Wednesday 4 March 2009

Tech Support Query

This week I did something I've been wanting to do for a while. I had a go at some creative photography, largely inspired by a fellow blogger (do take a look, she's very good).

Since digital cameras became affordable, I've used a basic one to take shots of friends and family, holiday snaps etc. My old camera died a couple of years ago, and I asked the Paramour for a new one for Xmas - 'just a point-and-shoot,' I said. He duly obliged with an Olympus FE 170 that met my needs perfectly.

Until this week. I rapidly discovered its limitations when I tried taking creative photos. The shutter speed is irritatingly slow; there is no viewfinder, so half the time I couldn't see what I was doing; the zoom was inadequate. How come I never noticed any of this before?

So I want to upgrade. But flippin' heck, it's complicated. There's a whole new language to learn, of SLRs and shutter lag, megapixels and purple fringing (bit retro, that; I haven't had a purple fringe since the 1980s). Did you know photos can have noise on them? Me neither. Still haven't got my head around that one.

Once I'd set the Google translator for 'Photography to English', I managed to work out that I need a 'bridge camera', i.e. the kind people get when they want something cleverer than a point-and-shoot but not as clever as a professional's kit. There are loads of bridge cameras on the market, so the research has been painful, but I think I'm nearly there. I'm considering going for the Panasonic DMC FZ28. It's a Which Best Buy, and the lovely people at cameras.co.uk also rate it highly. But before I leap, seeing as at least two of my blogfriends are addicted to photography, I thought I'd ask your advice. If you're a photographer, what kind of camera do you use? Would you recommend it? Why?

All input will be most gratefully received. You will be rewarded in due course by pictures here that speak a thousand words (mostly variations on the theme of: Queenie was a bit busy today so she dug a photo out of her archives to bung on the blog for you lot).

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just visited (and commented on) Inspiral Daze. Lovely, thank you.

HelenMWalters said...

I've got a very basic Canon digital - I don't think I could cope with anything more complicated. I know you shouldn't really do this, but I just went into a camera shop and asked them to tell me which one to buy. I am a salesman's dream customer.

Queenie said...

Clare, glad you liked it.
Helen, you sound like me!!

Pat said...

I suspect I'm too backward for you but mine has given me a lot of joy. It's a Sony Cyber-shot 3.2 mega pixels- you've seen the results. My elder son says next time I should get a larger thing where you see the picture - like he has - which is great. I don't mean the view finder.
I've had it for yonks and am just about to try using its movie facility if I can find the bloomin'manual.

Jen said...

Oh, check you out inspiring me while I'm inspiring you! We rock! Aw, thanks for the pimping.

Well, I have two cameras... a super-fancy DSLR with mega-expensive lens and also a pretty good point and shoot with a few added jollities for good measure. SLR weighs a ton so I quite often use the tiddler and, quite honestly, you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference in the photos.

So, I'd recommend The Canon PowerShot A720 (IS). It does just about everything except make the tea and is as light as a feather.

Ooh, Qwerty photos. Will be tres handy to accompany the travel writing, innit?

Jen said...

Oh, I feel a bit weird being two people!

Seriously, ta for the linkage. (And I'm having my fist and only glass of wine right now for a week! See? You did inspire me too!)

Jen said...

First! Not, um... oh dear.

Tamsyn Murray said...

Too complicated for me - think I'll just admire the efforts of others!

Queenie said...

Inspiral Jen: thank you, it now looks as if I may well end up with a Canon, not sure it'll be that one, though it's still a contender. And yes, you're right about the travel writing.
Spiral Jen: I know how you feel, in more ways than one!!
Tam: I will do my best to provide some efforts soon for you to admire. In the meantime, do go and admire Jen's, hers are truly admirable.

Badger said...

Hello, I love taking pictures too.
I have a Canon 350D SLR. I love it very much, when I bought it about 3 years ago now I was very worried as it was so very expensive, but I can honestly say that I love it so much I would have paid double.
They are very overwhelming at first to get to grips with, but I found the best way of learning was by looking though some of the digital camera magazines they were really helpful and many have handy tutorials. They even teach you about enhancing your pictures in Photoshop.

Good luck and I look forward to popping back and seeing some of your pics.

Badger
x

Queenie said...

Wow, Badger, an SLR? Respect! Thanks so much for the tip about the magazines, I wouldn't have thought of that and it's a great idea.