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Friday, February 25, 2011


Foto Friday: I Join the 21st Century


O hai!

I've been away for a while, due to various things. But I am back to show you the fruits of my new toy, a DIGITAL CAMERA! Yes! Always on the bleeding edge of technology, I now have one o' them newfangled digital cameras that all the kids are talking about. Mine is the Canon SX130, which came into my hot little hands yesterday afternoon:

11:50am wake up
12:10pm drive to Post Office
1:30pm email kewl new photos to Niles

So here are some samples of my new hotness. This is the best one -- yesterday's sunset:

Sunset over Maalaea Bay from Pukalani, Feb 2011Sunset over Maalaea Bay from Pukalani
Feb 2011



(Click to enlarge any photo.) And here we have one of the first images off the camera, taken yesterday afternoon:

Maalaea Bay from home, Feb 2011Maalaea Bay from home
Feb 2011



Of course, it's kind of cheating when you have views like this lying around. Who couldn't take a good picture? (Though I did have to fiddle with the contrast a bit in that last one.)

And finally, a picture taken just minutes ago!

Fire in the wood stove, Feb 2011Fire in the wood stove, Feb 2011



All of these were taken with the "auto" setting, because I haven't had time to sit down with the manual and figure out the more exotic settings.

Here's a quick mini review:

I chose this because it a) had manual settings, b) was not so incredibly tiny that it would be hard to handle, and c) had a 35mm-equivalent focal length range of 28mm to (just under) 400mm. Oh, and d) it was under $200. I really wanted an optical viewfinder, but you have to pay about twice as much to get one.

Irritations: It doesn't come with a printed manual. You have to download it off the accompanying CD, or the web, and print it out yourself. There is a "getting started" booklet included.

The LCD display is hard to see in bright light, which is been true of every digital camera I've handled. That's why I wanted the viewfinder. It's damned difficult to compose shots. I expect to be doing a lot of cropping.

There's no neck strap. There's a wrist strap, which means it bounces everywhere. I went for a bit of a walk today, and took the camera with me in case of good scenery (nope, too cloudy). The camera dangling off my wrist was very annoying. I bought a case for it -- the Canon case made for it -- and that doesn't have a neck strap either, only a belt loop (useless, for me, since I don't wear a belt). It also doesn't have a place for spare batteries or cords or cards even. So I'm going to have to get a little pouch to keep the case in. Grr.

The little door covering up the USB port feels veeeery flimsy.

The camera came with two Panasonic batteries. According to the booklet, this is supposed to last for 130 shots. I've taken 38, and the low battery indicator has come on.

But those are just minor nuisances, in the scheme of things. When I start working with the manual settings, I'm sure I'll find the major ones. But so far I like it very much, not least for the fact that the FF turn around time is in minutes!

It also does movies, though I haven't even tried that yet.

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