Exciting news! We have booked our first trip to Japan (thank you Aeroplan miles!) and to say I’m excited would be an understatement – now our trip isn’t for a while but I’m trying to think ahead. All my initial research has indicated to me that I really need to pack light. Anyone who knows me will know that I require a certain amount of stuff to feel comfortable so packing light is pretty hard for me and I love traveling with several cameras – film and digital.

One thing I’ve started researching is the micro four thirds systems – compact camera with interchangeable lenses. When I got my new point & shoot camera it was love! (Thanks to the guys at u2 Gigs who turned me onto this camera.) Now, recently I read a review about the Panasonic DMC-GF1 in Popular Photography which has turned my mind to picking up this camera – although it wasn’t a perfect review it did seem better suited for me than other examples of micro four thirds and given my experience with the ZS3 I’m hoping that a test will show I’m right.

My dream camera is a Leica – I love the compactness of the M series and it’s high res and low noise…anyway….

Here are the features of the GF1:

Features

• 12.1 Megapixel 4/3-type Live MOS sensor
• Full-time Live View (3.0-inch, 460,000-dot LCD)
• Venus Engine HD image processor
• Supersonic Dust Reduction System
• 23-area Contrast auto focus
• High-speed consecutive burst shooting
• Intelligent auto (iA) mode
  - MEGA O.I.S. (Optical image stabilizer)*
  - Auto focus tracking
  - Intelligent ISO control with motion detection
  - Face detection AF/AE
  - Face recognition
  - Intelligent scene selector
  - Intelligent exposure
  - Digital red-eye correction
  - Automatic backlight compensation

Ok, well, that’s it for now…I’ve got cameras on my brain…also, wanting to pick up a Golden Half as my travel toy companion…but that’s for another day. Cheers!

On Monday of the long weekend we went to Petrie Island for the afternoon. I was so happy and was ready to test a bunch of my toy cameras.

I pulled out my brownie holiday, vintage camera, and I loaded it up with some film. Read the rest of this entry »

This weekend my husband and I bit the bullet and purchased a new P&S camera after my old faithful Nikon Coolpix, purchased several years ago, had a poor showing (bad pics) on Friday. I LOVE my Nikon Coolpix and it will continue to be my every day camera however where it doesn’t hold up is as a good concert camera because it only has a 3X optical zoom.

With some great upcoming concerts I wanted the best camera I could get (in my opinion) that doesn’t have a removeable lens. A few months ago I saw some great photos from a U2 concert posted by U2Gigs so I emailed them and got back a message that the photos were taken with a Panasonic. So the research began and I purchased the same camera:

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For Christmas my sister got me a really cute toy camera

It takes 110 film and basically is a point and shoot – zero options but is totally cute and fits almost anywhere!

I did a test roll and then forgot that I never picked them up and fortunately got a call on Tuesday and went to get them. The results varied and I think a lot of photos didn’t turn out because I would accidentally press the button when the lens was closed but that said I did get a few interesting shots.

Of course, I always have to get a picture of Lily on my first roll – this image is super grainy (still no printer or scanner at home so these are pictures of pictures) but at least the color quality was pretty good.

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So we are planning a trip to the great NYC – I haven’t been since I was 16 and so I’m very excited to go again and see the sights! We have planned a lot of touring including an architectural walk tour.

Here is my dilemma – what cameras do I bring? We are only going for a few days so my original plans included the D-SLR, my Nikon P&S and the BBF-TLR…now, I started talking about it with a friend who started to say that perhaps I should bring the fisheye2 because it takes cool pictures and the results would be interesting to see…

This is a pic I took a few years ago during a scrabble game at Christmas. It was double exposed with a long shutter speed (sans tripod)

Here is a picture of the camera found on the Lomography Society microsite – click the photo to take you there.

So how many cameras are too many? Will I actually want to take all these cameras out with me? Or should I rely on my husband’s D5000 and go crazy with film?? Or forget the TLR and go with the fisheye? Decisions, decisions…oh, live on the wild side – take all 4 and then play it by ear! well…eye…

This weekend I tested a p&s camera for my Mum who was looking for a new little camera for upcoming holidays. The criteria were that it needed to have a viewfinder, use rechareable batteries, be 8.0MP or higher and come with a good rating in Consumer Report.

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I enjoyed a wonderful birthday full of wonderful surprises around the themes of graffiti, photography and gardening! It was a really amazing night. One special gift I received from my aunt and was a vintage camera.
Since receiving it a few hours ago I have started some research so I can find a manual and learn how to use it! Here is what I’ve found so far:

Rollei 35 S
* Lens: Sonnar f/2.8, 40 mm
* Light meter: Battery powered, using CdS photoresistor
* Retail price 1976: chrome 470 DM, black 496 DM
* Number of items: 260,000
(Thanks to wiki for the info)
I am very excited to learn more about my new addition to my camera family!! Thanks so much Aunt J! I will post some photos soon.

(My apologies – I have no scanner at the moment so I photographed my photograph.) So I was very excited to get my film in and get my photos back – and happily the camera is in good working order. Read the rest of this entry »