Picture This and That: October 2011 Comparison Chart

There have been several new interchangeable lens digital cameras announced recently, so here's a chart of what's available today.  The newcomers are the Nikon J1 and V1 mirrorless system cameras, the Sony A65 and A77 single lens translucent cameras, the Sony NEX-5N and NEX-7 MSCs, and the Samsung NX200 MSC.  Sony, Olympus, and Pentax each put two DSLR models to bed.  Sony still has two consumer DSLRs on the market, but I didn't show them because the SLT technology is clearly the future for Sony.  There are no links this time; if you want more details you can click away in the previous post.

		Big 2		Upstart	Little 4
Camera category	Brand (2010 ILC market share)	Canon (45%)	Nikon (30%)	Sony (12%)	Pentax (?)	Olympus (5%)	Panasonic (?)	Samsung (?)
RF-style MSC price w/ zoom	Low-end	-	-	NEX-C3 16.2MP $550	-	E-PM1 12.3MP $500	-	NX100 14.6MP $425
	Mid-Range	-	J1 10.1MP $650	NEX-5n 16.1M $700	-	E-PL3 12.3MP $650	DMC-GF3 12.1MP $675	-
	High-end	-	V1 10.1MP $900	NEX-7 24.1MP $1350	Q 12.4MP $900	E-P3 12.3MP $900	-	NX200 20.3MP $900
Consumer DSLR / SLT / MSC price w/ zoom	Beginner	1100D/T3 12.2MP $550	D3100 14.2MP $600	SLT-A35 16.2MP $600	K-r 12.4MP $600	E-620 12.2MP $600	-	NX11 14.6MP $550
	Mid-Range	600D/T3i 18.0MP $850	D5100 16.2MP $800	SLT-A55 16.2MP $800	-	-	DMC-G3 15.8MP $700	-
	Enthusiast	60D 18.0MP $1200	D7000 16.2MP $1450	SLT-A65 24.3MP $1000	K-5 16.3MP $1350	-	DMC-GH2 16.1MP $1000	-
Professional DSLR / SLT price body only	Mid-size	7D 18.0MP $1600	D300s 12.3MP $1600	SLT-A77 24.3MP $1400	-	E-5 12.3MP $1500	-	-
	Mid-size full frame	5D Mk.II 21.0MP $2400	D700 12.1MP $2700	DSLR-A900 24.3MP $2700	-	-	-	-
	Flagship action	1D Mk.IV 16.1MP $5000	D3s 12.1MP $5200	-	-	-	-	-
	Flagship studio	1Ds Mk.III 21.1MP $7000	D3x 24.5MP $8000	-	-	-	-	-

Update 2011/10/03: All Sony DSLRs have been discontinued in Japan, and the same should happen in the US sometime soon.

Another Dismal (Social) Scientist

Via Atrios comes this short column in the Guardian by Stergios Skaperdas that goes into a bit more detail about the mechanics of a Greek default and exit from the Eurozone.  The shorter on the column is: default is better than massive deflation, and default will bankrupt Greek banks, and to recapitalize them Greece will need its own currency, and it will have to institute tight currency and capital controls for a while, and all of that requires planning, which hasn't been started as far as anyone knows.  So, either the Greek government is executing masterfully, as evidenced by there being no indication whatsoever that it is about to default, or it is failing the Greek people.  I'm going to say it's the latter, as governments are failing their citizens all over the place these days.

The Dismal (Social) Scientist

I think Krugman is getting a bit frustrated.  Well, more frustrated.  So frustrated, in fact, he Godwined-in-all-but-name his own column.  Today he also comes about as close to calling the Eurozone elites idiots as is possible within the NYT's civility rules.  He's done so more-or-less explicitly on his blog, but that probably has a readership that is smaller by a factor of 10 or 20.  Maybe a more prominently-place tongue-lashing will have an effect, though I wouldn't count on it.

One reason for Krugman to lash out is that The Big, Fat Greek Depression continues.  The NYT has a good color article today on what the austerity is doing to the typical Greek family.  Real household income for the Firigou family has fallen about 40% between pension cuts, salary cuts, and increased taxes.  But at least they still have income.  Lots of families are undoubtedly doing much worse.

I still haven't found a good explanation for why the Greek government, which is currently controlled by the nominally left-wing Panhellenic Socialist Movement, refuses to default.  Is it national pride, or are they genuinely worried about private external debt problems?  Those would remain, and get much worse, if Greece defaulted and switched to a new currency.  I suspect most wealthy Greeks have transferred most of their liquid wealth to some other location, so that reason should not be holding the politicians up.  It's a puzzle I can't crack from afar.

ETA: Some schnitzel from Germany expects Greece to suffer for a whole decade?  That will certainly happen if it doesn't default.  On the up side, the Italian Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti is pushing back on Germany's approach pretty hard, at least in that article.

Mini to the Max

I just finished upgrading my iPod Mini Gen. 2, and it was a fairly straightforward procedure.  I mangled the aluminum case slightly getting the top and bottom plates off.  But I'm hardly a fashionista, and it never leaves the house, so I don't care.  (I use it with various sub/sat systems positioned around the house.)  I do care that even with the old 6GB microdrive still installed, the new battery boosted play time from 2-3 hours to at least 15.  I haven't tested the play time with the flash card, but it should be even greater.  You don't need a super-fast flash card when upgrading, as the specs on the microdrive weren't all that great.  The battery and the flash card cost about $37 including shipping. There are instructions on how to do this all over the intertubes.

Default Already, Dammit

This is fucking nuts.  The Eurozone is experiencing a self-inflicted disaster, but the perpetrators won't be made to pay.

Update 2011/09/23: Krugman lists some of the perpetrators, and then wonders about the social dynamics inside those organizations.  It's a good question.  It seems to me that in the West, the financial industry has triumphed in several countries, most notably the US and the UK.  And there have been conservative governments in many countries which have appointed conservative-leaning people to those institutions.  Those countries include the US (2001-2009), Canada (2006-present), Germany (2005-present), France (1995-present), Australia (1996-2007), and Italy (2001-2005 and 2008-present).  The UK also had a nominally left-wing but very finance-friendly government from 1997 to 2010, when the Conservatives took over.  Ditto for the US from 1993 to 2001.  The policies and opinions of the international financial institutions (BIS, IMF, ECB, and WB, plus the OECD which is a data and analysis operation) reflect those factors.  The low-inflation, low-regulation leanings of the leaders have filtered down from the top, as well as in from the side, though lower-level channels, from the finance industry, which those organizations deal with on a regular basis.

Our Skies Are Bigger Than Our Wallet

Today, NASA announced its plan to develop a heavy lift vehicle (aka rocket) called - rather uncreatively - the Space Launch System (SLS).  It would use many parts and technologies from the Space Shuttle program in an effort to save money.  But despite that, the cost is huge: $3 billion annually through the first test flight in 2017, for a total of $18B.  That's too much, as far as I am concerned, especially in light of the fact there is no defined need for it.  There's plenty of hoped-for missions amongst human spaceflight supporters, such as to the Moon and to Mars, but those are entirely unfunded at this point.  If the cost was lower, then I would support the program despite its speculative nature.  But at $3B per year, the funding will definitely eat into other programs.  I have no idea if the $18B price tag is justified in terms of the manpower and materials needed to accomplish the task, or if that number is bloated due to too much contracting and sub-contracting.  I do know that making the SLS man-rated will add to the cost, and as I explained before, there's no reason to do so given the parallel development of commercial capsules and the availability of the Russian Soyuz vehicle (though the Soyuz launch system had a small problem last month).

At this point the best option for a heavy lift vehicle is the Falcon Heavy, which has a test launch scheduled in early 2013.  It will only have a maximum capacity of 50,000 kg to low-earth orbit, as compared to 70,000 kg for the first launch of the SLS, which is intended to have a maximum capacity of 130,000 kg.  But the Falcon Heavy will be available much sooner, at a much lower cost, and, again, as of now there is no defined need to lob something that heavy into orbit.  If for some reason a larger spacecraft is needed, it can be assembled in orbit, just like the Space Station has been.  That would add costs to a mission, but probably not so much that the $18B SLS program would become justified.

Tenth Aniversary Pre-buttal

I'm tuning out for the next 24+ hours, because it's been a shitty decade, and all the talk about service and sacrifice and heroism and hope and whatever can't erase the fact that it's been a shitty decade.

Thanks, President Bush Cheney.

Bestest Grafick Evah

From this Robert Reich op-ed, which is good, comes the graphic below, which is great.

This is the best summary of the negative trends that have pinched the middle class over the last 35 years.  The point about women working comes across as slightly sexist, but I don't think the equivalent data for both sexes (dads can stay at home, too) exists, at least for the time period involved.  So the excellent NYT graphics department used the best available series.

We've been running the Republican experiment since the 1980s - cut taxes, cut social spending, cut public investment, increase war and security spending, and outsource much of the latter - and it hasn't produced good results for the majority of Americans.  The underlying trends - globalization, computerization - would still exist if we had stuck with Democratic policies, but overlaying Republican policies on those trends has amplified them.  Capital moves quicker and farther than labor, and giving more capital to the rich has only allowed them to shuffle it around with greater ease, dragging jobs with it.

All Good Things Must Pass

Jus' sayin'.