Sorry to have been MIA - new camera alert

After losing my beloved 15+ year old Samoyed, life has been a little sad.  But then it got rather busy because I now have a 4 month old Samoyed.    this is Wonder - out playing in the snow today, taken with my iPhone 4S.  Yes, I finally got my hubby to break down and get me a smartphone so I have been playing with its camera.  Once you are used to DSLRs and high grade point and shoots, you can't be impressed with phone cameras, but they are handy and always available.

Now, speaking of high grade point and shoots, a new Sony came out and what I read of its specifications I would just love to give it a whirl.  It sounds similar to my DSC-H20 which is maybe 4 years old now, but so many upgrades - sounds like it could retire my Sony alpha and its many lenses.

I know, cut to the chase and tell you what it is.  Well, okay then.  It's the Sony DSC-H200.  It has amazing specifications.  Like what, you ask.  Well, what do you think of 20.1 megapixels?  How about 26x zoom?  Or 3.0" LCD screen and Picture and Beauty effects.

I would love to get my hands on one of these and they do seem reasonably priced - I've found it as low as $229 at one major online retailer.  I have so many cameras, I don't know if I can justify spending money on another one, but this one has me drooling.

If any of you get one, come back and leave your comments - would love to hear them.

This is not an endorsement - I have no personal knowledge of this camera and Sony did not provide me with any information, promotional items, etc.  I came across the camera on my own and thought I would share it with you.  Enjoy.

What a beautiful weekend for beautiful pictures!

It's been a while, I know.  Life catches up on you sometimes, you know?  I actually dusted off my two Sony cameras (the alpha DSLR and the DSC-H20) and took lots of pictures with both.  Things are really blooming around here.

I also learned a wonderful trick.  You see, we have well water, so I have not allowed my hubby to use pesticides or herbicides on out lawn.  Well, after years of that, dandelions and lamb's ear (?) have taken over a good portion of our lawn (if we can still call it a lawn).  Earlier last week I heard that you could kill weeds by taking white vinegar + spray bottle + sunshine, and when sprayed directly on weeds, dead weeds!  Well, I had to try it.  Well, guess what?  It works (don't do a mass spraying, just directly on weeds themselves as it will kill other plants.).  And, it provides almost instant gratification.  Take a look at these once live dandelions a few hours after spraying:

The grass was already sunburned in this area - so the vinegar did not hurt the grass - it was already in that condition.  I am just so happy to have a natural way to kill the weeds in my yard.  And my husband is thrilled to see way fewer dandelion seeds blowing in the wind.

I also managed to catch a few pictures or a beautiful hawk that appears to have made a nest in my yard somewhere - in a few days you may be able to catch a few pictures of it o my zazzle site.

So, what did you take pictures of this weekend?

So, how were the holidays?

Hope everyone got what they wanted?  Any good holiday pictures?

We went out for a drive to see the holiday lights.  We live on the state border, so we went to the next state and drove past one of those places where the entire house must look like Christmas land inside, or else they rent multiple storage facilities to store their display.  It was awesome, and yes, I took pictures.  But, I have been tired and lazy and haven't uploaded to my computer yet.  The folks were truly in the holiday spirit - they even piped in music and had a radio station coordinate the music.  Well worth the 20 minute drive.  :-)

On to photo news.  I'm sure everyone has heard about Kodak's and Olympus' woes.  There are even some reports that Kodak will not survive the year.  I agree that might be the case, but during a bankruptcy sale, I'm sure certain products, such as paper and printing, and, to some extent, even film (yes, some photographers shoot with film still), will survive even if owned by other companies - and the Kodak name will probably be part of the sale of the products.  Given their behavior at the PDN show in October, I can see why Kodak is failing - the employees there were certainly not interested in showing off or promoting their product - they were surly at best.

Now, Olympus, that I will really miss if it goes under.  I haven't paid too much attention, but there seems to be some sort of scandal brewing and accounting problems.  Olympus put out great products, and, if I weren't such a Sony/Minolta fan, Olympus would be my next brand of choice.  Would love to try the Olympus PEN camera - there's an ad that shows Olympus was giving them away on city streets to people to try - why, or why was I not lucky enough to snag one?  :-)  Unfortunately, although there were signs up at PDN 2011 showing Olympus as a sponsor, we didn't see a booth there - perhaps because of the company turmoil.  Hopefully, Olympus can recover.

I even hope Kodak can recover, but it needs better management that will look to the future and not to the past.  Innovation, Kodak.  Seriously!

So, what do you think?

Will smart phones put point and shoot digital cameras in the dustbin of history?  That's the scuttlebutt lately.  It seems the iPhone 4S has a 8 MP camera that takes decent pictures (hoping to get an iPhone later next year when my contract is up for renewal - who knows, but then ,we may be up to the iPhone 5!).

I can say this - I have three Sony digital cameras:  a point & shoot (12.2 MP); a "medium level" camera, as I like to call them (DSC-H20 - 10.1 MP) and a Sony Alpha (10.2 MP).  In my previous reviews, I believe I indicated that, although it has more megapixels, the quality of the pictures taken by the point & shoot just does not compare favorably with the H20 or the Alpha - they latter are still my "go to" cameras (that's why hubby has been "gifted" the point & shoot!).  The point & shoot is mainly for banging around (when we are hiking or going to sporting events and we don't care what happens to the camera); the others are for more sedate/important times - travel, sightseeing, parties, etc.  But, once you have 8MP and up cameras in cell phones, do you need a point & shoot, or is a point & shoot something you would just rather not carry around anymore?

What do you think?

Steve Jobs

Few people have had such a profound effect upon the world.  Although Apple wasn't known much for photography (okay, it had some cameras on its iPhones and iPads), Apple revolutionized what we could DO with our digital photos and videos.

I've said I was a Sony girl once Sony bought Minolta from Konica (it allowed me to use my Minolta lenses - very expensive - on my new Sony alpha camera without having to shell out for new lenses).  In fact, I am now typing this on my new Sony Vaio (replacing an HP that died a premature and apparently HP-the-company couldn't care less death), but don't think I didn't consider Macs.

My first computer was a Mac SE - wish I had kept it - some enterprising people turned theirs into aquariums - very cute.  But, I traded it in (yes Apple had a trade-in program then) for an Apple LC II in 1992.  That I still have and it still works - but it can't connect to the internet and I have to use the old dot-matrix printer with it!  LOL!  Then, I met and married a Windows guy, and, for family harmony (although he reluctantly looked at Apples with me a few months ago), I have been a Windows person.  Let me tell you though, I win the lottery, and I will be buying myself the most souped-up Apple that I can find.

Thanks for all the innovation, Steve.  I'm sorry you had to go via pancreatic cancer - my family lost two women to that dreaded disease.  They, unfortunately, went very quickly (5-6 weeks from diagnosis).  I'm glad that you were able to be treated (although I can only imagine how painful and grueling it must have been).  I hope what the medical professionals learned from your case can be used to help others.  RIP, Steve.

Long time no see

Sorry I have been gone so long - holidays snuck up on me and then all the obligatory family colds/flus have struck.  I promise I'll be back soon with photography related material.

For now - question for you - for those with e-readers - what's your favorite?  I'm leaning towards the Nook Color (I know, hard to believe for a Sony girl, but, really, I'm a Minolta girl and Sony bought Minolta!)  right now for several reasons, one being COLOR!  Two, I'd like to help keep B&N  in business (and evenif they go under the Nook will be a prime asset, so I am not worried about service).  Three, this month B&N will put it on the Android 2.2 platform (still not the latest but B&N will start making apps available, making it a high quality e-reader and a low cost tablet.

So, what are your thoughts about e-readers?

Big photo show in NYC starts today

The PDN photo show in NYC starts today.  I am hoping my back and leg hold out long enough for me to go through the Expo hall on one of the three days.  If I do, I will be sure to report on my findings.  I'd really love to see the Sony alpha a-NEX in person and see how it balances with a telephoto lens on it (my biggest concern about the product).

And who knows what else new is out there!

Wedding photos

Remember I told you that a while back I won a Sony DSC-W22012.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom with Super Steady Shot Image Stabilization in silver?  Well, after playing around with it, we took it to a family wedding a few weeks ago. As promised, though, I gave it to my hubby to use.  I gave him a short, 10 minute primer on how to use it just before the wedding and he took some really nice shots.  

Instead of bringing my Sony alpha (DSLR) with me as it was going to be very hot and I am still recovering from back surgery, I brought my Sony DSC-H20 with me, and, in addition to taking pictures, I video-ed the entire 14 minute wedding ceremony.  Now, I managed to do this from the front row seat and without a tripod.  The Super Steady Shot Image Stabilization worked great - without a tripod, the image was nice and steady, and even when I panned around to get the dog walking down the aisle (unexpectedly, of course) and then sitting on my feet, everything was super steady.


Don't get me wrong - I still LOVE my Sony alpha.  It's just that after surgery, these two cameras were the perfect cameras to have with us to take pictures given the conditions of our backs (did I happen to mention hubby's back went out the day before the wedding?  No surgery required, but poor guy couldn't move that day!  So the nice, light DSC-W220 really came in handy, and was his first real use of a digital camera - yes, hubby rarely used digital and was still in the *gasp* film age!  Not that there is anything wrong with that, as I still sometimes use my Minolta SLR.).

Sony DSC-H20

Well, hubby and I have been out shopping this week for various electronics, and the Sony DSC-H20 is still not in stores (at least the ones we have visited!). A few of the features that it has with which I am familiar include the steady shot feature which is on my Sony Alpha DSLR. Let me tell you, that feature can be a life-saver, especially when you are taking pictures on the fly. It helps take the shake out of your photo-taking. Now, if you are freezing cold and shaking like a leaf, you may still have blur, but under normal conditions, the steady shot feature will have you taking some nice and sharp photos. It also has face detection, which is a feature that works really well as the camera will focus on faces (assuming it behaves like the alpha!).

Another feature which I am really looking forward to is the ability to take video! The Sony DSC-H20 reportedly can take video in wide and full-screen modes, recording at 30 frames per second in fine, standard and VGA recording modes. This really would have come in handy last year at a relative's wedding. While I was all set with my Sony alpha (and took some great pictures, if I say so myself), it turns out that a group of the groom's friends had a surprise "performance" during the wedding, which no one captured because no one brought a video camera. With the Sony DSC-H20, I will be prepared for such events, as I read you can record up to 1 hour of video on a 4 mb memory stick pro duo.

Welcome!

Thanks for stopping by! I will be sharing some of my thoughts regarding photography, and other subjects as time and space allow. As this is my first post, please be kind and feel free to share your thoughts as well! :-)

Today's topic is: How much I am looking forward to trying out the new Sony DSC-H20. I have used Minolta film cameras for years (my Dad started me using them). So, once I decided I wanted to make the switch to Digital SLR, it was a no-brainer to look at the Sony alpha (Sony bought the photography division of Konica-Minolta as I understand it) as I could use all my Minolta lenses and attachments. My wonderful husband gave me my Sony alpha a little over a year ago, and I have taken lots and lots of photos including at a wedding and while on vacation. I absolutely love my Sony alpha! It does take up a bit of room, especially with all my lenses, which is why I started looking at smaller digital cameras to be able to have in my purse for those moments when you just wish you had a camera on you. I am really excited, because, after lots of research, I can't wait until Sony releases the new DSC-H20. It's got 10 megapixels and a lot of the functions of my DSLR Sony Alpha, but it will easily fit in my purse. Check out the story at one of my favorite websites, Cameratown, for more information. http://www.cameratown.com/news/news.cfm/hurl/id%7C7187 I can't wait to get my hands on the new Sony DSC-H20, and when I do, you'll hear all about it!

And, be sure to enter Cameratown's 5th year celebration contest. It's ongoing and I won a fabulous KATA 3n1 20 Sling/Backpack to tote around my Sony alpha and assorted lenses in.