Less Hustle More Coffee

Ugh! It was a HOT one yesterday, but I was inside in the A/C all day working on Friday payroll prep activities in advance of next week’s Payroll. Was also able to do some preliminary work (“pulling of numbers”) for doing my quarter end reconciliation. By the time I got off of work, it was still hot but a summer dry frontal system was coming thru lowering the humidity and it felt more like Arizona heat at that point. I was even surprised that it was 96 degrees! But that said, I finally made the decision on what camera to get!

Decision Made on Camera

So while I have a lot of other things I should be doing, I could not get ordering the camera off of my brain! It seemed like a big chore to figure out which camera would be the best for me as a starter camera for making videos and yet one that I would enjoy personally and also for the blog. I went to the main source that I normally use for information. I went with the YouTuber’s recommendations. I mean even the iphone takes great photos so my main interest in investing in the the camera is to do the vlogs and enhance my photos. I was a little confused at first. I steered away from anything over $1,000. That’s overkill and not needed at this point. My goal when I began looking was around $500 and I figured it would be more like $700. And it will be as I will probably buy a couple of items to go with it as needed. Like maybe a flash, some filter lenses, microphone and wind muff, and things I don’t even know I need yet, ha! Oh and the wide angle lens.

Hands down in my price range, it was clear that the Canon EOS M50 was the way to go as it has good color, dual pixel CMOS, a good autofocus, LCD touchscreen, and a microphone port which is a must. And it has built in stabilization. And I could go on. It has 4k capability but not recommended as that is not its best functionality. I’ve been told I don’t really need that as most everyone does excellent videos in 1080, although it has the ability for 4k but takes away some of your features and crops the video down quite a bit. And that is fine. The down side is the battery life – but I ordered a charger with 2 extra batteries to help remedy that, as recommended. The good qualities and the price make that doable. So I’m learning a lot but have a whole lot to learn. At least (I think/I hope) that I’ve chosen the right one for me based on the overwhelming recommendations on this camera. Oh and I already know I will want a wide angle lens. But will have to wait for that!

But here she is. I’ll be doing a lot of video watching to learn how to use it! And then from there I’ll take pics in the yard. Then I’ll branch out to taking various pics in the community as well as video and will be learning how to use it. It seems fairly simple though compared to many of them out there. And it’s lightweight and easy to grip and hold. So I’m excited!

By saving up my spending money since March (money on getting my nails done, hair done, and probably a bit less eating out) has allowed me to do this. I handed over $400 to George immediately just cash I had. The rest he allowed me to use our Amazon $ from ordering all year. We normally use it at Christmas. And then there was the rest of my stimulus money that he told me was parked in savings for my use. Although I didn’t get to use that as it’s no longer there. I brought that up, but apparently he spent our stimulus on fixing the roof/chimney. Darn it! I didn’t know that! Oh well at least the roof no longer leaking in the sun room around the chimney. Good thing I had not ordered that extra wide lens to go with it already thinking I remembering I had that money tucked away, huh? Maybe I should have and just called it an oopsie I didn’t know. lol. Yeah b/c I really didn’t know and it would have been the truth. But I do work too, so….I do see the wide angle lens at some point. But I have enough to keep me occupied for now til I learn what I’m doing with the regular lens it comes with. I actually thought the wide angle lens came with the kit I ordered as it had an extra lens with it but turns out it just had it showing separately I guess. That is why my heart is set on the wide angle b/c I thought I had it in this kit and I don’t. 🙁 But it’s all good. It’s not necessary to have it yet, it just shows more behind you at a wider angle. It’s a later thing. And it won’t take me long to earn enough to buy it anyway with just my blow money.

Weekend Outlook & Other Thoughts

And so as I knew it would – finding the camera choice and doing this blog has taken a chunk of morning. But I’m two loads in on the wash. We are about to go out to run some errands and then I’ll be in for the weekend.

I’ve put in a request for Beef Stew this weekend. And what we have tonight will be something fresh we get at the store I guess.

Got the big Target order done – ordered some cleaning supplies, vinegar, and household goods, and alcohol pads in case we have injuries. You can’t get rubbing alcohol at least at Kroger anyway. So I have those in case we need to wipe wounds/cuts clean. I have peroxide already. Oh I forgot to order bandaids. Anyway Kroger was short on a lot of things and with the next wave of virus coming thru I wanted to make sure we had back up. I like to have at least one of something on hand now as some things are not as readily handy anymore.

George says as it gets closer and closer to time to go to Texas it is looking like we may not get to go due to Corona Virus. We decided to wait to decide when we are about a week out. He’s not worried about cancelling hotels but I am. Hey if he’s not worried about the hotel room then there is no worry over the wide angle lens, right? HA!

Anyway, excited to get back to my Saturday. But I can tell you that I am really excited about my camera! I’ve asked George if he will go with me to do some photo/video shoots? He really didn’t answer until I said “we could visit some wineries – maybe some will be open for tasting in some of these off the beaten path towns”. So we are making plans. But I’ll film the neighborhood spots first. I can’t wait to see what this camera will do! And I can’t wait to get out and use it! And my heart is still set on going to TX and I look forward to using it there. I just hope we get to go! I’ll be praying we do get to go.

More tomorrow! Gotta get get going on our Saturday. Wow, it’s almost noon!