Yippe! Got my Christmas present early!! (new camera)
I ordered it myself tho.... (I'm sooo bad!) I've just been so sick of my current camera not taking good pictures like my old one did. I've spent the last few months going thru photos and making new folders of the best pics for my screensaver, and the newer photos cannot even compare to the older ones. It depressed me! Soooo.. I found a new camera and it arrived today! (love Amazon and their Sunday deliveries!!)
It's another Sony (my third). The first one, 2004-2008, had the Carl Zeiss lens. The second one, 2008-now, did not. That's the difference. I'm not a camera expert by any means. I just like the "point and shoot" types, so I didn't want (and couldn't afford) the fancy SLR types. But I was spoiled by that lens. Never occurred to me when I bought the current camera that that lens had made such a difference. What really gripes me too, is the fact that the current camera cost me almost $200 more than the new one that has the Carl Zeiss lens.
The new one is a DSCHX400V/B. It's apparently last yr's model, but who cares! It's an excellent one! I got it with a bundle deal and ordered extra lenses and filters, etc. Haven't tried those yet, but I will. With everything, the cost was just under $400. The only issue I have now tho, is apparently my computer is a bit too old and will not mount the newer USB connections. Had to get my son's girlfriend to download the pics on her computer for now, til my other son can rebuild me a new computer. (After Xmas...)
I only got a chance to play around with it for a bit. It's been raining and I had to go sit with my 97yr old mom today. But I did get some interesting photos. Thought I'd share them so you can see how cool this camera is! If any of you are looking for a new camera, look into this one!! It has very good reviews, and there are lots of different bundles and prices on Amazon.
First photo I took was our kitty Lola. She's a goofy little character.
And my son & his girlfriend's kitty Cheshire aka Mr Pussyfoot. He's a polydactyl and quite a character as well.
These are shots of a rose I gave my mom many yrs ago (and I really should get cuttings now..) SPICE TWICE. First shot is a close-up and the second is a zoomed-in shot.
This is a close-up of one my mom's many rabbit's-foot ferns
And playing with the close up again, this is embroidery on an antique three-sided room divider in my mom's living room. Shot it at less than an inch away. Pretty darn good with no flash too.. it was fairly dark there...
And this is an oil painting my mom did yrs ago, which I zoomed in from about 12ft away, and it was even darker over there. No flash, auto mode, and it brightened the photo up. Had to take a little red out, but other than that, not a bad picture from across the room.
I can't wait to take pics of the roses in the coming season!! I'm so excited!!
Comments (31)
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8 years ago
ozmelodye
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Finally got my new camera
Comments (21)Barry it has a bunch of settings. I used to do so manual photography when I was in college and appreciate being able to control things like ISO, depth of field etc. It is amazing when I reviewed my photos in macro I can see what the plants need. I am going to send some to shutterbug and have them do some prints like 11 x 14 just $ 5 bucks. Thanks for the tip. Wildflower I was an abused kid. Happy Birthday Merry Christmas all rolled into one. Now I celebrate it on the 1st. It is a lot easier that way. Birthday cake and Christmas Turkey do not mix real well. If I could I would let it slide by. Barbara was in Rockport today and drove by I could tell you were not there. It looked like my yard. LOL You manicure yours. Holler on the cell when you get there. I do not need anything. I would just kill those brugs. Sure I will post pictures of you new garden. You are a lot better gardener than I am. I have to have survivors to have a chance....See MorePics taken with early birthday present.
Comments (12)Thank you all once again for kind thoughts and encouragement. saintpfla ~ Dabbling in photography is fun that is for sure. I've taken a few night shots too with old camera and look forward to trying it with this one. The macro with this camera is 150 cm (W) (0.4 in.Â1.6 ft. (W)). I was right down on the flowers. There is a lot to read in these manuals, I just plod along and practice. It's a learning experience and a fun one at that. treefrog ~ I've also tried to capture the color of the blue sage with old camera and never could. There are a couple of roses I had the same trouble with, so I hope they come out truer with this new camera as the blue sage did. Evelyn ~ You are so right about picture taking being addicting, almost as addicting as some flowers are. : -) Ambersky ~ I looked up what you thought the purple unknown might be and I'm not sure. Someone else told me something else and that didn't quite look right either. I'll try to get out tomorrow to take a picture of leaves and flowers so you all can see the whole thing. You could be right though. Nancy ~ It is a long time isn't it? I think of you everytime I'm around the two roses you gave me, Smith's Parrish, and I think the name of the other one is Old Blush, which is in the main garden and doing terrific. Thank you again for giving them to me. It was nice meeting you also and having a little visit at 2Jay's. I've worked at my job yesterday and again today, so haven't been out to take more pictures. I'm off tomorrow so maybe I can get out to shoot some more then. Thanks again for encouraging me to get out and take more pictures. I always enjoy seeing everyone's beautiful gardens and flowers. I get inspired to get out and work in my tropical/cottage gardens. FlowerLady...See MoreChristmas came early to my house:(
Comments (7)I couldn't NOT comment on the "peeking" story. I don't think either of my boys found or opened presents but we had a tradition of an advent calendar with little chocolates. This was too much for them both at some point. The younger one ate the whole box after only a few days of having a nightly chocolate and realizing what was in there. The older one really made me laugh. It was probably his second year of having a calendar and he was getting the hang of it. On day, he was 3 or 4, he was unusually quiet. I called him and heard this little voice. It was coming from under the couch. I looked underneath and saw he was facing the wall. I asked what he was doing? "Nothing". I got him out and, of course, he had his calender and was eating the chocolates. He was old enough to know he shouldn't be and did feel a little guilty. We made a point of "skiping" the days that were gone and he never did it again. Thanks for the trip down memory lane - that was probably 20 years ago. Happy Holidays to all of you. McTavish...See MoreMy Christmas Present
Comments (19)Jay, Thanks. I hope the greenhouse will give me a new place to play on cool spring days. After a dozen years of carrying seedling flats in/out whenever the wind kicks up too strong or whatever, I'm ready to have a somewhat sheltered place for them. On that horrible wildfire day of April 9, 2009, when all of Oklahoma burned, I carried out my tomato seedlings which were at the tail-end of the hardening-off process. Then, I went into the kitchen and starting preparing food for our firefighters because with winds expected to be blowing around 50 mph by late afternoon, and with a Red Flag Fire Warning, I "knew" it would be a bad day and I wanted to have food ready. My friend, Fran, was at her house cooking as well and we were so proud of ourselves for getting ready in advance. I thought I'd finish cooking, move all the plants inside and out of the wind, and be ready to roll when the pagers went off. My timing was off, though, and the pagers went off while I was cooking and the plants were still outside. I started throwing food and drinks into the truck to head for the station as the fire situation rapidly, rapidly escalated and the call went out to start evacuating homes...... I quickly moved the plants up against the house, hoping it would block the wind enough to protect them. There just wasn't any way I could stay home long enough to carry in a dozen flats of plants. I returned home from the firefield about 12 hours later to many dead or nearly dead seedlings that had been beaten to death by the wind. I hope I don't ever have to go through that again. Luckily, I start way too many seedlings and always have plenty to spare. Still, losing that many of them hurt. That's the main reason for the greenhouse....to give the poor little seedlings some protection from the elements. If I had that day to live over again, I probably wouldn't have carried out all those plants knowing fire was inevitable in those weather conditions. If the weather had performed "as forecast", it would have arrived a couple hours later and I would have had the seedlings back inside. You know how the weather is though....it does what it wants no matter the forecast. Tim recently had to replace the walk-in door on the east side of the barn-style garage back in late summer. It was a really hard job. First of all, the door was not a standard size and the door he picked up at Home Depot didn't fit, so he had to take it back and drive to J&I Mfg. in another county to get a door that was an exact fit. Then, it took him and our friend Jesse about 5 or 6 hours to get that door installed. It ended up taking an entire day, a trip to first Home Depot and then J&I, lunch in town with friends, and a long afternoon/evening of wrestling with that door and getting it installed just perfectly. It is odd how seemingly simple projects turn into major ordeals sometimes. We have a door in our laundry room that has a window, and it would be more energy-efficient to have a solid steel door there, but I'd really miss the light from that window. Dawn...See More
Jasminerose, California, USDA 9b/Sunset 18
8 years agonanadollZ7 SWIdaho
8 years ago
jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agoroseseek
8 years ago
Lisa Adams
8 years agonanadollZ7 SWIdaho
8 years agobethnorcal9
8 years agobethnorcal9
8 years ago
modestgoddess z6 OH
8 years agoLisa Adams
8 years agonanadollZ7 SWIdaho
8 years ago
thonotorose
8 years ago
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
8 years agotoolbelt68
8 years ago
Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
8 years ago
sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
8 years agobethnorcal9
8 years ago
summersrhythm_z6a
8 years agosummersrhythm_z6a
8 years agobethnorcal9
8 years agoWell, I've been taking photos, but can't download them on my computer. We thought it was due to the old computer not having a USB 3.0 port, but.... My older son bought me some new computer called a Gigabyte that's a tiny box, and a new monitor. He put a Linux program on it again instead of Windows. I've had like 4 different Linux operating systems in the last couple of yrs. He's always playing around. They are good because you don't have to worry about viruses, but not everything works on them. They don't have the drivers or the support for alot of things... like my new camera. I keep getting error messages that it "failed to mount." or something like that. Sooo... he's going to try and see if there's anything he can find to fix it. Otherwise he said he'll have to put Windows on the computer. The camera downloads fine on my other son's computer and the one at my shop. Both have Windows.
I did get these pics downloaded the other day at work. Christmas decoration shots... These were all in basically in just Xmas lights and maybe some light from the TV. No flash.
This is our dog KYA. She was about 12ft away on the couch. No flash again, and the viewfinder looked almost pitch black. Hard to focus on a dark object in darkness. Not bad.
And here's my favorite cat, Ginger.... the psycho kitty.
I'll try to get some outdoor pics tomorrow if it doesn't rain again.
summersrhythm_z6a
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agosultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoAww your psycho Ginger kitty looks similar to my Snicker Pie! She is calico with some orange tabby markings too. This pic is from last year with my camera phone. I haven't even began to figure out how to use my new camera yet :/ She was sitting up like a person washing herself when I took this pic lol.
summersrhythm_z6a
8 years ago
redwolfdoc_z5
8 years agoBeth, very nice! It's wonderful having a good camera, isn't it? I got one the summer before last and got macro lenses for Christmas last year - the first photos I took were of my cat too! lol! Can't wait to see your garden shots this year...
bethnorcal9
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoHow adorable! Jasmine yours appears to be like my Ginger... what I call a "tortico"... tortoiseshell/calico. That's a crazy combo... as with my girl and her split-color face. Psycho kitty!! Sweetest most beautiful thing when she wants to be, and just say the wrong thing or touch her wrong... Bamm! she'll claw you in the face or whatever body part is nearest! Then turn right around and rub up on ya and be all sweet again. Sometimes I've scolded her after she's done it and she'll sit there and hiss and hiss at me. She knows she's doing wrong, but it's like she just can't help it.
Pretty kitty Karen.
jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoGreat pattern of colors on Ginger! Awesome looking pet kitty!
Cagney...
zack_lau z6 CT ARS Consulting Rosarian
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoA dslr doesn't have to be expensive--I just bought a refurbished Canon SL1 with an 18-55mm lens for $300. Seems the USB cord is bad, but I have spares.
Ruben doesn't like the attention I'm giving to my new toy!
I plan to get an ultrawide 10-22mm lens as I used to shoot ultrawide on film before going to digital a decade ago. Of course, you can easily spend a fortune on extra lenses.
bethnorcal9Original Author