From The Old Farmer's Almanac.
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.
Goldilocks (Margo Churchwell) sent this to me today. With this caption:
“Well I have a few minutes while I dry Rabbitbrush seed on the guest bed. I picked it earlier today and it was frosty. In order to avoid mold I’ll dry it today and then put it in the freezer for a week to kill the bugs that will eat the seed. Sorry bugs, but we need the seed you want to eat and I know I left plenty of your relatives on the shrubs to maintain a healthy balance.”
Margo (”Margo in the morning”) teamed up with Stew Churchwell and together the two of them have set out to rehabilitate and replant the state of Idaho. If you haven’t been to their site, clickety click on over to their website, NX Plants (Native and Xeric) . It’s a formidable operation they are running over in Emmett, and my hat is off to them for the incredibly hard work they have undertaken and their commitment to the land we call home. My hats off to them.
