I've been kind of a photography hobbyist since I was a teen. In High School I took Photography and enjoyed it. I wasn't particularly gifted with it and was probably a "C" student. Same for community college where I took Photo 1 & 2 (!). Oh sure, I still remember the "Rule of thirds" for composing and framing a picture, but I'm not sure if I ever saw much improvement.
It is amazing how technology has changed. Everything going digital, etc.
Instant gratification! You can see your pictures right away! No sending off for prints and eagerly waiting their return, hoping your shots turned out. I don't miss the smell of "fixer" while working in the darkroom at school , although there was a kind fun social aspect to it.
These days I still like to shoot photos of landscapes, people, nature, etc. But what I really like to attempt is concert photography. It takes a little more effort to get decent looking shots in low light conditions. In the old days, you had to buy "fast" film. "1000" speed was the grail for taking low light photos. I did try this some with mixed results, sneaking my Pentax K1000 camera and a long lens into a few concerts. lol.
I don't want to own a large "professional" camera. I want the portability of the small "point & shoot" cameras but I want to be able to set things manually.
I've had a nice Sony Cybershot for almost 8 years. That is a 5-megapixel camera with a 3x Zoom. It takes great pictures and I love it , but the highest ISO is 400!Even with a very slow shutter speed, images shot in low level of light can look pretty dark.
One thing I remember from Photography 101 is that a flash only illuminates the first 10-15 feet in front of you. So if you are at a concert or sporting event, you are mostly lighting the people in front of you! Now for point & shoot camera with auto modes using the flash usually allows for a faster shutter speed cutting down on blur but it is best to work without a flash in those situations if you can.
So anyway,I decided I was in the market for a new camera. Choices was either going to be a Canon or Sony. Looking for something with a higher pixel resolution, strong zoom, and the ability to manually adjust shutter speed.
Price range $150-$200.
I like the challenge of getting the most I can get out of the pocket sized cameras. I think I've done pretty well....
I stopped in Best Buy Sat. night and found the Sony marked down to $197 from retail of $329. On Best Buy's website it is selling for $299. It is a 16-megapixel camera with a 16x zoom!
It turns out they were selling just that floor model. The sales guy said he would give me another 10%off and I had a $10 voucher Best Buy had emailed me. The guy had to find the battery and the charger was missing so his manager threw in a wall charger for free. All told, I got a great camera for $173 after tax! If you check online the cheapest you find it is $279. I was very pleased with the deal and ,yes, the Best Buy service!
A friend invited me to a concert by a
local folk duo. I figured this would be a good chance to test out the camera. I was quite pleased with the clarity of the photos. The lighting was quite low. I used ISO settings of 1600 & 3200.Hopefully, I will get to know the camera better and get optimum results next time.
I wasn't sitting that close to the performers and the were a number of heads in my view but overall I was impressed with the zoom.
(just for fun,same shot cropped & run thru Instagram )
I'm am very excited to try this camera out at a few concerts this summer!
some info:
Sony Store
photographyblog.com review
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