De Mechelerhof, Mechelen, Maasricht

This picture was taken in De Mechelerhof in Mechelen (Limburg) where during a company meeting we have stayed in 1997. Very nice countryside and very good place for a short (even long) holidays. It was a nice trip.

I hope still keeps the beautiful nature.

These pictures was taken with my Nikon Fa but printed in 1997 and now scanned by a desktop printer from the photographs.

So the problem in the photos is my fault not the camera's.

:)

The second picture is a view from the countryside of Mechelen. The below one is from Maasricht. We had 1 day to make a touristic trip.

Zoom-Nikkor 35-70mm f/3.3-4.5

Zoom Nikkor 35-70mm f/3.3-4.5

The lens came with the kit of Nikon FA was a very practical easy to use, light lens. Easy to carry and fits the camera bag.

One of the lightest and most compact zoom lenses in the most used focal lengths for maximum versatility in everyday picture taking. Zoom-Nikkor 35-70mm 1/35-4.5 is versatile, easy-to-operate, compact and high performance. It gives you a choice of focal lengths from a wideangle 35mm to a moderate telephoto 70mm. And you can move right up to smaller subjects with the built-in macro focusing at any focal length. Use it lor regular snapshots, souvenir photos, portraits and close-up photography.

Zooming and focusing are accomplished through two independent rings so once you have focused on your subject you can frame it with the zoom without losing sharpness, The minimum focusing distance is normally 0.5m (2 ft), buf you can get continuous focusing all the way down to 0,35 m (1 ft) through the equipped macro function. The maximum reproduction ratio is 1 :4,4. For even greater magnification, just add an optional Nikon close up lens. For special effects, the front attachment size of 52mm makes the maximum number of optional filters available to you .
Constructed of the highest quality Nikon glass, this zoom lens produces sharp images with high contrast from the shortest to the longest local length with all abberations well corrected. In addition, Nikon Integrated Coating (NIC) is applied to all air-to-glass surfaces of the lens elements to minimize ghost images and flare and produce photographs with natural color rendition.
With suitably equipped Nikon cameras, (like my Nikon FA) this lens offers "Automatic Maximum Aperture Indexing" (AI). The meter coupling ridge and automatic diaphragm function together to permit full aperture exposure measuremen. For non-AI type Nikon cameras, this lens is also fitted with a meter coupling shoe to permit the same operation.

How to tell if an egg is bad

Food poisoning is one of the worst experiences a person can go through, and it can even be lethal. Eggs can be the source of some superb meals, but they can also be the source of food poisoning if they are eaten when they've gone bad. How do you tell when an egg is fresh or if it has gone off, without cracking it open to find out?

Steps:
1.Place the egg into a bowl of water. The water level should be deeper than the egg is long.
2.Observe what the egg does.

• Fresh eggs will sink to the bottom of the bowl and lie on their sides.


• Slightly older eggs (about one week) will lie on the bottom but bob slightly.


• If the egg balances on its small end, with the large end reaching for the sky, it's probably around three weeks old.


• Eggs that float at the surface are bad and should not be consumed.

3.Crack the egg open and look carefully.

• Blood spots (also referred to as "meat" spots) don't signify a bad or fertilized egg. It's caused by a ruptured blood vessel during the formation of the egg. Since blood spots are diluted as the egg ages, their presence actually means you have a fresh egg. You can eat it safely, or remove the blood spot with the tip of a knife, if it makes you feel better.[1]


• Stringy, rope-like strands of egg white are chalazae which are present in every egg to keep the yolk centered. They're not a sign that the egg is bad or fertilized, and they can be consumed safely or removed.[1]


• An egg white that is cloudy or has a yellow or greenish cast to it is caused by carbon dioxide not having had enough time to escape from the shell and is especially common in fresh eggs.[1]


• Smell the egg. With time, bacteria break down the proteins in the whites of the egg and create a gas. This gas is hydrogen sulphide, better known as "rotten egg gas."

Tips:

• The floating test works because the air pocket inside the egg gets bigger with time as the egg contents lose both moisture and carbon dioxide. As the air pocket gets bigger, the egg is more likely to float.


• When a recipe calls for a lot of yolks or whites, separate the eggs in a different bowl then dump the contents with the rest of the egg yolks (or whites). There's nothing more wasteful than cracking open egg number 14 in a 15 yolk recipe and finding out that it is a bad egg. You could also test all the eggs for freshness using the floating technique.


• If you're worried about the egg being fertilized, keep in mind that most eggs come from large-scale operations where laying hens are never exposed to a rooster. If the eggs come from a smaller farm where roosters are present, there is a chance they might be fertilized, but the only way to tell is by candling (holding a light up to the egg in a dark room and looking for blood vessels, movement, and chick development). That being said, fertilized eggs are no more or less nutritious than unfertilized eggs and both are safe to eat.

Warnings:

• Do it in the sink; it is easier to clean up an egg in the sink than on the bench or floor.


• Be careful with the eggs; if you have a rotten egg and you break it, you'll have more than the egg mess to clean up. The smell is quite unpleasant.


• If you're the least bit doubtful about the egg, it's better to be safe than sorry - skip it and try another one.


• Avoid eating eggs past their expiration date. Check the date stamped on the carton or the egg itself.
  

source : http://www.wikihow.com/Tell-if-an-Egg-is-Bad

Nikon FA

I bought my Nikon FA in 1986.

There was a promotion of a kit with a nice bag, lens (zoom-nikkor 35-70mm f/3.3-4.5), and flash unit (speedlight SB-18) .

Nikon FA offers three automatic exposure modes, in addition to full manual override.

To put you in total control, the Nikon FA offers three automatic exposure modes, in addition to full manual override. For fastbreaking events, the programmed mode automatically sets both shutter speed and aperture for correct exposure in any light. Or when action must be stopped or blurred, such as in sports photography, shutter·priority lets you choose the shutter speed manually, then the FA automatically sets the aperture to match. If depth of field is important, aperture priority allows you to select the precise aperture with the matching shutter speed set automatically.
But possibly even more important are the FA's two separate metering methods. In Nikon's revolutionary automatic multipattern metering system, the brightness from 5 areas of the focusing screen is analyzed by the camera's microcomputer; this automatically ensures the correct exposure-even in tricky lighting situations-without any exposure compensation whatsoever.
Traditional centerweighted metering is reserved for the manual mode, but is usable in any of the three automatic modes with the metering control button. Other features of the FA include 1/4000sec. top shutter speed, 1/250sec. flash sync, interchangeable focusing screens, and a comprehensive line of Nikon accessories.
I still keep the original user manual (instruction manual). Some of above information is taken from the foreword of the manual.

To my opinion it was one of the better film slr cameras.

Actually I still use it. Bu not so often.