Chalk one more up for Johnny Foreigner

What I think is that any speculation as to the state of mind of the person who called the police is utterly futile because there are too many unknowable variables.

That said I find it easy to imagine various situations where somebody would be sufficiently unnerved by a supposed invasion of privacy or concern for their personal safety or that of any children to have any appetite for a personal investigation.

Amin,

My example regarding drink driving was purely intended to show that the harm resulting from limiting my freedom to drive drunk (having to walk, get the bus, etc) is trifling in comparison to the potential loss of freedom somebody would suffer if I happened kill them through careless driving.

This is analogous to your situation in that while you haven't actually suffered any harm whatsoever, the damage that might be done by a bloke in the woods with a telephoto lens and tripod taking photos where scantily people of all ages are presumably sunbathing and splashing around could be considerable.

And even ignoring the thorny subject of paedophilia, although Ruislip Lido is a public space people are still entitled to some basic level of privacy that is significantly increased when dealing with children.

You know that your motives in this matter were innocent, but if you were to ask a representative sample of the population whether they think somebody with a telephoto lens on a tripod in the woods at the Lido is photographing hoverflies or persons that hadn't given their consent, I have little doubt that the overwhelming majority would plump for the latter. It is quite simply not an unreasonable supposition so stop whinging and get over it.

Amin, in subordinating ourselves within a modern democratic society based on laws and regulation we by necessity relinquish a portion of our personal freedom for the greater good.

The reason for this is that while freedom as a general concept is a good thing, a situation where individuals have unlimited freedom effectively degenerates into anarchy; here the unrestrained freedom of the bully to use force to achieve whatever he wants immediately infringes on the freedom of others to peacefully go about their business.

In a less extreme example my freedom to drive home drunk from the pub potentially infringes on other drivers' freedom to use the roads enjoying a minimum standard of safety.

This is what is known as the paradox of freedom in that freedom always involves trade-offs in real-world society.

In rationally determining what freedoms should be relinquished by whom, an analysis of who suffers the greater harm is required. And I'm sorry but in the matter under discussion your injured sense of pride at being asked a few questions by the boys in blue in no way compares to the physical and mental harm that would be caused in the event that a child abuser had committed a crime. Get over it, Amin.

One other thing; perhaps it is unsurprising in a photography forum that the vast majority of people should take your side in this. However, in this instance I would like to take issue with the sizeable "why, oh why" contingent, that is usually quick to see the moral decay and general breakdown in society at every opportunity, including it would seem here.

In contrast it seems self-evident to me that a far more damaging feature of society over the past 20-30 years or so, is the extent to which members of the public now turn their back on trouble failing to help the police and fellow citizens in need or danger.

Maybe whoever called the police in your case was a paranoid nutter, but generally somebody who cares sufficiently for the community to alert the police at perceived danger should IMO be applauded, not pilloried; I for one wish there was a lot more of that going on.

OmniVision announces new 5 megapixel camera sensor that also does 1080p video at 30 fps

The camera in the phone you’re going to buy next year may record HD video, and take better pictures if OmniVision has anything to say about it. Today they’ve announced the OV5653, OV5650 and OV2665 camera sensors based on the 1.75 micron process technology. Each of those tiny pixels packs a light sensitivity higher than 1400mV/lux-sec, which is a 40% increase over previous models.

The higher end models, the OV5653 and OV5650, will do 720p video at 60 frames per second and 1080p at 30 fps. Both are only .33 inches small, and support the RAW image format, but the probability of a mobile phone maker supporting that is between slim and none. The OV2665 is a 2 megapixel sensor that is .2 inches small. All of these new sensors will start being produced in volume during the second half of this year, so expect to see them in devices hitting the market in 2010.

OmniVision also that in terms of volume, the 2 megapixel sensor clearly leads today. By 2011, which is only 2 years away, they predict that 5 megapixel sensors in mobile phones will be common place. I don’t doubt that for a second.

Story and links

Kodak kills Kodachrome film
Mon Jun 22, 2009 12:14pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Kodachrome, the film brand touted as the stuff of memories, is about to become a memory itself as Eastman Kodak stops production due to overwhelming competition from digital cameras.

Eastman Kodak (EK.N) said it will retire Kodachrome colour film this year, ending its 74-year run after a dramatic decline in sales.

Full Story: http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNews/idUKTRE55L3SK20090622?symbol=EK.N

So it's rumour, not fact?[/quote]It is my analysis/speculation, nothing more, nothing less; I thought that was perfectly clear in the first place

People should try to decide for themselves whether it is informed or not, cognitive dissonance notwithstanding.

What frankly concerns me more than a little is I am fairly certain I have seen you in the past discussing Hoya's financial statements.

That being the case you would know Hoya do not break out separate *figures* for the Pentax camera operations. However, during the time I have paid attention they have invariably described this qualitatively as loss making, even on a quarterly basis.

You are not trying to set me up with a dishonest straw-man argument here are you?

One thing is certain, Gwyn: It is not sustainable for Hoya to run Pentax as a charity.