A few of you have asked what camera I use? Here is my best friend, Mr. Canon PowerShot A510 (with just 3.2 pixels). I don't believe in all this pixel nonsense. You can get perfectly good pictures without going overboard in the pixel area. When I bought the Canon, a pro told me not to go for the big numbers -> you get less pictures. I like to shoot a lot, so I keep my settings low too. My painting teacher, Susanna Coffey, always said go for quantity and the quality will come. 
My lovely brand new PowerShot sat in it's box for 2-3 months. Then Annie came to town with the same camera and showed me how ridiculously easy it was to take a picture. I think it's useful to have a number of cards. This last trip I went daily to the Odean photo shop, unloaded my picts onto a CD, cleaned my card, and was ready for the next day. They have machines in France that spit out your photos in seconds too. I would love one of those...
I did buy a back-up camera, a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S90. It's got a huge LCD window 2.5" vs the Canon's 1.8". I made sure to take it out of the box. But I have not shot a single pic sorry to say :( Now if Annie would just get a Sony I could get cracking on it :)
Carol, I can relate! I have a sweet little Olympus 3.2 that takes marvelous photos, including macros. Sharp, crisp, NICE. My Kodak, at 5 megapixels, isn't as satisfying, for a number of reasons, but unfortunately I needed the higher megapixels for print media, when I started the current book. Nuts...
ReplyDeleteWhich reminds me--do you scan your art, or photograph it? I do both...
ReplyDeleteDo take out the Sony and start shooting! I have a sony DSC H1 and I'm going to upgrade to a Sony Alpha 100 because I like it so much, the colours are so good!
ReplyDeleteKate I have a scanner here I'm currently using as a..sort of shelf, unpluged and I need to plug the damn %$#@ thing in. I'm stuck waiting for sunup to shoot my watercolors to post to PB...
ReplyDeleteEmbarrassing :(
Ilva Do you do house calls? Yr pictures are fantastic!:)
Thanks for a ;timely post. I'm asking for a small camera for Christmas!
ReplyDeleteIf you will take your Sony out of the box you will discover that it (as well as most cameras) come with "quick start" easy instructions that will get you off and running taking pictures with out a lot of extra reading. Then when you have the time or Annie comes with a Sony (smile) take time to learn the great bells and whisles of your camera. Thank you for sharing regardless !!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, you can purchase a 1GB card and that will hold up to 200 high resolution images rather than having several cards holding only a few pictures.
ReplyDeletejoy I've got 3 cards, 1GB included. It's easier to keep uploading to a CD. I have taken the Sony out of the box.You can see it here
ReplyDeleteHi Carol,
ReplyDeleteFinally something I can talk about 'cause I adore photography,for me it´s an Art(with Capital letters).I love all those personal points of view:Cartier-Bresson,Doisneau,Orkin,Salgado,Brassaï...I love taking pictures when I travel,since last year I use a Fuji Finepix V10,I adorre the quality of Fuji cameras and this one has an incredible screen.But even now I prefer shooting with my father´s old analogical camera(a Nikon one).
Nice your Russian night"tail"
Thanks for this post! I need to get a camera and have been agonizing over the whole pixel thing. I plan to get a Canon PowerShot, so I'm glad to hear that you recommend it!
ReplyDeleteYou're post is so funny! Please start using your Sony.
ReplyDeleteI have a Sony Cybershot DSC-P10 which is at least 3 years old now but still works like a charm. I must remember to buy a huge capacity card for it as i will be taking it with me on holiday in Dec [well, the Fiance is taking it with him as he prefers to use it than any chunky SLR]. He said it's people friendly. He likes to point and shoot. :)
I agree Carol. 3.2 mega pixels is fine.. too much and it really sucks the time/power etc.
ReplyDeleteLike you i also carry a few cards.
I have a Fuji which as a 10x zoom, plus 2x optical.
I use it for wildlife photography. It has been wonderful. I am about to upgrade to get more zoom.. but i don't need more pixels!
I totally agree. I have a Konica Minolta Z1 with 3.2 pixels. It take amazing shots. They have now upgraded the camera to far more pixels, but me, I'm happy with my baby, ta very much...
ReplyDeleteMy pictures are often so large they take forever to email. But the quality is perfect for me. I take lots of flower shots as well as close ups of all the cards , mini books & page layouts that I make. Why on earth do I need bigger!! I don't...
Paula Here's a tip for emailing photos in a managable size. If you have MSN's Outlook Express, it will offer to resize yr picts from 100's of KB down to 30-50KB.It makes for easier uploading to your blog too.All you have to do is right click on the pic. Then E-mail to recipient. I send the resized pic to myself and then into a desktop file for posting.
ReplyDeleteGlad you agree on this pixel thing.What's bigger is not always better.
Carol, thanks so much for your tips.
ReplyDeleteI will give them a whirl next time a relative wants a pic sending.
If you'd like some serious photo/camera tips, particularly if you're shooting food check out Elise's simply recipes
ReplyDelete..I'm having doubts about my idiot PowerShot now :(
Your collection of little toys is really a kick!! The tiny garbage can!!
ReplyDeleteHey that Sony Ciber shot is what I use! I'm not techy in the camera dept. but my photos seem adequate..always room to learn more just ~*need time*~ to attend classes!
ReplyDeleteMy camera is a cannon and i love it!!
ReplyDeletekisses from mexico
I have a nice canon 5mp that I love. I'm thinking of going higher just so I can crop and keep clarity. You know, I might just have been able to get that long range shot of a heron taking off...I don't know.
ReplyDeleteRe: talk about sending pictures ..Have any of you tried the free downloadable program from Google.. Picasa? I love it. Great quick tools for editing..automatically sets it to decent size for sending and blogs with one click!
as the masters say: " it's not about the camera, it's about the moment you catch."
ReplyDeletewith a beautiful place like paris, no need for complicated cameras nor pixels!
keep shooting and keep painting!
minotte
OOps. In my last post I mistakenly gave the wrong camera info.
ReplyDeleteThe camera I like best at the moment is a Nikon cool pix 5600!
Great talent!
ReplyDeleteKeep shooting!
Good luck!
hi carol, your friend told you the right things. worrying about large pixel numbers only makes sense when you want to have big enlargements of your pics. if you only shoot for the screen and only want small prints, you're fine with what you have. on the other hand: does that sony cyber shot contain zeiss lenses (i know the good ones do)? then i would probably give it a try, because the quality of those lenses really do make a difference. cheers, anne :)
ReplyDeleteHey, I have the same camera! Wooot. I have been thinking about getting something smaller though, with a bigger screen but in the end, I think I'm happy (though the freakin shutter gets stuck sometimes)
ReplyDeleteMany great photos have been taken with 3 mp's. Yours are proof.
ReplyDeleteI have a Canon 300D, love it even if it's a bit heavy to carry around (just means I need two cameras!) A friend got the 350D when it came out but the photos were so enormous when he sent them by e-mail! I don't think the size they are now is necessary to be honest.
ReplyDeletewanderlust.. I am not surprised your camera "sticks".. the palces you have been..salt water and all!
ReplyDeleteI love your blog but I also love my recently purchased Canon Powershot A640 - 10.0 mpx.
ReplyDeleteR.S. I'm heading out to the upper regions of the Canon 6 after this post. I gotta get me some more pixels!
ReplyDelete