Yes I know it's in an awful Man Utd red but I prefer to think of it as Ferrari red.Works for me.
It was the cheapest there ($85 or £59 at todays rate of exchange) yet still had a few features that I liked.
I loved that its 2gb SD card only cost $7 (enough for over 750 photos) and that it uses standard AA batteries. It was a plus that I realised today that the SD card fits right into my laptop so there is no need to mess with the cable to download the photos.
It takes video footage that runs until the SD card fills up - which I looked at today and that'll give me 21 minutes at the highest quality setting that's good enough to watch on tv. That's all down to the excellent Nikon lens.
It has all the usual automatic scene settings for portraits, landscape, sports, night portrait, party (?), dusk/dawn, sunset, beach/snow, night landscape, close-up, panorama, museum (? again), backlight etc. That should be enough to cope with most events I think.
I'd have liked a paparazzi setting for taking shots through hedges and walls but hey, I didn't want to pay $5 more.
It has a Nikon anti-shake mode which although not really being image stabalisation as such, is pretty good at this price. 8 megapixels and x3 optical zoom round off the main features.
So this afternoon I slapped in some batteries (included), the SD card (not included) and set the date/time. I was all ready to go and despite my current debiliating illness (stop laughing) I went out on the golf cart and took a few experimental photos.
Obviously I have a lot to learn about framing photos on a very bright day when there is no viewfinder to help me. Holding the camera far enough away from my body so that my eyes could focus on the huge (Nikon's description, not mine) 3" lcd screen meant it was also far enough away to be just about useless in the sunlight. Talk about your point and shoot. It was more point, pray for divine guidance and shoot.
Obviously I have a lot to learn about framing photos on a very bright day when there is no viewfinder to help me. Holding the camera far enough away from my body so that my eyes could focus on the huge (Nikon's description, not mine) 3" lcd screen meant it was also far enough away to be just about useless in the sunlight. Talk about your point and shoot. It was more point, pray for divine guidance and shoot.
This last one was taken looking right into the sun and I couldn't see a thing.
These are straight from the camera with no post processing as that would defeat the purpose. I think I need to adjust the colour setting (oh didn't I mention I can do that too ?) as the sky in them isn't quite right but apart from that, and remembering these are reduced in size to get them up on the blog, I'm happy with them.
Tomorrow I'll post the ones I took with the Canon XTi at Ft. Myers Beach but I can see me using the Nikon a lot in the future - despite it being RED.
Impressive. Especially the into the sun shot.
ReplyDeleteI have just bought a very old canon powershot s45. I used to own a Powershot S50, and it was good, but, like you, I got the SLR, sold it and then missed it. This old thing cost me NZ$72 (about US$40) off TradeMe and I can't tell the difference in the postings of those estuary shots I took this morning.
Excellent! When I tried out my new camera for the first time the photos didn't look anywhere near as good as that. Mind you, that could be because I was in Leeds at the time and it was probably raining. Seriously, though, they look great.
ReplyDeleteLooks good to me - Great pictures!!
ReplyDeleteFirst thing I thought when I saw it, before I had read any of your post, is IT'S RED! But I thought this in a good way, as in 'it's a gorgeous red'. Congratulations on your purchase.
ReplyDeleteThose pictures are all great, and the third one is absolutely spectacular! I suppose you will feel compelled now to take gobs of photos of Florida before you go back to Leeds, especially now that you have a new camera and all, but if you get tired of doing that and want to experience "the real America," either while you are here or on some damp, foggy night after you return to jolly old England, I would like to recommend for your reading pleasure my new book/blog, Billy Ray Barnwell Here.
ReplyDeleteIt is totally unlike anything you have experienced before, but at the same time totally American in a way I know you will appreciate.
Just wanted to get a plug in. There's nothing quite like tooting one's own horn.
That, my dear sir, would be Husker Red, as in Nebraska Cornhusker Red. It is a well loved color that evokes much pride in that fine state. Nice shots, dude!
ReplyDeleteHe really wanted the pink one.....
ReplyDeleteNice little camera, right price and in Man Ud red - FABULOUS! Did I mention I'm a RED through and through :-)
ReplyDeleteLooks like it takes good piccies, I will have to check it out.