Guernsey August 2010 .....

[CondorX5]

I had some business in Guernsey about 10 days ago....never been there before. After a flight from East Mids which ended up nearly 11 hours (!!!) -left an hour late, circled several times due to fog, returned to EMA as fuel running out, refuelled, waited for another 2 hours and set off again - landed at midnight! Not bad for a trip which should have been just over an hour from EMA which should have set off around midday....
The marina at St Peter's Port was really busy and there were some interesting boats and ferries and cruise ships......

Treated myself to a new camera (VAT free) while there and here are a few pics.......





There was pretty good water traffic control from the harbour master.....and an ordely queue formed to be led into the safety of the enclosed marina after a bad weather warning.....



The tide rolled in at an amazing rate ......



One of the many many many gun turrets built by the Germans in the Second World War during the Occupation of the Channel Islands....




Gorgeous beaches around the island with very few 'orrible 'oliday makers around....




Peace and solitude.....




Another one of the German Fortifications.....this one now used as a venue for music fests etc. The islanders have embraced the wartime buildings as part of their heritage - Hitler was apparently obsessed with fortifying Guernsey and wasted loads of time and effort and resources here which may just have helped the embattled Allied forces when they needed it most.....



Water in the harbour so clean that you could see big fish swimming between boats......





Another view another day......





Our transport on the island......not quite like the X, but hey, the island max speed limit was 35mph, so who cares??




The Castel out on a point of the island harbour at night......

[Chompers]

Some nice pics there Condor, I've only been to Jersey and that was many many years ago. Whats the details of the new camera you purchased?

[pvr]

Very nice indeed.

I trust you were not searched on your return for cash

[CondorX5]

[quote=""Chompers""]Some nice pics there Condor, I've only been to Jersey and that was many many years ago. Whats the details of the new camera you purchased?[/quote]

Its one of Panasonic's new range of micro four thirds DSLR's, the G2, in a nice fetchingly-blue-Lemans type colour (well it made a nice change from bog-standard black which all my previous DSLRs were!) I bought the kit with two lenses, the 14-42 and the 45-200. I'm tired of big bulky DSLRs- I've had Canons for years, but I'm finding increasingly that I just leave them at home as they're too bulky and too heavy. My partner, who has an honours degree in photography, always carries a little Canon G-series, currently a G11, and I generally inherit the previous model, but good though it is, I miss the interchangeable lens flexibility of a DSLR. I checked out the compact Panasonic body (GF series) which takes these same lenses, but decided on the slightly bigger G2 as its still small and light. Initially I thought I would like the new Sony Nex 5, but once I looked at it and actually had it in my hands, it was not as balanced as the Panasonic. Sadly Nikon and Canon have yet to issue their first micro four thirds cameras, so the choice was limited. Guernsey has a Jessops and an independent called Guernsey Photographic - Jesspos was just as as on the mainland, but the indy was helpful and nice to deal with so I bought the kit there - didn't really need a new camera, but I thought it might help revive one of my longest-standing hobbies and help reduce stress levels a bit!! I've loved using it so far and just want to try to enjoy things a bit more again.


[quote=""pvr""]Very nice indeed.

I trust you were not searched on your return for cash [/quote] Its amazing that a tiny island of 25 sq miles which has a population of about 50 000 has a GDP of over 4 billion pounds a year....... No-one seemed to bother at customs...Guernsey airport is very relaxed, like being in a time warp. Bought some duty free perfume but that's about it! As for the cash......I WISH!!!!! Not this time

[pvr]

So no brasso required to polish the door plate then whilst you were there

[Minda]

Some great pics there!

[x555]

The camera looks up to scratch some great photo's and scenery there Condor ..looks like a beutiful place ....but then i am used to that scenery where i live.I'm lucky as i get to see all that any day of the week ...........but then we do have all the 'orrible oliday' makers to put up with aswell

[Pewters]

Nice pics!!! i want to go to the cheannel islands one day

[AW8]

Another thumbs up for the pics

Perhaps I am being thick but on a quick net search I don't see your Panasonic G2 as significantly smaller than say a Canon EOS 500 or 550, (is which would probably be though to be fair I didnt compare wqeight/dimesions etc.


Your knowledge of cameras doubtless superior to mine - In dedicated camera terms I merely own a now redundant 35mm Samsung 1050

I simply use my Sony 8.1MP Cybershot camera phone not least because it's always close to hand. Sod's law says a decent camera would be at home in the cupboard on days I happened to want to snap something of interest as for me photos are so often about unforseeen opportunity. I am not daft and appreciate the restrictions of camera phones, not least of all by lens. That said for face shots & random opportune snapping my phone camera serves me well.

I bought my daughter a Sony Cybershot compact at Christmas cant recall which one was down to about £90 from original RRP near double that - amazing pics for the money though.

Personally I think good pic's often more to do with photographer than kit - That said I am not a total philstine & I apreciate that a good snapper & decent kit can yield fine results as you have shown here

Thanks for sharing.

[CondorX5]

It's really difficult to judge cameras just from internet pics......I generally do most of my buying of almost everything over the internet, including cameras, as I've been a Canon afficionado since the years of film cameras, and we have two older Canon digital bodies at home - the D60 and the 20D,plus a few lenses, but I've realised that you really need to pick one up and get the feel of it before buying. I would support local camera independents, many of which have long since closed up and vanished, but our local one in the chavvy Midlands town I live in is as much use as a chocolate teapot - usually some disinterested or snooty twit there, just like Jessops - camera, motor factors and computer shops (and sometimes main car dealers, come to think of it) seem to treat prospective female buyers in an arrogant and dismissive manner. So it was opportunistic really - Guernsey had a little independent photographic shop and I had the opportunity to see and hold all the cameras I wanted to look at, and the staff were helpful. The Canon 550, which is a great camera, has a full size sensor and is a good bit chunkier / heavier, and the lenses are much bigger and heavier than the G2 series. The Panasonic GF is an even smaller body which takes the same lenses, but I felt comfortable with the G2 which had a few more features as well.

I've never really done well with mobile phone cameras - best I ever had was the Nokia N95 which had a fantastic camera on it with Carl Zeiss lens, and I enjoyed taking a few pics here and there and sending them by MMS, but the minutely small sensors in the phones never made for great enlargements - I was given a little Polaroid Pogo bluetooth printer, only about the size of a mobile itself, and it was fun to do quick prints on it, but as with so many gadgets, it rarely gets used any more. I need to do an audit on the gadgets I've got lying around really!!!

In my youth I was an avid photographer, and managed to win a few awards in some shows and competitons as well, that was pre-digital days. I remember my first digital camera, which I've still got (and it works!) -a Sony Mavica which uses floppy discs - brilliant for ebay pics, even now, max res 640 x 480!!!. Crazy price when new - was about £1000 I think !!!!! Then, sadly, work rather overtook me and enjoyment and hobbies seemed to vanish as well.

Recent thought in my mind was that life is too short and I need to enjoy it a bit more, hence the 4.8 similarly the camera

Will share some more pics in time - thanks for the nice comments all, much appreciated!!