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Tuesday, March 21, 2006,6:23 PM
NEW CAMERA

Friends and their friends bring their cameras to me for repairs, I try to direct them to the camera service people. but no, they want me to take their cameras personally and get it repaired for them. The most common problem I had to deal with in the digital cameras is the CCD (charged coupled device, please correct me) Once its gone you have to either junk it or spend a fortune to get the CCD replaced, I always advise them to junk it as you can buy a new camera for the cost of the repair. Been thinking for a while. A Digital camera should be nothing more than a handycam, why is it so expensive ? All digital cameras offer a movie mode, easy to shoot which serious photographers rarely use. Why do they offer it? They offer this feature because a digital camera is primarily a handycam. I realised that the film camera makers who jumped into digital are taking us for a ride. They have a psychological advantage as we would trust only them, we have been using their brand of film cameras for ages. Digital SLRs use bigger and superior processors which can handle low light without grains, so do these handycams. You can buy two good laptops for the price of a Digital SLR body without lens. The additional lenses cost a mighty fortune. These digital SLRs are the biggest rip off. Believe me it is not wise to invest in the cameras which you cannot trust. Unlike the film cameras, anything can go wrong with a digital anytime without any reason. It will be a stab in your heart. Your pictures are not safe until you transfer them.

All these pictures were taken with Panasonic LUMIX DMC FZ30 with 3MP setting and lowest quality

CCD, the Processor and the autofocus technology. I thought I should check the people who have been in this business for donkey's years, SONY and PANASONIC, a serious photographer will have doubts about them as they did not make any film cameras.( Not to my Knowledge) One Model caught my fancy, Panasonic 8 MP, LUMIX DMC-FZ30, sounds very complicated, read the review, This camera has low light handling problem, still I decided to go for it as It was affordable. The most attractive feature which is not offered by any other similar 8MP digital was a 35- 420mm Leica zoom. I can't miss this, I told my friend Cherian to buy this camera for me.

Cherian, Reeni and their brilliant little son Sam are in Chicago. He is a software masala brain lots of bulbs glowing inside his head. Cherian is always too glad to contribute to my photography, wasted no time, bought the camera immediately from Butterfly Cameras, found a gentleman who was going to India, Within a few days the camera was in my hands. Cherian can pack Mount McKinley neatly in a box and send it to me. I had to go to Kottayam to collect it and in the process I met a very sweet family, Cherian's friend Sallu. Every thing was perfect, the camera was a joy. The padding material Cherian used for the safety of the camera was a beautiful shirt for me. Smart man he is. I had to test the camera, I wanted to go to Thekkady, but Sallu insisted on taking me to Kumarakom, close to Kottayam, It turned out to be a treat, the whole day was like a dream, meeting a sweet family getting a new wonderful camera and Kumarakom. I had to spend a lot of time to understand my earlier digital cameras. With Panasonic LUMIX all controls are so easy that I did not even touch the manual. All I had to do was to choose the quality of the image from the menu. I chose the lowest to accomodate more pictures in the card. Along with the joy of having 420mm Leica zoom, the other feature which works wonders is the image stabliser. These are some of the test pictures I shot in kumarakom.Thanks so much Cherian and Thank you Sallu for taking me there.



I was nearly 40 feet away in a boat which was rocking. Here the image stabliser helped me. I can't jump and take pictures, (Not in a boat) the stabliser has limitations.

Daylight Again
 
posted by rauf
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8 Comments:


  • 7:36 PM, Blogger e2d

    amazing clarity Rauf--inspite of choosing the lowest quality.
    (Assuming these two features r related in some way)
    And kumarakom--WOW!:)
    So again if I am interested in buying a new camera..then u say I should go for..Panasonic 8 MP, LUMIX DMC-FZ30?

     

  • 11:27 PM, Blogger rauf

    I'll come up with a blog on Kumarakom e2dees, go there if you are loaded with ill gotten money. Otherwise go there walk around take pictures of lagoons or birds and return home by the evening.

    This Lumix what I've got is 464 dollars, card is additional. a begger like me can afford it. I'll do some more digging and tell you if there's anything better than this e2dees, Its either SONY or Panasonic, others are a rip off. you get good German lens on both.

     

  • 11:47 PM, Blogger rauf

    Owee forgot e2dees, carry food with you. Those food joints will shave your head. Don't even have coffee there. Sallu and I had a very nice meal just outside Kumarakom.

     

  • 12:16 AM, Anonymous Anonymous

    ok Rauf..thank u.:)

     

  • 4:15 AM, Blogger rauf

    Thank you Lorraine, its the technology which helps imagination, here there is not much of imagination, just aim and shoot.

     

  • 10:23 PM, Blogger Sangita S

    I loved that fist pic of the flower and yeah the clarity is amazing..U got an unending appetite for birds lol

     

  • 10:38 PM, Blogger rauf

    Its some kind of aquatic plant Sangita don't know the name, Shot at Kumarakom, Kerala, close to Kottayam, very high funda stylish place everything very expensive.Actually the flower was pretty far, I couldn't go near as it was a marshy land, water everywhere which attracts lot of birds.

     

  • 4:31 PM, Anonymous Anonymous

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