Posts Tagged ‘alternative’
Now For Something Completely Important
Five years of a pure neo-liberal regime had made Iceland, (population 320 thousand, no army), one of the richest countries in the world. In 2003 all the country’s banks were privatized, and in an effort to attract foreign investors, they offered on-line banking whose minimal costs allowed them to offer relatively high rates of return. The accounts, called IceSave, attracted many English and Dutch small investors. But as investments grew, so did the banks’ foreign debt. In 2003 Iceland’s debt was equal to 200 times its GNP, but in 2007, it was 900 percent. The 2008 world financial crisis was the coup de grace. The three main Icelandic banks, Landbanki, Kapthing and Glitnir, went belly up and were nationalized, while the Kroner lost 85% of its value with respect to the Euro. At the end of the year Iceland declared bankruptcy.
Contrary to what could be expected, the crisis resulted in Icelanders recovering their sovereign rights, through a process of direct participatory democracy that eventually led to a new Constitution. But only after much pain.
This is a quoted from an article everyone should read, if only to be aware this actually happened. Titled in dramatic fashion: “Why Iceland Should Be in the News But is Not”. (It has been translated from an Italian radio show). This articles reports on what has happened since the start of the 2008 financial collapse in Iceland and how the country has developed its own solution to the situation.
Big Media haven’t picked up the story about what has happened since, by the end of the article you could understand why.
There are a number of errors in the featured article, here is another explaining the issues that have been reported as incorrect.
Everything you wanted to know about the NP-95 but were afraid to ask.
This is actually Fuji X100 related. ‘Np-95′ refers to the model type of the battery being used in that camera. I was looking for some information about these batteries because the Fuji Lithium-ion ones are expensive for being ‘official’ batteries. As luck would have it, I found this discussion over at x100forum about 3rd party batteries.
A forum member wanted some feedback on 3rd party batteries and an interesting discussion evolved, debating the pro’s and con’s between buying the original and 3rd party variants.
At the moment, Amazon UK (other stores will slightly differ but this comparison still applies) sell four different variants of the NP-95 battery:
As far as I am concerned, these are all reasonably well know brand names, with Hähnel I guess being the least well known.(1)
This Flickr group discussion is about a variant made by Ricoh: Discussing the Ricoh DB-90. Ricoh, actually make the batteries for Fuji!
- Ricoh – £6.79 (1800mah)
But on eBay they are even cheaper right? Before you tap in the URL I’ve included some light reading regarding battery technology below. This is to highlight potential problems with buying exceptionally cheap third party designs.
User ‘SLRist’ from the x100forum discussion, posted these great links to help others who were vague on the subject of battery technology.
- How Stuff Works “What is causing lithium-ion laptop batteries catch fire?”
- Is Lithium-ion the Ideal Battery?
- Wikipedia article on Lithium-ion Battery.
- No substitute for quality: Li-ion Quality Considerations.
I also want to share this quote from the same forum member, if you don’t click the links, this is probably the most important element of the forum discussion:
Those really cheapo batteries very likely don’t have any built in failsafe circuitry to stop them being completely drained to the point of not working or being charged beyond their design 4.2v maximum and potentially exploding or putting a voltage spike through your X100 electronics. Contamination inside the battery from tiny fragments of metal during manufacture can also cause them to leak, melt or explode during normal use. Use them at your peril. If you do use them, use them with a good quality charger and measure the voltage isn’t above 4.2v before you put them in your X100. Lithium Ion batteries are extremely combustable and should be treated with a great deal of respect and caution.
Personally I never use ‘unbranded’ generic Lithium Ion batteries. I’ve always used Hahnel Li-Ions, as they actually do have the capacity they’re rated for (1,500mAh in the case of their NP-95 equivalent), and they have protection circuitry built in. They’re £10 a pop, but at 1/3 the price of the Fuji items, they’re still a bargain.
Just like with restaurant wine, it’s generally not a good policy to go with the cheapest option on the menu.
This is something else I want to share:
Amazon is the safer bet, that’s why I’ve listed them, forget eBay. Surprisingly a lot people consider them as being good enough. Those from eBay are to be avoided. Crazy prices for slightly higher capacities that they most likely can’t hold a charge to. In addition to that, if the battery malfunctions while inside your camera, well you’ve watched the above video by now right? Warranty voided indeed.
It’s obviously a toss up between the other three manufacturers I’ve listed. I’ll update this blog post when they are back in stock and I buy my new memory card.
(1) I owned two Hähnel batteries for my old 1Ds mk2 and they worked brilliantly, never had a problem.
UPDATE: It wasn’t that much of a toss up between the three, I actually found this battery. I did some research on it and while plenty of camera stores are selling it; I’ve done some research to see whether it has protection against short circuits and overcharging. It does and one is on its way right now to me. They are made by a UK company with a two year warranty. The amazon seller in the link provided, is selling them for £7.50 a pop but in my research I’ve seen them sold at prices that make them look like a legitimate alternative, in many cases being more expensive than the other options I’ve listed. Bristol cameras sell them for £22.
By the way if you’re looking for alternatives to the stock NP-95 charger then have a look at this previous blog post I wrote here.
Castle: Youth Culture
The first book from one of my projects is now available to own. A few more are also on their way.
This book is the softcover version, 48 pages.
