Once the light, camera position etc. were working properly, quite some time had passed and I had only space for 50 pictures left on my memory card. Battery was half drained too, from the fill flash, but still OK. So, I set the camera on interval timer and played some GT4, to tickle a variety of expressions out of my face without actually thinking about them (that never works).
The one you’re seeing here is the moment in which I finally managed to get a ‘silver’ rating on the Costa di Amalfi lap guide run, on the 30th or 40th attempt. Lap guide run means you follow a guide car, i.e. you don’t have to spend ages on learning all the intricacies of the course, but you also have to be careful that while going as fast as possible, following as closely as possible, you must never actually overtake the guide car (!). I needed this for my international B licence; of course I won’t allow myself to have a single ‘bronze’ rating in there. (Those are cake.)
So, joy and elation across the board, only it turns out that the 8800, when the battery is low (which is was at that point), doesn’t even bother trying to autofocus. What an asshole! With such a weak manual focus (awkward handling and low precision), autofocus is super-important on the 8800. Being betrayed by an old friend sucks.
