entering the sublime

Did a kind-of-an-impulse buy earlier this week of a new point-and-shoot camera.   The old one we have (pre dSLR) is about 6 yrs old and has lived out its life...still works well, and would be great for a Kid camera, but is def showing its age.

I was debating between the Canon 870is and the Panasonic TZ5.  I briefly thought about the new Nikon Coolpix but didn't get warm fuzzies about it. 

I went with the Panasonic (in blue!) primarily because it could shoot 720p video clips* (that's HD quality).  There were several reviews stating that there was a lot of noise/graininess in low light, but I wasn't super concerned about that as I'd most likely have my big Nikon with me, or fix any noise in PS.

Got it last night and played around a bit.....and am REALLY pleased thus far.  There's about 20 different preset scenes (including wacky ones like Food for you food bloggers) and I thought it did pretty darn good capturing Ben's half eaten spaghetti using the available light of my dining room......much better than I could get in the same conditions w/ the lens I had on the dSLR (the 18-200 vr for those who care/know)  Not expecting to replace the dSLR by any means (depth of field is notoriously bad on P&S, and there's just a certain quality that comes w/ a big sensor in the big cameras that P&S can't do), but it will be nice to have some photos of me (Judd's terrified of my camera) and of the times that I just don't want to lug it around.

Haven't taken any videos yet, but will play with one tonight, and upload the test shots I took.

BTW, one of the best things I did when doing online research was search for the camera in Flickr and see what people have posted.  Granted, people aren't going to post their super crappy photos, and good photographer can get a good photo out of a piece o crap camera, but its a pretty good real-life slice of what kind of images its taking w/ respect to white balance and overexposure...

so yayyyy, fun video clips coming! And flicr supports video, so yayyyy easy to upload and embed video!




*we do have a very nice video camera, but it records onto tapes and Judd is horrifically slow with importing them into the computer, titling, and burning onto DVD's. 

Guess what tinksdust did!  She (indirectly) got me my camera lens!

I called Adray camera per her suggestion, and yesterday they said that they didn't have any, but got a few in every month.  They offered to put me on their list and they'd call me when one was available.  I dont think I asked how long the list was, but knew that the Ritz list was about 1200 people long, and the DC camera stores that I'd usually rely on said they had a list of about 400 and hadn't seen a lens in months.

this morning,  got a call from an odd (313) area code...almost didn't answer it, but it was the camera shop!  They had a lens in!


Amanda, don't worry about picking it up - they said that they can ship it to me no problem & had a reasonable price...

I should have it by Monday!  Yay!


so yayyyyyyyyyyyyy for LJ friends :)

Hey onelargecat and/or ami_tutti and anyone else who's a Nikon SLR'er..

I'm on the verge of buying a few more lenses for my D50 (still have the kit lens). I'm thinking for now:

-nikkor 50mm f/1.4 (used)
-nikkor 70-300 ED (used)

anyone have any experience with either of these? or alternatives I should look at, esp if the 50mm f/1.8 is just as good for less $$?
I def need a fast lens for Ben


I'm lusting after the 18-200 VR, and have a friend who works in a camera shop who'll get me 15% off, but its still $$ for now.



It is refreshing that lenses are one of those things that DO hold most of their value and can be resold easily....

Even w/ our central air, it was hot last night.  SO we did an impulsive lets-catch-a-movie yesterday.  It was Judd's choice (I voted for Charlie or Wedding Crashers, he wanted to see Fantastic Four).  It was better than expected, saved only by Michael Chicless (sp) who was awesome. 

The night before, we dove through 2 netflix - The Flight of the Pheonix and Ladder 49.  ( Read more... )

Oho, and I apparntly have the skill of starting a massive firestorm riot on photography boards.   I was simply asking the photonerds if they got any heat from other guests when they brought a digital SLR to a wedding.  I dont want to be the photographer - I just want to get a few good shots that the offical guy won't get....geez, those photo boards are worse than wedding boards!  (FWIW, I'm bringing it.)

just placed the order for my new camera, external flash and 5 year warrenty.  it should get here on Friday, so will have lots of things to post this weekend!  Yayy!   (I did give myself a minor heart attack when I looked at the bottom price before I paid, then realized that I had added 11 external flashes.  Doh!!)  I have altered friends and husband that I will now officially become one of those people who's always taking pictures.  Judd, Mr "I prefer to take pictures with my mind" doesn't understand, but I dont understand his xbox obsession, so I guess we're even.


In other news, I watched U2:Go Home - the Slane Castle Concert this past weekend & really enjoyed it - I'm a very casual U2 fan (probably wouldn't go see them live, owned 1-2 albums), but the Slane Castle show looked SO good! kinaida - you would love this.   It was all concert footage in front of 80,000+ fans - there were at least 15 songs and a teeny bit of 'banter' but no interview or behind the scenes stuff - just front raw concert footage.  The band could come off as being such smug bastards, but they genuinely seem to be surprised that a 20+ year old band from Dublin is still so well loved & successful.

I've been a book freak the past few days, plowing steadily through Honk and Holler Opening Soon (thanks to lj user="tinksdust">'s recommendation, with The Plot Against America, Angels & Demons, and about 3 other things right behind it. Oho, and the UK edition of the new Harry Potter is coming soon, too!

Finally, my bro + SIL + baby Liam are flying out here (well, my parents) on Thursday.   They're heading to Nags Head for a week with SIL's brother & his girlfriend, then spending another few days back at my parents before heading back to Texas.  I'll probably go down the following weekend to see 'em, but Judd will be out of the country in Colombia, so its just going to be me and Sammy.  I don't envy the people who will be sitting near the squalking 9 month old by ANY means :P

I'm looking for input on two things (which together would be so much fun!)


-I need a good sangria recipe (fit for a party)...preferably without sprite/7-up/seltzer added.


-Any input on digital SLR's? I'm tempted....I would def be in the 'amateur' catagory, so don't need anything that would be used by photojournalists, etc. I'm just looking to have a 'fancy' addition to our point-and-shoot. This wouldn't be a this-week purchase -- more of something to look into over the next few months.... I've heard good things about the new Rebel