wear the north-wing (housing the Riddington Room) once stood. Earlier this week, there was more frame and less … nothing.

Looking through the same fencing, you can now see the Brock Hall Annex behind Ground Zero.

The development plan.

They seem to have patched up the “gothic core”. The few days that I attempted to do some work out of the Chapman Learning Commons, the construction noise was quite unbearable. I also saw them at some point removing some of the old stones that were placed onto the nasty 50s additions they were taking down. I assume they will be replacing these onto the original core, or onto the new extension when it goes up.

The same shot from a different angle.

All that remains of the north wing. It’s kind of sad to see it reduced to nothing.

This is a part of the stacks that they have started to dismantle.

This shows quite nicely how they have separated the north wing from the rear extension of the building.

All the glass has been removed.

… and you can see all the way through the building.

It feels a bit like an end of an era that I haven’t been around long enough to really see. The new plans include an automated book retrieval system in the new Main Library. They have a fancy name for the new centre — named after the person who donated all the cash to build the project. But I suppose it had to go — studies had shown that there was a 99% probability of being killed or injured or something or another during an earthquake in the Main Library. Something had to be done.

Yay! After much painful research (and help from a few friends), I finally purchases a digital camera. I bought a Fuji FinePix 2600 Zoom 2.1 megapixel camera with a 3x optical zoom. I love it!

I’ll be posting pictures soon, I’m sure …