L0n3Gr3yW0lf
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Somerset, UK
- Name
- Ovi
I have a resident at work, let's call him Master Chief, that is very VERY excited about making pictures. Some of that is because he can be a bit jealous of the resident that I am responsible for looking after.
But since I am not his key worker I don't have, technically, responsibility for Master Chief's needs. I have tried to get his key worker (currently and the past ones) to get them to buy a camera for Master Chief so he can make pictures but my requests have gone unanswered for almost 2 years. I have tried to get things working with the management but I have gotten so many different answers that they went from "get him anything he needs" to "the budget is 150 £ at most" to "all of it has to be in one payment recipe only" from one month to another.
After being begged by Master Chief to take him out to buy a camera my heart started breaking (like literal physical chest pains from empathy) having to postpone him for so long I decided to take matters into my own hand.
The reason is that Master Chief gets very excited about holding pictures in his hands and wanting to get everyone's attention to the picture he has and often giving it away to others, being staff or his fellow residents. He has a very big and soft heart, he loves my Little Legs and is very happy when I give him prints of her when I use (and have enough reserves) my Fujifilm Instax Wide printer.
Given that I have I'll have to use my own money I was hard capped at 150 to 200 £ at most, more then that and I would have to sacrifice more then I earn. So I pulled extra shifts last month, 190 hours, to have some money to do this.
There are some very specific needs and requirements that made this task more difficult. Master Chief has no mobility in his body beyond moving his head and one arm and limited other arm. His dexterity is also very compromised so he can't hold the camera. He can move around using his motorised wheelchair using his hand.
That made some very specific requirements I need to look for.
*The camera has to have IBIS to make sure that the images will not be blurry, the wheelchair can be wobbly and the table that sits on his lap can giggle.
*The camera needs to have a big and reasonable sharp and easy to see because of his limited body position, minimum 3 inch and 640K or more dots resolution.
*The camera has to have a wired or wireless remote trigger because the only way he can get involved in making the image is by pressing a remote due to his lack of dexterity.
*The camera needs to have a large optical zoom because he frequently goes on trips to zoos, farms and other places and having over 200mm access will allow him to get pictures of animals.
*The camera needs to have 28mm or 24mm for selfies including a flip out screen because he loves having images of himself and with other people, like residents and staff.
*The camera must have an effective Automatic mode to be able to keep the process extremely simple and easy to use for both Master Chief and the staff that may be on the trip with him.
*The camera must have a decent IQ output, enough for a A4 print for him to share with others.
All of this was quite difficult within the budget I had and it limited me to second hand market only.
In the end it came doesn to 2 options that I could find:
*Sony HX200
*Panasonic FZ150
Both being around 100 £ on the used market. But after weeks of looking around everywhere I chanced upon an even better option, the Panasonic FZ200, from Buyee 2nd hand market in Japan.
It was a bit of a gamble because the camera did not come with a charger but the seller said that all the camera functions work. And I managed to win the bid for only 83 £ which was way less then I expected ... But the shipping did cost 5 £ from the seller to Buyee and 23 £ from Buyee (Japan's) to me (UK).
The next step was that I needed to get a USB battery charger for the camera battery (which arrived on Friday), a wired remote shutter (tested it and it works), and a lens cap because the camera came without one (which I am still waiting for).
I tested the camera on Friday and the only bad news is that the camera is in Japanese and no option to change it to any other languages (no firmware hacks either). Apparently Japan was limiting some products to Japanese market by having Japanese language on the device only so people don't buy them and export them cheaper then buying in other countries ... I wish I knew this sooner but it's to late for that now.
Everything came out around 150 £ and all the functions of the camera work, I tested it last night after work. I just need to test it during the day where there's plenty of light and put it in Auto+ to see how it handles it.
After the lens cap arrives I will give it to Master Chief along side my Jobby GorillaPod to have it on his wheelchair table, a selfie stick that a staff member can use to help Master Chief make a selfie and one of my holster camer bag to fit everything but the selfie stick in.
I will refuse any refunds from my workplace for all of this stuff because I know there will be one staff member or management that will complain about doing things on my own and my way, the company I work for I truly despise for their Corporate nature and profits only mindset. I work with people for people, not for effing profits ... But that's privatisation of care in UK I guess (well it's going the same way I'm Romania too).
And besides, while I do have all the recipes, I have no way of putting them in just one bill and I would never be able to find one place to sell all of this with one bill.
But I am happy and proud to bring photography to another soul who enjoys it. It's the least I could do and the most I am seem to be able to do.
But since I am not his key worker I don't have, technically, responsibility for Master Chief's needs. I have tried to get his key worker (currently and the past ones) to get them to buy a camera for Master Chief so he can make pictures but my requests have gone unanswered for almost 2 years. I have tried to get things working with the management but I have gotten so many different answers that they went from "get him anything he needs" to "the budget is 150 £ at most" to "all of it has to be in one payment recipe only" from one month to another.
After being begged by Master Chief to take him out to buy a camera my heart started breaking (like literal physical chest pains from empathy) having to postpone him for so long I decided to take matters into my own hand.
The reason is that Master Chief gets very excited about holding pictures in his hands and wanting to get everyone's attention to the picture he has and often giving it away to others, being staff or his fellow residents. He has a very big and soft heart, he loves my Little Legs and is very happy when I give him prints of her when I use (and have enough reserves) my Fujifilm Instax Wide printer.
Given that I have I'll have to use my own money I was hard capped at 150 to 200 £ at most, more then that and I would have to sacrifice more then I earn. So I pulled extra shifts last month, 190 hours, to have some money to do this.
There are some very specific needs and requirements that made this task more difficult. Master Chief has no mobility in his body beyond moving his head and one arm and limited other arm. His dexterity is also very compromised so he can't hold the camera. He can move around using his motorised wheelchair using his hand.
That made some very specific requirements I need to look for.
*The camera has to have IBIS to make sure that the images will not be blurry, the wheelchair can be wobbly and the table that sits on his lap can giggle.
*The camera needs to have a big and reasonable sharp and easy to see because of his limited body position, minimum 3 inch and 640K or more dots resolution.
*The camera has to have a wired or wireless remote trigger because the only way he can get involved in making the image is by pressing a remote due to his lack of dexterity.
*The camera needs to have a large optical zoom because he frequently goes on trips to zoos, farms and other places and having over 200mm access will allow him to get pictures of animals.
*The camera needs to have 28mm or 24mm for selfies including a flip out screen because he loves having images of himself and with other people, like residents and staff.
*The camera must have an effective Automatic mode to be able to keep the process extremely simple and easy to use for both Master Chief and the staff that may be on the trip with him.
*The camera must have a decent IQ output, enough for a A4 print for him to share with others.
All of this was quite difficult within the budget I had and it limited me to second hand market only.
In the end it came doesn to 2 options that I could find:
*Sony HX200
*Panasonic FZ150
Both being around 100 £ on the used market. But after weeks of looking around everywhere I chanced upon an even better option, the Panasonic FZ200, from Buyee 2nd hand market in Japan.
It was a bit of a gamble because the camera did not come with a charger but the seller said that all the camera functions work. And I managed to win the bid for only 83 £ which was way less then I expected ... But the shipping did cost 5 £ from the seller to Buyee and 23 £ from Buyee (Japan's) to me (UK).
The next step was that I needed to get a USB battery charger for the camera battery (which arrived on Friday), a wired remote shutter (tested it and it works), and a lens cap because the camera came without one (which I am still waiting for).
I tested the camera on Friday and the only bad news is that the camera is in Japanese and no option to change it to any other languages (no firmware hacks either). Apparently Japan was limiting some products to Japanese market by having Japanese language on the device only so people don't buy them and export them cheaper then buying in other countries ... I wish I knew this sooner but it's to late for that now.
Everything came out around 150 £ and all the functions of the camera work, I tested it last night after work. I just need to test it during the day where there's plenty of light and put it in Auto+ to see how it handles it.
After the lens cap arrives I will give it to Master Chief along side my Jobby GorillaPod to have it on his wheelchair table, a selfie stick that a staff member can use to help Master Chief make a selfie and one of my holster camer bag to fit everything but the selfie stick in.
I will refuse any refunds from my workplace for all of this stuff because I know there will be one staff member or management that will complain about doing things on my own and my way, the company I work for I truly despise for their Corporate nature and profits only mindset. I work with people for people, not for effing profits ... But that's privatisation of care in UK I guess (well it's going the same way I'm Romania too).
And besides, while I do have all the recipes, I have no way of putting them in just one bill and I would never be able to find one place to sell all of this with one bill.
But I am happy and proud to bring photography to another soul who enjoys it. It's the least I could do and the most I am seem to be able to do.