It finally arrived on Friday – the camera that I needed to show you through my garden again.
I can see some of you SLR snobs already looking down your nose at my choice, but bear with me, there is a logical explanation.
I originally intended to get the latest Canon 400D (branded as a Rebel XTi in the US). In fact, I was almost swayed to part with more cash and indulge in the 40D. Fortunately, I have a friend who is a keen amateur/pro photographer – he teaches Photography at the college I work at – who asked me some serious questions on my intent of its use. Questions that took an SLR-lusting-wanna-be away from my preferred choice.
Now, apart from my wife’s dodgy point-and-shoot that we lost, I’ve always had SLR’s and enjoyed the freedom of their many options. But, for the type of photography that I intend to enjoy, this point-and-shoot on steroids has it all…and a little bit more.
Let me show you some of the specs;
– 18x Optical Zoom (That’s right…18x) – Serious macro work for flowers, bugs, birds etc plus the freedom to enjoy the neighbour’s backyard from the porch – not that I would do that.
– 8 megapixels
– Superfast 15fps spontaneous picture-taking
– Everything can be automatic or manual at the slip of a dial
– Aperture sizes from f2.8 up to f8.0
– Autofocusing
plus, an optional extra is the conversion adapter (CLA-10) which can hold the TCON-17 telephoto lens capable of extending the focal point by 7x – or the equivalent of a 416.5mm lens!!!
So, why the change of mind? Portability. I’ve lugged SLR’s and their accompanying lenses around before and always whinged about it. And though I didn’t want to be seen as an amateur, practicality won it – I must be getting older! And just when you thought they were good enough reasons, I found this one for half the price of the EOS!!
I spent some of the weekend taking a few pics and trying out what this camera could do. Here’s a small sampling – my Flickr page. [Side note: I’m thinking of adding an option for Blotanical users to link to their Flickr pages on their My Plot. Would it be a useful addition?]
Anyhow, you should expect a few more pics of my garden from hereonin.
