How does your garden grow?

[puddleshark]

Note to self on 2022 container planting scheme:

The "mixed" Icelandic poppies you ordered from Sarah Raven ALL had white flowers, every single one of them. But it didn't really matter, since they were planted with blue - you just got "Understated & Classical" rather than "Vibrant Contrast". MORE ICELANDIC POPPIES NEXT YEAR!! You can never have enough Icelandic poppies.

The Gentian Sage Salvia patens was a failure. The pale blue flowers are pretty, but the bees just aren't interested in them. The bog-standard Salvia you bought from the garden centre is much better - go for that next year. Or maybe some Hyssop - the bees really like that Hyssop you bought.

The Erigeron was nice, and will hopefully self-seed into cracks in the paving stones, but don't buy it for container planting again. The blue daisies with the feathery foliage work better as container plants.



My camera is a bit broken. The shutter button requires so much force now to press it that it causes camera shake. I can still use Live View and the touchscreen to take shots. But I don't like touchscreens - always use the viewfinder normally. I can't complain. I've had it 4 years, and taken approximately one million pictures with it.

Bit the bullet and ordered a secondhand camera online: an upgrade from the 77D to an 80D. It does come with a 12 month guarantee. Slightly aghast at myself for spending so much money, but hey, maybe it will last three years and also take a million pictures.

Comments

[heleninwales]

I don't know how many photos I've taken with the Canon DSLR but it's now 14 years old. It still seems to work OK. Probably the reason it's lasted so long is that it isn't my only camera. I always used the Canon PowerShot for taking on field trips or walks where I just wanted photos to illustrate an LJ post. It was lighter and cheaper so less of a disaster if I dropped it over a cliff. I now have the Canon M50 which fulfils the same role and is also the camera I use for videos. And of course I do take quite a few photos with my phone.

[puddleshark]

I have to be honest, I don't really go easy on my cameras. I take them out in fog and drizzle. I lose my footing and fall over while clutching a camera. So this one really did quite well to last four years.

[larryhammer]

You can never have enough Icelandic poppies.

True fact.

[puddleshark]

Yep.

There will be even more Icelandic poppies next year. And who knows, maybe even in different colours...

[nikonf3]

I had a Canon 20D quit on me but it had seen good use and I decided wasn’t worth fixing. My Fuji X100 needed repair ages ago and it’s now in its 12th or 13th(?) year being enjoyed by an old friend. I’ve had a couple of Minolta film cameras repaired but they will probably break again. I spent US$200 to get my Nikon F3 repaired and CLA’ed. It’s probably good for another 30-40 years if my grandson can still get film and batteries for it. Even though I greatly enjoy digital photography, I’m not happy about the waste I’m leaving behind. Not just cameras but obsoleted computers, harddrives, cards, printers, etc.

[puddleshark]

The cheaper Canon DSLRs just aren't built to last 30 years. My last one only lasted 18 months. This one did better. But there's not much point spending a few hundred pounds fixing the shutter button, when the shutter itself is likely to go next.

I did think of upgrading to a secondhand Canon M5 - they seem to be far more robust. But it's a full-frame model, and none of my lenses would fit.

Yes. I hate built-in obsolescence, particularly in computers. Really hoping the EU will succeed in bringing in environmental laws that force manufacturers to make products long-lasting and fixable.