Noulakaz

The blog of Avinash, Christina, Anya and Kyan Meetoo.

Photography

My old Canon EOS 6D is still going strong but…

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I purchased my first digital SLR camera, a Canon EOS 60D, on 7 April 2011. We were on vacation in the USA and I had ordered the camera on Amazon to be delivered to a friend’s place.

From the very first photo, I understood that I had entered another world.

Five years later, I got the opportunity to upgrade to a full-frame camera, the Canon EOS 6D. Another friend from the US had settled in Mauritius and was selling his photo gear second-hand. I jumped on the occasion.

I immediately understood why people loved full-frame cameras. With a Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM lens, the result was simply amazing. Over the years, I would perfect my RAW processing workflow to use DxO PhotoLab, ViewPoint and FilmPack.

Unfortunately, all good things need to have an end. The 6D was introduced in September 2012 and, a few days ago, Canon Japan announced that they would stop repairing this camera as from September 2025.

Of course, I still have a fully functional 6D. In fact, it went through a major servicing last year and, in principle, has a few years in its belly.

But, as I have been using a Canon EOS R8 mirrorless camera for some time now, with either my existing 50mm lens or a Canon RF 28mm f/2.8 STM pancake lens we have just purchased to be able to travel light, I wonder whether I will use the 6D again?

Maybe it will just gather dust until it becomes useful again as my old 60D did.

We’ll see.

Mrs Maisel is Marvelous

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We started watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in January 2025 and Christina and I watched the last episode last night. We both loved the show.

“After her husband leaves her, young mother of two Miriam “Midge” Maisel discovers that she has a talent for stand-up comedy. Could this be her calling?” And I have to say with a resounding yes that this is absolutely her calling!

During the five seasons and 43 episodes, we went through a beautiful journey with Rachel Brosnahan (as Miriam ‘Midge’ Maisel), Alex Borstein (as Susie Myerson), Michael Zegen (as Joel Maisel), Tony Shalhoub (as Abe Weissman), Marin Hinkle (as Rose Weissman), Kevin Pollak (as Moishe Maisel), Caroline Aaron (as Shirley Maisel), Joel Johnstone (as Archie Cleary), Bailey De Young (as Imogene Cleary), Luke Kirby (as Lenny Bruce), Jane Lynch (as Sophie Lennon), Stephanie Hsu (as Mei), Reid Scott (as Gordon Ford), LeRoy McClain (as Shy Baldwin), Erik Palladino (as Frank), John Scurti (as Nicky), Alfie Fuller (as Dinah Rutledge), Gideon Glick (as Alfie) and Matilda Szydagis (as Zelda).

Rachel Brosnahan (as Miriam ‘Midge’ Maisel) is the superstar in a way I’ve never seen an actor in any other comparable show. No wonder she has been chosen to be the next Lois Lane in the Superman movie to be released soon.

Rachel Brosnahan is more like the main actor of a major movie instead of a TV show actress, in the sense that everything great in the show involves her. She masters acting and she has an enormous amount of charisma. Her relationship with both Michael Zegen (as Joel Maisel, her past husband and forever admirer) and Alex Borstein (as Susie Myerson, her manager and best friend) is fantastic to watch.

The Jewish family dynamics as portrayed by Miriam, Joel, Abe, Rose, Moishe and Shirley is also very fun (even in these times and days…). I loved Abe’s monologues and Moishe’s directness, Rose’s innocence and Shirley’s compassion. The fact that, even at the very end, none of the oldies really understood that Miriam was a great comic was absolutely hilarious.

At this point, I have to quote Elle Magazine (of all magazines!): Midge Maisel [is] one of the best-dressed characters on TV. Every single of the 43 episodes was a marvel for the eyes, from the set, the lighting, the colours chosen and, of course, the way Miriam dressed.

We loved how the show ended last night. I hope no one will ever have the ludicrous idea of making another season.

Christina and I are PADI Open Water Scuba Divers

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Today, Christina and I are absolutely delighted to have been certified as PADI Open Water Scuba Divers. This is our gift to ourselves for our 25th wedding anniversary!

To be certified, we had to complete four training dives in the sea, a number of training dives in a pool as well as a very long and quite complex theoretical course which was followed by an online exam.

We opted to do our training with Scuba World Ltd, based at Le Preskil Hotel in the beautiful bay of Mahébourg. I already knew the owners, Daveena and Christophe, who I had met during my UNDP days. They assigned Visham to us as our dive instructor and he was great. He shared his experience with us and, little by little, we understood what was needed to become a good diver. On our third dive, we descended to 17.5m.

Now that we are certified, we can dive in open water all over the world as buddies (or with an instructor) up to a depth of 18m.

We managed to do everything over a period of a little less than one month. Our first dive was on 16 December 2024, the second on 4 January, the third on 7 January and the fourth and last one, today, 10 January 2025.

Of course, we celebrated this fantastic milestone with a good beer on the beach. A big thank you again to the Scuba World Ltd team. Thanks to you, we are divers!