Cameras
After 4 years of service, I'm about ready to say good-bye to my dinosaur-of-a-camera and send it off into retirement. For some strange reason, my Sony DSC-S70 cannot be charged up properly anymore. When I plug in the charger, the number of minutes left in the battery refuses to increase. The battery indicator tells me that there are only 22 minutes left (the last time I checked was 2 weeks ago), and when I turn the camera on, I'll just decrease its life further. Sigh
I think the problem is due to either the battery or the camera itself. Replacing or fixing either one will definitely cost over $60. Since it's such an old camera, and the newer cameras are so much better and cheaper these days, there's really no point in investing any more money into this beast. The last time I forked over money for this baby was back in 2002, when I bought a 128MB Memory Stick for a whopping $100. These days, you can't even fit one decently-encoded episode of anime or drama on 128MB.
I've been researching the camera market for quite some time, in search for the heir apparent. The imminent death of my camera has hastened that search in the recent weeks, but so far I haven't found "the one". For those of you who know me, you'll know that I like to think about all my options carefully. Even though it's good to be thorough, I do feel that I tend to think too much sometimes and over-analyze things. Instead of taking action, I'd just sit there and confuse myself some more with more analysis of the pros and cons of my options.
Anyway, I finally narrowed my choices down to the 3 cameras announced by Panasonic this year. Even though Panasonic isn't as established as your Sonys and Canons in the area of digital photography, they have improved upon their designs greatly in the recent years and now offer some serious contenders in the crowded market. I picked Panasonic because -- (1) they use Leica lenses (which are supposed to be very, very good); (2) they are very user-friendly with their menus and options; (3) they come with image-stabilization to help compensate for blurriness in darker settings. My final choices are:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01: This ultracompact is only 24mm thick -- about the size of a deck of cards. While its appearance isn't as stylish as the Casio Exilims or even the Canon Digital Elphs, it has a few features not found on the other ultracompact cameras. One, it has image stabilization. I hate it when my pictures turn out blurry because there wasn't enough lighting. With image stabilization, this will alleviate the blurriness a bit, so that the resulting pictures are more usable. The other killer feature on this camera is the awesome wide-angle zoom. Most other cameras have 38mm-114mm zoom range, but the 28mm-102mm range on this camera will allow for the user to fit more of the scene into the frame -- useful for landscape and group shots. This is basically your typical compact point-and-shoot. The current street price is about $330.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7: With 12x optical zoom (38mm-432mm), this ain't your mama's camera. The FZ7 offers the full range of automatic and manual controls over most aspects of picture-taking. If you don't know what you're doing, the camera will take good care of you; and if you do know what you're doing, this camera will help you take even better pictures. At about 310g, it's still 1/4 lighter than my current camera, and at around the same size. Plus, I think it looks sweet. The current street price is about $330.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1: This camera is like the boring middle sibling. It isn't quite small enough to fix in my pocket, yet it's not nearly as big as the ultra-zoom cameras like the Panasonic FZ7 or the Canon S2IS. Its 10x zoom will put most ultracompacts and mid-size cameras to shame. Throw in the image stabilization that's standard on all of the recent Panasonic cameras, and you're looking at some nice, clear, zoomed-in shots of wildlife (or unsuspecting *cough* victims *cough* friends). While the zooming abilities in a 40ish mm-thick package is attactive, this camera lacks the manual controls offered by the FZ7. Still, it's one of the most anticipated cameras in the recent years due to its size and zooming abilities. The current street price is about $320.
Anyhoo, I'm darn proud of myself for being able to narrow down to these three choices. While I kinda want something small that I can put in my pocket and take with me everywhere, I also want something with good zooming capabilities that will allow me to take some awesome pictures. If I can't fit it in my pocket, then I might as well go all out and get something that can zoom, right? Or is it better to compromise and get something in-between? So many choices.... =(
I think the problem is due to either the battery or the camera itself. Replacing or fixing either one will definitely cost over $60. Since it's such an old camera, and the newer cameras are so much better and cheaper these days, there's really no point in investing any more money into this beast. The last time I forked over money for this baby was back in 2002, when I bought a 128MB Memory Stick for a whopping $100. These days, you can't even fit one decently-encoded episode of anime or drama on 128MB.
I've been researching the camera market for quite some time, in search for the heir apparent. The imminent death of my camera has hastened that search in the recent weeks, but so far I haven't found "the one". For those of you who know me, you'll know that I like to think about all my options carefully. Even though it's good to be thorough, I do feel that I tend to think too much sometimes and over-analyze things. Instead of taking action, I'd just sit there and confuse myself some more with more analysis of the pros and cons of my options.
Anyway, I finally narrowed my choices down to the 3 cameras announced by Panasonic this year. Even though Panasonic isn't as established as your Sonys and Canons in the area of digital photography, they have improved upon their designs greatly in the recent years and now offer some serious contenders in the crowded market. I picked Panasonic because -- (1) they use Leica lenses (which are supposed to be very, very good); (2) they are very user-friendly with their menus and options; (3) they come with image-stabilization to help compensate for blurriness in darker settings. My final choices are:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01: This ultracompact is only 24mm thick -- about the size of a deck of cards. While its appearance isn't as stylish as the Casio Exilims or even the Canon Digital Elphs, it has a few features not found on the other ultracompact cameras. One, it has image stabilization. I hate it when my pictures turn out blurry because there wasn't enough lighting. With image stabilization, this will alleviate the blurriness a bit, so that the resulting pictures are more usable. The other killer feature on this camera is the awesome wide-angle zoom. Most other cameras have 38mm-114mm zoom range, but the 28mm-102mm range on this camera will allow for the user to fit more of the scene into the frame -- useful for landscape and group shots. This is basically your typical compact point-and-shoot. The current street price is about $330.Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7: With 12x optical zoom (38mm-432mm), this ain't your mama's camera. The FZ7 offers the full range of automatic and manual controls over most aspects of picture-taking. If you don't know what you're doing, the camera will take good care of you; and if you do know what you're doing, this camera will help you take even better pictures. At about 310g, it's still 1/4 lighter than my current camera, and at around the same size. Plus, I think it looks sweet. The current street price is about $330.Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1: This camera is like the boring middle sibling. It isn't quite small enough to fix in my pocket, yet it's not nearly as big as the ultra-zoom cameras like the Panasonic FZ7 or the Canon S2IS. Its 10x zoom will put most ultracompacts and mid-size cameras to shame. Throw in the image stabilization that's standard on all of the recent Panasonic cameras, and you're looking at some nice, clear, zoomed-in shots of wildlife (or unsuspecting *cough* victims *cough* friends). While the zooming abilities in a 40ish mm-thick package is attactive, this camera lacks the manual controls offered by the FZ7. Still, it's one of the most anticipated cameras in the recent years due to its size and zooming abilities. The current street price is about $320.Anyhoo, I'm darn proud of myself for being able to narrow down to these three choices. While I kinda want something small that I can put in my pocket and take with me everywhere, I also want something with good zooming capabilities that will allow me to take some awesome pictures. If I can't fit it in my pocket, then I might as well go all out and get something that can zoom, right? Or is it better to compromise and get something in-between? So many choices.... =(
posted by robchang at
11:52:00 PM
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