Chrome Dub Graffiti Shard End

A quick bit of Chrome Dub graffiti from Shard End. Which is an area in Birmingham UK for those that don't know it. Was in the area and spotted this at the back of a building. I think it is in the confines of Shard End Park, which is much bigger than I thought it would be. Lots of different parts to it. What does it say? I'm not sure. Rema, Fema maybe. MEF backwards.. I say MEF because I know that name from other Graffiti pieces in the Birmingham / West Midlands area.

#silver #black #wallart #graffode #graffiti #chrome# #dubs #brum #streetart #80s #style #90s #two-tone #spraycanart #shardendsides #uk #ginge #housing #estate #tz1camera #unedited #natural #basic

Panasonic Lumix FZ28 Battery

It seems like its harder to find the replacement battery I have in my Lumix FZ28 camera. Mine is a Duracell DR9668 Li-ion 7.4V/5.55Wh (750mAh). Works really well. If you can't find this exact replacement battery for your FZ28 there are many others available that work really well. One of the main ones other than Energizer if you can find it is from a brand called Kastar.

My Duracell battery for the FZ28. Here you can find the Kastar replacement

The Kastar is a higher capacity battery [1200mAh] than my Duracell so should last longer. This battery also works with the following models: DMC-FZ7, FZ8, FZ30, FZ35, FZ38 and FZ50. All these models basically use the same battery shape, size and similar / compatible voltages. So this battery works with any of them. Has a high review score.

#duracellreplacement #fz28battery #lumix #bridgecamera #aftermarket #fz50 #highcapacity #milliampere-hour #amazon #uk #usa #canada #quality #kastar #longlife #duration #li-ion #lithium #best #reviews #hibernation #oldoriginal #OEM #pack

Black and White Shadows

#black #white #shadows #camera #lumix #panasonic #leica #tz1 #testing #bw #blog #photo #mood #fake #world #view #image #old #zoom #5mp #reflections #dont #believe #what #u #see #on #teevee #or #interwebs #farce #facade #illusion #goodnight

It's Like Talking To A Brick Wall

The old saying; "It's Like Talking To A Brick Wall". I've started talking to brick walls. They are great listeners. Spoke to a few so far, but this one stood out and has become a good friend. The only good friend I've got. Warm mode with the Lumix.

Lumix Cool Mode Example Picture

Here is a quick picture I took in cool mode on my Lumix TZ1. It was cool vivid . On the TZ1 two options can be chosen.  You get the colour modes: Black and White, Warm, Cool, Sepia etc. And then there's also the option of Natural, Standard and Vivid. These two can be combined together, which is really good. I like vivid black and white mostly. And normal picture [all colours off] with only vivid turned on. Cool mode is quite good. There's a coldness, blue-ness / blue tinge to the pictures.

Stray cat is always watching me but keeps his distance. He certainly closes the gap when there's food available. He loves cheese.

Are There Two Types Of Lumix TZ1

I've been reading quite a lot of reviews on the Lumix TZ1 over the last week or so. I wrote a bit about how it was still currently for sale on Amazon after all these years. You can read that post here. I was surprised by the mediocre review score for my favourite camera. Don't get me wrong, some people love the camera, and some don't for one reason or another. However, from reading through all the reviews, the one thing that has stood out to me was that some people were buying their second Panasonic TZ1.

They had owned the first one and thought it was an excellent camera. But for whatever reason, after some years of ownership there was a problem. As happens with cameras of all shapes and sizes that are being used in real life. Things like, they dropped it and it broke, it just stopped working, they lost it etc.

Whatever the reason, these people loved the TZ1 and wanted to buy another one. So they did. The pattern here is that all of these people were disappointed with their new TZ1. Most said it was like using a totally different camera. Their first TZ1 took really good pictures, had great stabilization, and just worked well. Their second one was the total opposite. Some said it was a struggle to even get it take a picture that wasn't out of focus.

I personally believe these people are correct. Maybe a good amount of TZ1's were made with a fault of some kind. Or some were just inferior products. That would explain many of the poor review scores. And going on the comments from people buying their second or third Panasonic TZ1, it's luck of the draw.

He can't believe it either.

Some customers got a good one, and some got a bad one. That's what it seems like. I'm thankful that mine appears to be a good one. If it wasn't I would have been having a right good moan about how bad it is. And, like others who got a bad one as their first purchase, in disbelief at how great some reviewers say this camera is. Are we on about the same camera I'd say, just like others have said. Well, in this case, probably not. 

One man even accused websites reviewing this camera of uploading sample images that had been heavily edited in Adobe Lightroom editing software. He said there was no way those images came from the camera he bought. He could be right about the websites using editing software. Who knows for sure. But if I was to take a guess I'd say he probably got a bad camera.

So yes, going on peoples reviews and how some had experienced having both a "good" TZ1 and then a bad one, I'd say there definitely is two types of TZ1. This is terrible news for me, and anyone else thinking or needing to buy a TZ1 in the future.

It makes me hesitant to try and get another if something goes wrong with mine. I'd have to buy one used from somewhere online. So It's going to be hard to tell if its a goodie or a baddie before purchasing. And what if I, or anyone else looking for a good one, was on the receiving end of bad luck by purchasing one from somewhere and it ends up being a bad one. Then sending it back, then getting another one, and that's also a bad one. Imagine if this just kept on happening!

The TZ1 Is Still For Sale On Amazon

I was very surprised to see the Panasonic Lumix TZ1 DMC-TZ1K being sold on Amazon today. This camera was released almost 20 years ago now, and there have been thousands of new cameras released since then that have tons more features. But still, it is on there for sale. I've never read the reviews or viewed the buyers uploaded images on Amazon for this camera before, so that was cool. Sadly, though, the review score on the Amazon listing is quite poor. Reviews are quite mixed. It seems like some people did not like the TZ1 when it came out. Some were annoyed about its poor performance in low-light conditions among other things. And yes, I do agree. It isn't great in low light settings. But no camera is perfect.

This camera can still be found for sale on Amazon. You can see the listing here.

Also, the images on Amazon uploaded by buyers of the TZ1. Some are nice and have good sharpness [there's a great one of thunder striking the ground], but most are not so good. Most of mine are terrible, too. Haha. But I think some of the poor images on Amazon could possibly be down to Amazon striping some of the quality from the image in the upload process. Some websites do that, but I'm unsure if Amazon do. Maybe they did when these images were uploaded a long time ago [2006 / 2007].

One of mine in black and white. Stray cat yawning. It's a cats life.

I don't think they do it now. But then again, even with professional DSLR's, amateur and professional photographers take tens or even hundreds of shots in one sitting. Many of them are terrible and have noise, blur, wrong framing etc and get discarded. They go through all the pictures taken and pick out a few as the best ones. I think all cameras are the same in that respect.

I'm certainly no expert. I wouldn't even consider myself an amateur photographer. Just someone who likes taking pictures. But I've owned many cameras over years, DSLR's, Bridge cameras, point and shoots. And they were all the same. I never had a camera that could consistently take amazing shots one after the other.

Reading the reviews, it's strange to read such negative things about my favourite camera. I understand it though, it's not for everyone. However, I do think that maybe some of the negatives are due to people buying the camera, not knowing how to use it straight away, then rushing to write a review.

I bet many of the reviewers who didn't give the camera a great rating initially, on a first impressions basis, went on to use the camera for a week or two and ended up finding the best settings / stabilization etc. After that they got the hang of it and ended up loving it. They just couldn't be bothered to update their review. Or just forgot.

Brown Butterflies on Thistle flowers

This is just a theory of course. But I bet it did happen with some of those purchases. I've done it myself with other products. Not very often but it has happened in the past. I've bought a product, can't figure it out to begin with and think its terrible. Leave a review. Then, after a week I spend more time playing with it, figure it out and think its great. But the review doesn't get changed for whatever reason.

The price on Amazon. I mean, wow. It is high. I guess they are selling it with that - this is now a collectors item mindset. Someone would have to really love this camera to pay that much for it. I don't think anyone has bought a camera from that listing since 2006 / 2007. Actually, looking deeper and sorting by most recent, there has been reviews up to 2024 from people that bought the camera. And many of them are verified purchases.

Camera is available in Silver, Blue and Black. From different sellers. One of the sellers is from Japan, but the order is fulfilled by Amazon. So I think that means the product is in the USA. The TZ1 can be found much cheaper on eBay. I don't need a TZ1, I've got mine. But personally I wouldn't buy from eBay unless I really really had to. I am boycotting eBay due to all the bad changes they have implemented for buyers and sellers. And I advise others to do the same.

Amazing View From Hotel Window

I've seen some amazing views from hotel windows over the years. In real life and online. But nothing beats this one. This was at a Travelodge hotel in Birmingham UK. Frankley M5 Southbound to be exact, which is very near Bartley Green. Reviews are quite mixed for this hotel. My review would be good. Not a bad hotel at all. Staff leave you alone, room was nice, clean etc. Complaints. Freeview TV was terrible. It was really old and the "info" for what program was on at what time was non existent. Changing channels was really slow also. Other than that, and the fact that the toilet / bathroom never had a lock on the door, and that the bath was dirty and stained [did have a shower though], it was a fairly good experience for the price. I would stay there again.

A Great Blue Heron In UK

A Great Blue Heron In UK? I was reading about the Great Blue Heron before writing this post, and apparently it is a "rare vagrant to Europe". Not sure if that includes the UK as well. I'm no bird expert, so I'm unsure if this could be a grey heron. They apparently have a blueish plumage. Anyway, I was walking along the canal side in between Curdworth and Castle Vale in Birmingham UK, and there it was across the other side of the water just standing there. I zoomed in with the Panasonic TZ1 and took a few shots. I think it was shot in sports mode. Lovely bird to see in real-life. Quite surreal.

Just standing there catching some sun. Nah, he / she had other motives. I think it was probably trying to do a bit of fishing in the canal.

And here it is taking flight, flying away.

Panasonic DMC TZ1 SD Card Compatibility

I was reading a few review posts of SD card compatibility for the TZ1, but most of them were really old review posts. From like 2007. Some of them talk about how a special card is needed. Maybe back in the day it was a bit more specific. But these days any normal SD card will be fine in the TZ1. The only requirement is that the memory card is 2GB or under. I've had many different SD cards in my camera and never had a problem in terms of the camera writing the images to the card etc. Always fine.

 

Any normal 1GB or 2GB SD card will work fine.

I'm using an old 2 Gigabyte SanDisk [pictured above], but pretty much any normal [not micro] older slower write speed  / class 1GB or 2GB card [SanDisk, Transcend etc] will be compatible. The only issue I have ever come across is if you use an SD memory card in another camera, take some pictures, and then put that card back into the TZ1. The images taken on the other camera will show as blurred images if you try to view them in the TZ1. They won't display at full clarity. I wrote about this a few years ago. Other than that I've never had a problem. And this isn't really a big issue. The images can be viewed in full detail on any other device anyway.

DMC TZ1 Original Charger

Here is an original Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ1 original charger. They do come up for sale on websites like eBay etc. But usually they are sold with the camera. Not all the time though. The model number will vary depending on what country the charger was made for - UK, USA, Canada, Asia etc. Mine is the DE-A26 and was, I believe, intended for the Asian market. However, I am using it in the UK no problem with the help of a 2-pin to 3-pin mains plug adapter. Works well.

 

Image: Genuine Lumix DE-A26 charger. Read about a compatible replacement.

The original charger works a bit differently to the aftermarket replacement models. The original battery charge status is as follows. Green light = charging, flashing green light means there's an error [remove battery] and from solid green to no light shown / light off = fully charged.

With the replacements I believe it is red for charging, flashing red for an error, and green for fully charged. There are lots of replacements for sale, but I would recommend the one being sold by BM Premium. It has good reviews and comes with two batteries. Also, it is confirmed to work with the Lumix TZ1.

These Stray Cats

I'm not sure if the word is out around the cat campfire that round at my place there's a free meal going, but It certainly seems like it. There are stray cats turning up all the time. Maybe they can smell the cats I own. Or, seeing other cats getting fed just attracts even more cats. Maybe I'm just a soft touch. I can't not feed a stray cat that's out there meowing, looking like it needs food. So here we have two fairly new additions.

The one at the front [identified by names, Dracula, Adams Family, Beverly Hillbilly, Teenwolf head, Pavarotti and a few others / you should see his Dracula style head from the back] is very new and has one of the longest meows I've ever heard. The one at the back [Charlie] is really friendly and laid back. Here he is about to take a bite out of the other cats tail. Only kidding. He was yawning and I took the opportunity to take a picture with the TZ1 in black and white. They are tired, relaxing in the sun after eating.

DMC TZ1 Sample Photo

A quick sample photo of a bright orange and yellow flower shot in vivid mode with the Panasonic Lumix TZ1. It has been made smaller is size. It was shot in full size, which is 5 megapixels [info] with the TZ1. This image has been resized to a bit under half size, so its still quite big if you click to enlarge. Not sure what the flower is called but I think its quite common. In my opinion vivid mode is good on this camera. See another flower of the same colour combination, also shot in vivid mode with the same camera here.

Lumix TZ1 Battery Charger Replacement

There are quite a few Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ1 battery charger replacements out there to choose from. Your chances of finding an original Panasonic branded charger for this camera these days are fairly low and long winded compared to just buying a different brand, none original replacement charger that will probably be at your door within a few days to a week. And will work just fine. You could always look on eBay to try and find an original charger. They do come up for sale. Or, you could also look on eBay for someone selling the camera itself + accessories, which could potentially come with an original charger. Could take a while though. And, do you really want or need another TZ1 camera, or strictly just the charger.

The TZ1 compatible BM Premium Charger pack also comes with 2 batteries

If you want one right now and don't care about it being genuine Panasonic, as long as it does the job, there are quite a few options. However, I will only recommend the one that is 100% confirmed to work with the TZ1, as some chargers say they do but from reading the reviews they actually didn't work with this model. The one pictured above [from BM Premium] also comes with 2 lithium Ion batteries and is compatible with car charging and has the choice of either USA or European style plug mains / wall charging. 

UK buyers will need a Euro to UK 3-pin adapter plug for this charger to be compatible. They are very cheap. This one is also available in Canada. The package also comes with a 12 month warranty. This one is confirmed to work with the TZ1. Someone reviewed this bundle and stated that it brought their old TZ1 camera back to life. Red light equals charging, green light fully charged. Also said to work with the DMC-TZ3, TZ4, TZ5, TZ11.TZ15 and TZ50. Don't buy a new camera, keep the TZ1 going. It's a great camera.