A New Camera

When I was conducting a campaign in my area to get broadband, I used a website to help get my point across. I discovered that one of the most remembered parts of the site had sod all to do with broadband or getting access for the area. Nope, it was the monthly calendar which I put up with pictures of the local area or bands that I had managed to take pictures of at a concert.

Just shows the difference a half decent camera can make.

 

I don't presume to say my pictures are any good, simply that folk seemed to register that they were taken by a complete amateur and showing what you could do with a calendar making feature of software. All the pictures were taken with a Fuji Finepix 2600Z , a two megapixel camera bought when I got bored taking a camcorder on holidays. I've always found that still photographs tend to leave more of an impression rather than footage of holidays.

I decided that the 2600 was getting rather long in the tooth. Apart from the lower resolution pictures, it wasn't really up to taking low light photographs or really fast ones compared more modern cameras. I really liked the Fuji and determined to try and find something more modern.

 

 

Although the 2600 was capable of taking extremely nice pictures, concerts were a problem if you switched off the flash. This tended to give an awful lot of motion blur in the picture. You had to try and wait for a reasonable shot with full lighting and people tending not to move very much. Hardly the ideal conditions. Having a look in Jessops led me to the Fuji F10. A beautiful camera which won Best Camera in its class for its features. Jessops had sold out but showed me the newer model, the F11. Similar to the F10 , but with added manual features. I fell in love with it!

Jessops, however, wanted a lot more money than I wanted to pay.

 

Back to the Internet, well, I had fought to get better access, why not use it for something useful? Clifton Cameras seemed a very nice shop. Searching for the best price not only brought their name up a few times, but when deals like larger memory were mentioned, they weren't beat.

http://www.cliftoncameras.co.uk/

Their site is nicely laid out and details all the necessary info about the cameras they sell. Buying was made easy as well and an order was placed. My camera arrived next day, so it was a good experience buying from them.

 

 

Ok, more on the camera now. Clifton's deal gave me the camera along with a 512mb card and a leather case. An exceptional deal I thought.

 

The F11 is a 6.3mega pixel camera. Startup time for the camera is 1.3 seconds, so it can be made ready quickly. Battery life of the camera per charge is rated at 500 shots, shouldn't ever run out of charge with this baby. There's no viewfinder on the camera, all sighting is done with the LCD. This is a big change for me, and it will take some getting used to. On the other hand, the LCD is 2.5inch and is exceptionally clear. The LCD compensates for ambient light so decreases or increases illumination as required. Screenrate is 60fps and continual autofocus. Shutter lag on the camera is .01 seconds (truly), and it can take shots 1.1 seconds apart which shows how fast this camera can work. Big selling point for me was its low light capability. I believe the 2600 had an ISO of 400, the F11 has a 1600 ISO. This camera can practically see in the dark. Fuji's Super CCD is reckoned to be one of the finest around and gives the F11 superior low light/ low noise pix. As I mentioned earlier, this is the successor to the award winning F10 and the new features are an improved macro mode and full manual control which includes shutter and aperture priority modes. Having only taken a few pix so far, I'm impressed with the camera even in auto mode. Pictures are crisp and clean, and for moving objects, its a simple matter of selecting the sports mode. There's quite a lot to read in the manual provided with all the new modes as well as a different menu structure which allows you to compose a picture while comparing it to the last three taken.

Yeah, the road goes around those hills, the Lead Hills, to be more accurate.

 

Wanlockhead on a dull day......

 

 

The Lead Hills gets rid of some water. So you can expect more , better, cleaner pictures from now on .........hopefully.





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