Remember those words from years passed? Well, not that kind of test. I picked up another pocket camera yesterday while in Idaho Falls. Initial tests of the Canon SX130 look good. It is a bit bigger than the Canon A1000 being replaced, but less shutter lag and a lot more zoom on both ends (12x vs 4x). The construction of the SX130 doesn't seem as solid as the A1000, and I had some concerns about not having a real viewfinder to go with the LCD screen... but, the features get better and the price gets lower.
Here's a low light image of a (biased opinion) particularly cute subject...
The image has been compressed a bunch for web use, but has great detail, good contrast, and nice color rendition with an automatic white balance.
Amazing how digital cameras have evolved in the past decade. This camera has twice the image resolution of the professional cameras that were our workhorses when we still had the studio... at about 2 to 3% of the cost. Oh, don't get me wrong, those pro cameras were designed to withstand the rigors of a serious shooting schedule. I have a serious DSLR that I didn't bother bringing this summer - too much bulk for the casual shooting I currently do. It feels like a well-designed weapon in your hand... a very heavy weapon. You really notice the bulk when you heft it onto your shoulder. This SX130 and the SX20 I bought last summer do all I need and are lightweight to cart around. Granted, they will need to be replaced more often, but the features continue to improve and the price keeps dropping... seems like a good trade-off for my use.
2 comments:
Oh wise camera one...thank you sooo much for that detailed camera info. We've been thinkin' about buying a new camera for our future travels. My father was a "camera-smith"...developed his own pictures, worked in a dark room, so I have the photo bug by default. I have bookmarked your blogspot/link for future reference as it contains lots of helpful info! Previously, I was thinkin' about getting a Nikon 7000, (I think)...do you have any other advice? Suggestions? thanks again, Valerie
Hi, Val. Pick a camera that "fits" your hand. Then, go out and use it... a bunch... until you can run all the features on it without having to think about it. We once bought a digital camera that was very highly rated, but so small that it wasn't comfortable to use; technically speaking: a pain in the butt. One of you should be the main shooter... and you know who that is in our family. Get comfortable with some photo software (I use Photoshop), and then decide if you want to make prints, post to a blog, Facebook it, or how you intend to use your photos. I can't tell you the last time I made prints (other than Christmas cards), but we do a newsletter with photos so we have a "photo history" of our travels for the past 15 years (when we started shooting digital). I prefer a camera by an actual camera company (like Nikon, Canon, Fuji, Olympus, etc), but head over to Best Buy or someplace like that and try out a bunch of cameras to see what you prefer. I've never been one to recommend what model camera to buy, since we all have different needs. Back in the old days (when we were still working), people seemed to expect me to know about every camera ever made!!?? The most important thing is to USE it. ;-)
Best wishes,
Jim
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