A large, Gents, Turret Slave movement.

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Large slave clock movements were used when a medium-large clock dial was given a glass cover or was installed in a protected [indoor] environment.  Perhaps within a railway station, a large office foyer or factory building. One large dial allowed the time to be read at a great distance. This saved the expense of many small dials and the greater risk of timekeeping scattering between them. Glass covered dials only worked well when the sky could not be reflected. 

A general view of the large slave movement. The maximum dimensions of the flanges on its white protective box are approximately 10" high x 8" wide. [25 x 20cm] The overall protective metal plating and paper covered coil indicate a later movement.

A slave movement was a far cheaper and simpler option than installing a weight driven turret clock or electro-magnetic Waiting Train movement. Being so compact, the large slave could be installed where nothing else would fit. Being highly reliable, it could be installed where maintenance access was very poor. Considerable effort was expended in making these large slave movements robust and well protected against deterioration due to weather, wear or condensation.

These turret slave mechanisms, like their much smaller brethren,  are really spring driven. Except that the spring is briefly tensioned only at each half minute by the large electromagnet. Once the brief electromagnet impulse ends, the magnetic circuit collapses and the spring pulls the hands around the dial in a single, half minute step. The electrical impulse was provided by an accurate master clock controlling a complete impulse timekeeping system. The large slave would usually be placed in electrical series with the rest of the many smaller dials and any other equipment in the time circuit. Though its relatively high resistance usually required a serious step-up in DC voltage to the system. Since this involved considerably greater expense, in the days of battery bank driven time systems, the slave dial might have been controlled by a relay and its own, separate power supply.


This image shows a closer view of the coil spring which drives the hands at half minute intervals. The spring's tension can be adjusted with the screwed rod on its left. Though here it is at its most relaxed position.

The various silver-coloured levers look rather complex but simply drive the ratchet wheel forward and prevent its backward movement. By the skilful design of these levers, the hands of the clock are prevented from ever moving too far at each step or falling back. Either of which would ruin the timekeeping.

Here is an even closer, labelled, view showing the coiled drive spring just above the double-locked, backstop lever. The long horizontal lever has a downward extending pawl which sits in the teeth of the drive wheel. This pawl stops the wheel from ever turning backwards. It is hinged on the left so that it can rise or fall slightly to allow only one tooth to pass at each electrical impulse.

On the right of the long lever is a reinforced ramp with a sturdy stop pin to prevent the backstop lever from rising beyond a predetermined height. No doubt the mass of the ramp also acts as a weight to further load the backstop lever against slippage. 

Just to the right of the backstop pawl is the drive pawl. Which looks rather like a downward turned bird's beak. The sharpened tip of the beak rests in the teeth of the drive wheel close to the backstop. Their closeness is important to avoid backlash between their actions. The drive pawl is hinged at the pin on the right and retained by the wire spring clip. Just below the pin is an adjustable stop screw to prevent the drive lever and its driving pawl from moving too far backwards.

Here, the slave movement has been [temporarily] placed on its side to show the entire drive lever extending from above the locking ramp, at the very top. [Seen at left.] Right down to the armature plate fixed on the bottom end near the core of the large electromagnet. [Seen on the right in this image.] These slave dials must always be used the correct way up or the gravity-aided levers lose their function. The electromagnet is usually placed at the bottom.

A thin spring blade can be seen running parallel with the drive lever. This spring ensures the drive pawl always stays in contact with the drive wheel teeth by applying a gentle downward force on the tip of the rocking "beak."

At each half minute, a brief electrical impulse energises the electromagnet. The drive lever's armature is quickly pulled in against the tension of the drive spring. The drive pawl at the top of the lever moves briefly to the right against its stop screw. As soon as the impulse is over the coiled spring pulls the drive pawl [beak] forwards to step the 120 tooth ratchet wheel forwards by only one tooth. The minute hand, on the same shaft as the ratchet wheel, is thus moved on by half a minute.

Meanwhile, the pin on the drive lever contacts the ramp on the backstop lever and prevents it from lifting high enough to allow free movement of the minute hand during the impulse. The long and heavy hands on the large clock dial might otherwise take control of the slave movement. It is vital that this can never happen or accurate timekeeping will be lost. The minute hand must always point accurately to a full minute. Or midway in between at the half minute. Any less or more will cause doubt in the person reading the time. Clocks are meant to be read at a glance. The advance of the minute hand is so quick that the casual watcher might not even notice it.                                                                                         

The view from the other side of the slave movement showing the large, ratchet-toothed, drive wheel [seen on edge] on the right.

The smaller gears are the motionwork which reduces the minute hand rotation by 12:1 to drive the clock dial's hour hand. These gearwheels are made robust enough to cope with heavy loads as the clock hands are stepped forwards each half minute. They must also act as brakes on the momentum of the heavy clock hands at the end of each sudden step forwards.

The electromagnet can be seen fixed at the bottom of the movement on a sturdy bracket. This bracket completes the magnetic circuit and acts as the electromagnet's keeper during each electrical impulse. Note the robust build of the entire slave movement and the care taken to prevent long term corrosion. The movement would be fitted behind its dial and then possibly forgotten for years unless something went wrong.

                                                                                                                        
The view looking down from the top of the slave movement. With the coiled drive spring nearest the camera.

The ratchet toothed drive wheel can be seen below the reinforced backstop pawl.

Note the rubber gasket on the flange  to protect the movement from moisture when it is installed in its white, protective metal box.

The black plastic block with soldered wires attached is a rectifier. So my theory of an alternative power supply may be true.

Yet another view of the slave movement showing the ratchet toothed, drive wheel. Given an impulse every half minute the drive wheel will rotate once in one hour. [120/2 = 60 minutes.] The drive wheel shaft extends forwards, beyond the white metal case, to a squared arbor which holds the minute hand securely. The pivot for the backstop lever is well seen in the foreground. It is deliberately lowered on the movement backplate to ensure the correct geometry to avoid any chance of backlash or failure to lock in the teeth of the drive wheel. Any error in the movement or locking of the slave will result in the minute hand pointing incorrectly.

Here is the front plate of the turret slave movement with the protective metal box in place. The object sticking out of the box [at lower let] is a sprung plunger for advancing the movement in half minute steps. It presses the armature in as if an electrical timing impulse had activated it. The hands on the clock can then be rapidly advanced without affecting the rest of the timekeeping system. 

Note the massive, cylindrical bearing housing to support the heavy clock hands. Any weakness here could cause the hand shafts to sag. Possibly resulting in the hands contacting the face of the dial. Even if this did not stop the normal hand movement it might lead to an ugly scar on the clock dial. The cost of replacement or repair of the dial might be extremely high in an inaccessible situation. Remember that a large clock hand has considerable leverage. A minute amount of slop at the hub could lead to an inch of movement at the tip several feet away. Clock hands are usually counter-balanced to avoid them turning under their own weight.

Here is a close-up of the clock hand, fixing components. The large white boss and bronze cylinder both contain labyrinth seals to stop rain being driven inside the movement by the wind. The hour hand fits on the hour pipe seen just in front of the white boss. The hour pipe is driven by the 12:1 motionwork gearing inside the movement.

While the minute hand slides onto the squared shaft against the bronze cylindrical bush and is locked in place by the screws. The matching squares on the shaft and minute hand ensure no chance of slippage is ever possible. This minute shaft goes right back to the reinforced drive wheel inside the slave movement. The hour pipe acts as a sleeve bearing for the minute shaft and is itself supported by a sleeve bearing in the large white boss.

A clock hand on a public dial indicating the wrong time is far worse than useless. Many people's actions, even lives, could hang on the accurate time shown on the public clock dial. Catching connecting trains is a vital function of such clock dials at railway stations. If the dial is showing the wrong time the public won't know whether to walk leisurely to their platform. Perhaps even visit the platform café if they have time to kill. Or run flat out to catch their train by the skin of their teeth!

Remember that this slave movement came from the end of a long era when public clocks were far more important than now. In the past most people did not possess accurate watches. Nor other more modern devices which could give a really accurate time check. Every slave clock under the control of the master was as accurate as the master clock itself. Usually good to within a couple of seconds a week. Before quartz watches these time systems offered completely unprecedented accuracy to the general public. Only the speaking clock, provided by the telephone company, could match this timekeeping accuracy and had to be paid for each time it was used. It also had to be dialled on a public telephone and the customer then waited for the next spoken time signal and accurate beep. Church clocks and other public clock dials were often minutes adrift unless constantly monitored.  

The electrical details have been applied with Dymo tape labels. The electromagnet is separately marked as having a DC resistance  of 71.5 Ohms. This is a quite remarkably high figure compared with a normal [small] slave with a resistance of only a couple of Ohms. Such a high figure suggests a very large number of turns of copper wire to obtain a very strong magnetic pull during each very brief, electrical impulse from the master clock.

The movement is expected to operate on 24 Volts DC.






Yet again I am indebted to a fellow enthusiast for sending me these excellent images. I just hope that my use of them repays the kindness in providing them for free public access. Those who wish to share good quality images of Pulsynetic Waiting Train movements, or any other interesting or unusual impulse timekeeping system components, can find my email address at the top of the page.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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Gillett & Johnston Waiting Train installation.

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One of my generous sources has sent me some more images. This time of a Gillet & Johnston installation which includes a fascinating Waiting Train turret clock movement.

These images offer a unique and vitally important record of a very rare timekeeping system. Gillet & Johnston are best known [renowned around the world] for their superb bell casting and high quality weight-driven turret clocks. The company still exists to offer turret clock repairs and modern timekeeping equipment.

Clock Makers, Clock Restorers and Bell Founders

Gillett & Johnston - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gent's and Synchronome must have seemed to dominate their dwindling market as weight driven turret clocks orders became harder to obtain. The previous funds for church clocks and bells from rich Victorian benefactors were probably no longer available after WWI's massive social upheaval.

G&J must have seen the  writing on the wall when Gents began to produce their compact and incredibly powerful WT electric turret clock movements. These went on to set numerous records for increased dial size in the early 20th Century.

So G&J came up with their own, unique electrical impulse master clock, slaves and WT designs.

G&J produced a quiet, and now very collectable, master clock of entirely their own design. Relatively few must have been made because they only rarely come come up for auction and usually fetch a very good price by ordinary Gents and Synchronome standards.

These images alongside show an early, G&J master clock. The attractive mouldings on the top and bottom of a master clock case are usually an indicator of an earlier model. The movement design is elegant and relatively complex for a British master clock. Going through several design iterations over time. Note that the slave unit behind its pilot dial has been installed at 90 degrees anticlockwise to its normal position. It is amazing that it still functions as the time indicator! 

The movement uses a swinging armature to reset the gravity arm so that no noisy contact takes place. Spring blades are used to further damp any noise produced by the mechanism. It even has an air damper cylinder to soften the resetting of the gravity arm.

It uses a 15 tooth ratchet wheel and gathering pawl like most other British master clocks. A single electromagnet is arranged at the bottom of the movement backplate. Padded stop screws are provided to set certain movement limits. The gravity arm has a roller which runs down an impulse ramp on the one second pendulum at half minute intervals. The gravity arm is dropped onto the ramp by a trip vane unlatched by the count wheel. A long wire and D-shaped jewel draw the count wheel around one tooth at a time on every swing to the right. So that the count wheel rotates once in half a minute [30 seconds.]

 Unlike Gents, G&J seems to have made a different WT for each installation. Or so it seems. I haven't seen two the same in the [only] several examples of which I have obtained images. Anybody out there with a Gillet & Johnston electric turret/tower clock in their charge is very welcome to add more images to the very meagre collection in the public domain which I have obtained so far.

These three images are all I have so far of this particular G&J, WT, turret clock movement. The original images were very dark as flash was not used for the photography. The WT movement was obviously still running because the slow exposure has not caught the bob movement sharply. Flash would have frozen the bob in its swing and helped to stop the camera shake visible in the images here. That said, any images, at all, of a movement so rare as a G&J WT are well worth having. I have done my humble best to lighten and sharpen these images using PhotoFiltre.

G&J has obviously used their own metal casting facilities to produce another very solid baseplate for its own unique WT design. The bob is massive and [very unusually] the cylinder is arranged horizontally so that it can swing in the oval cutaway provided in the main plate. This makes for a very compact movement. As does the shortness of the pendulum. Note that this is a working clock and not a perfectly restored example from a private collection. Lots of oil and a little rust are very typical of working turret clocks hidden out of public sight for 100 years!

Working down from the top, the first thing we notice is the use of bearing instead of a conventional spring blade to support the pendulum. The same, robust, construction feature was used on the Gents' Pulsynetic WTs.

At top right is a small electromagnet which we can safely assume is related to the Waiting Train mechanism. The armature is in contact with an L-shaped lever on its right. 

The horizontal, main drive shaft is driven by a wormwheel and worm. The worm is mounted on the same shaft [arbor] as the gathering wheel. The gathering, or count wheel, is pulled round a tooth at a time by the gathering pawl. A backstop pawl hangs at the left of the gathering wheel to prevent backwards rotation. I believe the wheel is rotated anticlockwise by the bifurcated gathering pawl.

Unfortunately none of the images is quite clear enough to be absolutely sure of the WT mechanism's actual function. If it follows Gents' practice then the gathering pawl will be briefly lifted out of the teeth of the count wheel by a pin on the count wheel where it is latched. The pawl is then allowed to drop [by a small electromagnet] to its normal [active] position to gather teeth once again. The electromagnet will be activated by the half minute, timekeeping pulse from the master clock.

I think it is safe to assume the following: The electromagnet's armature is horizontal and seems to be hinged on the left. A right-angled L-shaped lever is a two position latch hinged at its 'elbow.' As the count wheel rotates, a pin lifts the L-shaped arm and thence the gathering pallet. The armature will now be free to drop out of the deep notch by gravity. The armature tip will then lock the L-shaped arm safely in a raised position just below the [normal] latching notch. The gathering pawl will slide ineffectively back and forth, for a few brief moments, clear of the count wheel teeth.

Then the electromagnet gets its half-minute electrical impulse from the master clock and attracts the armature. Allowing the L-shaped lever to drop [clockwise due to gravity] so that the armature re-latches the L-shaped arm by the deep notch in its normal position and clear of the gathering pawl. The gathering pawl can now continue to gather teeth to drive the hands on the clock dials. The armature will be raised to its normal position against its electromagnet's core. 

It is the precise timing of the armature's release of the [raised] L-shaped lever [allowing the gathering pawl to drop into the wheel teeth] which resets the timekeeping to the master clock's own standard at every half minute. The WT must slavishly follow the accurate timekeeping of the precision master clock.

A Waiting Train movement is not a true clock. It is a rather complex slave with its own driving power for the clock hands but has no timekeeping ability of its own. Take away the master clock's electrical impulse and the WT [turret slave] will gain very rapidly indeed. In fact it must always get to the half minute a little too soon to allow itself to be paused by its own WT mechanism. It is the brief pause in the drive to the clock hands which gives the "Waiting Train" mechanism its name and ensures its remarkably accurate timekeeping ability. 

On the left end of the main horizontal shaft [arbor] are the first bevel gears of the lead-off work to the distant dials. A second bevel gear turns the minute hand drive vertically. A typical universal-expansion joint takes up the vertical drive to allow for movement in the building's structure.

The main shaft is supported by sturdy cast brackets. As are the wormwheel and its worm. All very obvious from the images so far.

Well below the horizontal drive shaft is a set of electrical contacts. Presumably they are operated by a Hipp Toggle and V-block mechanism. The exact detail is rather hard to see in these images but the typical Hipp toggle and block may be hidden behind the pendulum rod. The actual contacts seem to be on the left of the two horizontal contact rods. A Hipp switch system allows the pendulum to swing freely until its arc falls below a predetermined limit. The Hipp Toggle drops into the V-block and the contacts are closed. The pendulum is then given a strong push and the pendulum regains its lost arc.

The problem now is deciding how the pendulum is pushed. The top image shows what appears to be an electromagnet  coil just below the bob. It is quite possible that G&J decided to use this classic and well proven method of maintaining a pendulum's swing. This same arrangement had been used for domestic and precision electric clocks since Hipp first presented his ingenious Toggle and V-block back in 1843.

I believe the two sturdy horizontal crossbars just above the swinging bob are there to catch the pendulum if the pendulum support should fail. Or perhaps to limit its maximum swing? 

Here we see the vertical lead-off rod emerging from the WT movement below to meet the crown-wheel cluster of bevel gears. Another expansion-universal joint allows for thermal expansion of the lead-off rod. The bevel gear cluster is strongly supported by am open, timber framework. Three further bevel gears lead off from the larger crown bevel gear to the exposed skeleton dials. All perfectly standard practice in turret clocks of all types and ages.






A close-up of the typically, very high quality bevel gear cluster produced by master turret clock makers. Note the sturdy, cast, hanging bracket. Each lead off rod to the dials has its own expansion-universal joints. The bracket must support not only all the bevel gears but all lead off rods as well. Including the vertical rod rising from the WT movement on a floor somewhere down below.

Here we see the high quality 12:1 dial motionwork and one heavy hand counterbalance. Each dial will be so equipped. As they will also have yet another expansion-universal joint. Not only are the lead-off rods quite long but temperatures in open bell and clock towers can soar in summer and plunge in winter. As the rods contract and grow in length, with changing temperature, these joints protect the clock hand drive system from binding and potentially damaging end-loads. They also allow for a degree of  misalignment due to changes in the building's structure with temperature, wind, settlement and humidity. The clamping screw on the joint can allow an individual change in hand setting on a dial after maintenance.

Here is a Gillet & Johnston bell dated 1922. Would it be a wild guess to assume that the entire G&J clock installation matches the date on the bell? The bell is struck electromagnetically by a large hammer driven by a powerful electromagnet in the box in the foreground.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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Some simple thoughts on technical photography.

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I am repeatedly indebted to fellow clock enthusiasts for sending me their excellent images to share on my blog. I just hope that my use of them repays their kindness in providing them for free public access.

Those who wish to share good quality images of Pulsynetic Waiting Train movements, or any other interesting or unusual impulse timekeeping system components, can find my email address at the top of every blog page.

By "good quality," I mean sharp, evenly lit and without any unnecessary background clutter. I am a firm believer in the use of common [buff] cardboard packaging backgrounds to photograph technical items like clock movements and components. The cardboard is dirt cheap, stiff, plain, matt, useful for instantly and cheaply hiding clutter and provides a nicely neutral reflective surface. One which does not confuse the camera's light sensors. Moreover, cardboard is such a normal part of our daily lives that the eye will often ignore it as a plain background. Careful selection will usually disguise the cardboard's source. A local supermarket or white goods store can often help if you ask politely and are not too specific. Bare, light exposed plywood and hardboard can make useful backgrounds too. 

White and black surfaces usually make very poor backgrounds. The white will cause the camera to produce very dark images without much detail in technical subject matter. Black backgrounds throw no light into the depths of the subject and will again hide most of the detail as the camera tries to lighten the image far too much. Worth remembering if you are photographing at home and have a free choice. Much more difficult if the subject matter is in another, more difficult setting.

Photographs of subjects taken against a background window are usually far too poor to rescue with simple image handling software. The "flare" from the background window will often cover the entire subject matter with misty light.

Close-ups have their place when competently done. [Like these excellent images seen here] However, a slightly more distant view can often be cropped later and will have a much greater depth of focus. Which is often vital to researching the true function of the subject's component parts. Cropping automatically makes the image appear larger because the smaller chosen area expands to fill the original frame.

100ASA colour print using a hand-held Olympus OM1 50mm lens in office florescent lighting. Scanned, lightened, sharpened, contrast, gamma, B&W for detail all in free PhotoFiltre.

Where flash must be used a little distance is extremely valuable to spread the light more evenly. Reflections are very annoying and can often obscure detail or make an image of a technical subject look very poor. If flash is being used then move around and take a number of images from slightly different angles. With luck [and a little care] you may find an evenly lit shot without any reflections at all. A zoomed image taken from a meter away can often provide much better [even] lighting from flash.

Flash reflections from glass and similar shiny clock cases are often a disaster. The camera will read only the brilliant reflection and close down the lens. All you get is a bright spot and everything else is dark! 

Do take care to avoid glass and case reflections when shooting clocks in their cases in available light. Many clock enthusiasts have added their own full length reflection to otherwise interesting images of very rare clocks. Worse, their lighter reflection often obscures the vital details of the movement and parts now completely hidden behind the brightly reflective glass! If you cannot open the case [or obtain permission to do so] then move to one side [or the other] so that a darker background kills the reflections. This technique can often work its "X-ray magic" on difficult reflective surfaces.

If somebody with a dark coat could be arranged to stand in exactly the right spot you could use them as your background in a very light coloured space. Just be sure they do not make matters worse! Asking a bystander to hold up a black sheet [carried in the car for just this purpose] would be an ideal photographic background for glass-fronted cases. Flash may then help to bring out the detail behind the glass. But do check your images on your camera's viewfinder screen carefully for unwanted reflections. Patience and constantly monitoring your images for faults will improve your techniques.

I speak from many decades of experience as a keen amateur photographer. I had so many personal disappointments where prints were completely ruined simply by my own carelessness. So I had to become far more strict with myself when checking background, unwanted reflections, depth of focus and carefully framing the shot. In the end it became [almost] automatic. Eventually, I carried over the hard earned self-discipline to digital photography. Though, as a result, I have ended up with hundreds of gigabytes of almost identical images and many thick folders of prints from the "good old days" of  film.

In today's digital world multiple attempts to capture the perfect shot are usually rewarded at very low cost except for a little extra time, common sense and improved technical awareness. Images can be easily cropped but the lighting can only be adjusted within narrow limits. Noise and unwanted artefacts are the usual problem when using free software.

I have to resize every image anyway to match the requirements of the blog format. Otherwise blog pages of huge, original images would take forever to download on a slow Internet connection. Cropping automatically reduces image file size. So can be useful from several points of view. Not least, getting rid of background clutter. Cropping gives you another chance to succeed when something went unnoticed or could not be framed out. Image handling software can perform miracles with skill and patience but is a heavy investment in time and money. "Cloning" is a handy stencil tool for removing unwanted items from an image but again has considerable limitations in free software. Work in short sequences so a mistake can be undone. 

Sometimes the conditions for photographing technical subjects are really too poor to obtain high quality images. Dark spaces are a typical problem with photographing turret clocks and here flash is often essential to capture anything at all. Trying to use available light can result in very long exposures and lots of "noise" in the image. I have tried "security" halogen lighting without much success. Modern, multiple LED panels seem to offer more even light without affecting the electricity bill.

Never walk away believing that it is impossible to do proper justice to the subject. It may be impossible to obtain access at a later date. This has happened to me regularly where staff have changed. Or a helpful staff member was not handy second time around. Sometimes the building is demolished between visits! I even had one turret clock owner take up the floorboards of the hall leading to the turret clock room. Always take at least some pictures using as much care as you can muster and hope for the best.

Olympus OM1 50mm 100ASA colour print using 2 seconds hand-held exposure in a very dark clock 'shed' within a barn. Cheap flash gun failed again! Original print scanned and then improved in free PhotoFiltre software.

Dark conditions mean long exposures which can mean camera shake immediately crops up. Try to steady the camera or yourself against a wall or handy beam. I have taken images with up to two seconds exposure of turret clocks when my inexpensive flash gun became intermittent. The results were soft and very low in colour and contrast but still well worth having as a unique record.

Dark images can be brightened by adding a little extra gamma in PhotoFiltre. A little extra contrast will help to sharpen things up afterwards but will also darken the image slightly. Adding extra brightness is rarely successful. It tends to make things too soft and misty. Overdoing "improvements" digitally will usually spoil an image. So keep your changes subtle and avoid unwanted "artistic" effects. 

I have been using PhotoFiltre free image handling software for years and highly recommend it. I never had the patience to learn, nor the funds available for professional image handling software, like Photoshop. For my more humble needs PhotoFiltre does [almost] everything I want. Every change you make [up to six steps] can always be undone if you don't like the effect.

I use Picasa to organise my tens of thousands of images. Resized and "improved" images are collected in Windows Pictures folder with rsz added to the P........  title. They can then be easily found amongst the thousands of full size originals to add to my blogs.

Photography can be a hobby in itself and practice [and thought] definitely help to take better pictures. These days I no longer carry a heavy bag of SLR bodies and assorted lenses. I use an ageing, 6-year old, compact digital Panasonic Lumix TZ7 camera with 12x zoom. I can [and do] take images almost everywhere I go without drawing much attention to myself. And, I never leave home without it. In my pocket it lives in a snug fitting, no-name, lightly padded, pseudo-leather case. In my saddlebag the cased camera gets a close fitting, hinged, plastic, traveller's soap dish/container with snap-over locking lid, as extra protection from the shopping.  

Sometimes I look at today's amazing DSLRs and wonder how well they might perform. But I quickly decide that I will no longer be a slave to a heavy rucksack full of camera equipment. Nor its high price tags, annual model upgrades and endless, so easily-forgettable controls. For publishing my usual images on my blogs the compact does [almost] everything I need. Only if I wanted superb close-ups of distant birds and wildlife would I need more equipment. But then I could no longer carry my camera in my jacket pocket on my morning country walks or daily cycle rides.

My greatest regret is that compact digital cameras and computers weren't invented when I was still a child. There are so many things I could have captured and carefully stored over the years. But then I would be constantly waiting for the next breakthrough in media storage to cope with my countless petabytes of images and videos. There has never been a better time in history to be a photographer. Never before in history have so many cameras existed in so many hands.

We now take it completely for granted that a "live" image taken only minutes ago has been cropped, resized, relit, sharpened and generally improved for online publication to [potentially] reach billions around the globe. It's no wonder that the depots and dictators so heavily sensor their downtrodden people's online expressions of suffering at their hands! The politic-ooze must have nightmares at the thought of what images will appear online next.

Which only adds to our own responsibility not to put damaging visual fakes online. Photoshop is a tool for improving images. Not to produce the lying imagery so typical of the world's evil despots. Imitation does neither you, nor our cynical world, any favours. Remember the boy who cried wolf!  

Finally: The best camera [for you] is the one you use most often. Do not let yourself be dictated to by professionals, "experts" or manufacturers. They each have their own agendas and often commercial needs. The pro who uses tens of thousands worth of kit may have assistants to carry it all about. Read every online review your can find for the models which you have short-listed in your price range. Then read the reviews of their predecessors to see if they have really fixed the previous glaring faults in the latest camera or lens. By all means read the commercially sponsored "magazine" reviews but keep your cynical wits about you. 

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