Somewhere in South King County -- 5 December 2008:
Yes, yes, I know; it has been over a month since Grumpy posted anything new on this BLOG. But he has something to tell you about now!! Behold, a new digital camera!
Grumpy had been "looking around" for several weeks; looking for a digital camera to replace his 3mb Fuji that he has had for a few years now. What bothered Grumpy the most about the Fuji was that it didn't take the photo that Grumpy "saw" in the viewfinder -- no, instead it took the image that it found a huge fraction of a second later! Grumpy was frustrated that over and over again, good photos of mainly his Great Grandchildren, were missed because of this anomaly.
The camera that initially caught Grumpy's eye was the NIKON D-40. It is widely acclaimed as the camera for the knowledgeable amateur. Well, Grumpy may not be the most knowledgeable, but he certainly believes he qualifies in the latter category: amateur. As the Holiday season came into being, Grumpy became more watchful for the "good deal" that would deliver his dream camera for a price within his budget.
In the meantime, (noting Grumpy's frustration over the delayed photos with the Fuji and the often blurred results when the subject moved during the "exposure") the Grand Mother determined that she would make the "dream camera" her Christmas gift to Grumpy.
At last, the price breaks began appearing, beginning the Friday after Thanksgiving. The prized D-40 was offered for almost $100 below MSRP and a certain camera store in the local mall advertised "Up to $250 Trade-in for Your Old Digital Camera!". Grumpy's drooled and he and the Grand Mother went shopping. Alas, when Grumpy offered up his old Fuji (fresh batteries, three memory cards, etc) the camera store guy came back with an offer of $8.25 for this perfectly functional camera! Grumpy was insulted! The $250 trade-in offer was a classical "come-on".
Disappointed but undaunted, Grumpy walked out but as he came by another camera store he decided to "just go in to find out if they offered a trade-in" for an old obsolete digital camera. Well, they didn't, but they had the same good price for the D-40 as the other store. Better yet, the sales person at this store pointed out a better camera for about the same price: the Sony a-200. I say "better" because the a-200 uses the same lenses as my Minolta film camera -- a huge savings in telephoto and wide-angle lenses!! But even more attractive about the a-200 is that the image stabilization is in the body of the camera instead of being in the lens! Grumpy could hardly contain his joy.
How is the quality of the imagery with the a-200? Here on the right is the very first photograph taken with the new Sony a-200; you be the judge:
By comparison, on the left, see this similar image taken by the Fuji:
The Fuji photo was taken in ambient (fluorescent) lighting, whereas the Sony photo used the built-in flash. Both photos were taken with the camera's settings at about 2.5mb resolution settings.
The last photo (right below) is with the a-200, defeating the flash and correcting the resulting photo with "brightness" and "contrast" adjustments. As may be noted, the Grand Mother might be tiring of the repeated posings and requests to "smile, one more time!"
Frankly, I think the best photo is on the left above. I guess Grumpy has loved this girl for a long time now, and he isn't going to quit now. He is very happy with his new camera and maybe when he gets better acquainted with all of its capabilities, he will get some memorable photos of little, constantly mobile Great Grandkids.
Grumpy had been "looking around" for several weeks; looking for a digital camera to replace his 3mb Fuji that he has had for a few years now. What bothered Grumpy the most about the Fuji was that it didn't take the photo that Grumpy "saw" in the viewfinder -- no, instead it took the image that it found a huge fraction of a second later! Grumpy was frustrated that over and over again, good photos of mainly his Great Grandchildren, were missed because of this anomaly.
The camera that initially caught Grumpy's eye was the NIKON D-40. It is widely acclaimed as the camera for the knowledgeable amateur. Well, Grumpy may not be the most knowledgeable, but he certainly believes he qualifies in the latter category: amateur. As the Holiday season came into being, Grumpy became more watchful for the "good deal" that would deliver his dream camera for a price within his budget.
In the meantime, (noting Grumpy's frustration over the delayed photos with the Fuji and the often blurred results when the subject moved during the "exposure") the Grand Mother determined that she would make the "dream camera" her Christmas gift to Grumpy.
At last, the price breaks began appearing, beginning the Friday after Thanksgiving. The prized D-40 was offered for almost $100 below MSRP and a certain camera store in the local mall advertised "Up to $250 Trade-in for Your Old Digital Camera!". Grumpy's drooled and he and the Grand Mother went shopping. Alas, when Grumpy offered up his old Fuji (fresh batteries, three memory cards, etc) the camera store guy came back with an offer of $8.25 for this perfectly functional camera! Grumpy was insulted! The $250 trade-in offer was a classical "come-on".
Disappointed but undaunted, Grumpy walked out but as he came by another camera store he decided to "just go in to find out if they offered a trade-in" for an old obsolete digital camera. Well, they didn't, but they had the same good price for the D-40 as the other store. Better yet, the sales person at this store pointed out a better camera for about the same price: the Sony a-200. I say "better" because the a-200 uses the same lenses as my Minolta film camera -- a huge savings in telephoto and wide-angle lenses!! But even more attractive about the a-200 is that the image stabilization is in the body of the camera instead of being in the lens! Grumpy could hardly contain his joy.
How is the quality of the imagery with the a-200? Here on the right is the very first photograph taken with the new Sony a-200; you be the judge:
By comparison, on the left, see this similar image taken by the Fuji:The Fuji photo was taken in ambient (fluorescent) lighting, whereas the Sony photo used the built-in flash. Both photos were taken with the camera's settings at about 2.5mb resolution settings.
The last photo (right below) is with the a-200, defeating the flash and correcting the resulting photo with "brightness" and "contrast" adjustments. As may be noted, the Grand Mother might be tiring of the repeated posings and requests to "smile, one more time!"
Frankly, I think the best photo is on the left above. I guess Grumpy has loved this girl for a long time now, and he isn't going to quit now. He is very happy with his new camera and maybe when he gets better acquainted with all of its capabilities, he will get some memorable photos of little, constantly mobile Great Grandkids.
Your comments echo my frustration with photography. I am beginning to conclude that a better camera will not make a better photograph. It requires a better photographer, or at least, one better than me.
ReplyDeleteThe sample photos show more of a difference in lighting than in cameras. Well, they also show a difference in attitude.
So, are you saying that your Old Dad leaves something "wanting" when it comes to his photographic skills?
ReplyDeleteYou definitely don't want to compare a flash to a non-flash photograph. Built-in flash will almost always make a picture look worse, (assuming it isn't absolutely necessary for seeing the subject).
ReplyDeleteYour wider selection of lenses is probably the most important feature of all. For that alone your purchase was probably well justified.
You are talking like a photographer. Sounds like you are setting yourself up to get your name beside this camera in my Last Will and Testament! Ha! ha!
ReplyDelete