Not entirely true… If you write libraries for other developers you can use them as beta testers. Your customers have a production environment, but you don’t. At least, that’s what one of our vendors seems to think…

If they send 2 emails per subdomain per year, that could easily be 10s of millions which would make the cost per email measured in thousandths of a cent. And I could see the number of subdomains being larger by a factor of 10, maybe more.

Another angle: someone with IT experience needs to manage the system that seems emails, and other engineers need to integrate other systems with the email reminder system. The time spent on engineering could easily add up to thousands per year, if not tens of thousands.

I’m guessing their figure is based on both running costs and engineering costs.

That seems like a much lower salary than they would get running a for-profit tech company, though. Moving out of SF would also make it harder to hire people with a lot of experience in tech.

I wouldn’t take it on anything more than class II rapids (ie. no whitewater). We don’t get wet on most trips, and that’s without trying to keep anything safe and dry (my phone is waterproof). IMO the risk is only slightly higher than walking next to a swimming pool or river with your camera, you could fall in but most likely won’t.

But someone else pointed out a $90-100 waterproof case, which is a better option that buying another camera just for this.

OK, I found the waterproof case you were taking about and that actually seems like a pretty good option. A $90 case would let us safely use the D3500 on the kayak, and let’s me think about other features when picking out my own camera. Thanks for the suggestion and other info, it’s really helpful.

Edit: Looks like that case limits you to a ~50mm lens, which would be pretty limiting for shooting birds. On the other hand, it sounds like it’s fairly common to have 2 camera bodies to avoid having to change lenses when the camera is wet/dirty, so maybe we could use the D3500 with a short lens in a waterproof case, and also get a weatherproof camera with a super telephoto prime. Lots of options to consider…

Some level of weatherproofing in the camera and lens is a hard requirement for me, and I’m seeing a lot more options for Pentax lenses. But there’s a good chance I’m just not looking for the right thing… Is there a weatherproof super telephoto DX mount lens for under $600? I’m finding Pentax lenses for around $200. Mainly looking at used gear, BTW.

Edit: also, by “stronger market” I meant more supply, which would push prices down. In hindsight that wasn’t very clear…

Seems like waterproof housings cost 2-4x as much as a camera, and I think they only work with special lenses? I don’t need a waterproof rating, I’m comfortable with the risk based on what I’ve read on forums about weatherproofing. And I don’t really expect to get wet on the kind of kayak trips that I’d bring a camera on (I normally have a couple of canine passengers anyway, so it’s usually pretty mellow).

I didn’t realize mirrorless cameras had that advantage with adaptors, but those forums posts I saw about FTZ adaptors make a lot more sense now. Can you cross brands when adapting a DSLR lens to mirrorless body without losing electronics like AF?

For the mount, I’m leaning towards Pentax K mount because that seems like it would give me the most options for reasonably priced weatherproof gear. Obviously the downside is it wouldn’t be compatible with my SO’s Nikon gear, but maybe she’ll switch over since I think she also wants better weatherproofing than her D3500 can offer.

I like how you broke that down. Faster autofocus might help with shooting birds, but a longer focal distance is what I really need right now. Guess I need to spend some time researching lenses…

Thanks for the response. I was leaning towards a DSLR because it seems like the used market is a lot stronger than mirrorless, which I assume means cheaper gear. Does that make sense, or would you still recommend a mirrorless? I already mentioned this in another post, but most of my shooting has been nature/wildlife, so better low light performance might be nice. And autofocus seems almost required for shooting wildlife, but I’ll keep my eyes open for a nice (and cheap) MF prime for landscape shots.

Are you saying you spend a lot more on your cameras than your lenses?

Yeah, I keep reading that on various photography forums. I’m not going to go swimming with it or anything, but I want a camera I can take on kayak trips and shoot on the water. And, worst case scenario, my budget takes into account the risk of the camera breaking.

That makes sense, but at what point should you think about a nicer camera? If I’m looking at $450 used lenses should I spend more than $150 on a camera? Those numbers are somewhat arbitrarily based on a Pentax K50 and a 200mm/2.8 prime lens.

Both me and my SO like shooting wildlife and nature, so her 70-300 zoom lens is getting a lot more use than the 18-55. I’m thinking about getting a Pentax with either a similar zoom lens or a prime telephoto, hopefully that would complement the D3500 and not overlap too much. The Nikon seems too fragile for a kayak trip, for example.

You don’t have to ship a second OS just to containerize your app.

To log in to your account online?

If you have a spare pci-e port you can get a card that adds a USB controller. Some m.2 ports also have a pci-e channel you could use with an adapter.

There’s also jury nullification.

LetsEncrypt is a good option if you want to set it up yourself. More work than cloudflare though.

And you lose access to “your” site if they go out of business. Sounds a lot like renting, not sure where the “ownership” part comes in.