Bought Myself a Present, and Some Other News...

The neurologic stuff has been whacking me recently, so I decided to spoil myself with a somewhat extravagant present. I've been jonesing for a new camera for a while now, but because any camera I use needs to have several specific features to make it Wheelchair Kamikaze friendly (most notably, a flip out viewscreen, and both still and video capabilities), my choices have been limited. You can see my basic setup, with my old camera, here.

This past spring, Panasonic announced it would be marketing very sophisticated camera that appeared to have the perfect combination of Wheelchair Kamikaze features. The camera didn't hit the market until mid-September, and I placed an order for it on the first day it became generally available.

So, I'm now the proud owner of a Panasonic GH-1. The camera takes beautiful still photographs, and also does HD video, which means that you should see a significant increase in the image quality of future Wheelchair Kamikaze videos. Oh boy!

I've already shot some raw footage for a new video, a trip to the Museum of Modern Art, so I'll have to get busy editing it. Unfortunately, for the next several weeks I'm going to be dealing with cataract surgery (yes, despite being 46 years old, I'm doing my best impression of a 90 year old), so I'm not sure that my eyes will be in "video editing" condition. In fact, I'm not even sure if my eyes will be in "computer viewing" condition, so if my posts here become a little less frequent, please understand.

The eye doctors are telling me that my distance vision should be vastly improved almost immediately, but that my close-up and reading vision will definitely require glasses, which I won't be able to get until after the surgeries have healed sufficiently for my vision to become stable. My right eye is being operated on this coming Tuesday (October 27), and the left eye the Tuesday after that (November 3). I'm sure I'll figure something out, though, so you'll not be free from my relentless blatherings for too long...

This past week I was down in Bethesda for yet another visit to the National Institutes of Health, which I'll report on when all the information is in and I've been able to discuss it with my doctors. No sense spouting off here before I know what the hell I'm talking about...

Anyway, here are a few photos that I've taken with the new camera. These were shot in Central Park, which is an ever-changing photographer's paradise. Please feel free to comment and critique to your hearts content. I'm always open to constructive criticism (and lavish praise). Click on the thumbnail to see a full-size image...