New Compact Camera
Although the dSLR is good for taking “proper” photographs, it’s always handy to have a simpler point ‘n’ shoot camera for the quick spur of the moment shot. Granted the camera phone takes decent shots but I always find myself in need of a longer lens, somehow.
I’ve had my little 2 megapixel compact camera since around 2002 but the camera phone and the Nikon dSLR serve as constant reminders of how fast modern cameras are in comparison.
So, I decided to get this Panasonic from Amazon. It was out of stock when I ordered it so I had a few days extra anticipation waiting for it to arrive.
The battery is supplied uncharged so the three hours it took to charge seemed like an age! My first impressions were quite favourable – loads of configuration options that my old compact lacked – but, as soon as I transferred a picture to the PC for closer examination, I was immediately disappointed. 🙁
These two shots are 100% crops from identical fullsize images. One taken with my old 2 megapixel camera and one taken with my new 16 megapixel Panasonic both taken at maximum resolution and minimum compression. If you can’t guess which one is which, the bottom one is the Panasonic!
As you can see from the two crops below, close up with very few colours for the camera to worry about, is no better (click images for slightly larger version):
Amazon were very good in accepting the camera for return – they even arranged for it to be picked up at no charge. Even better, someone selling through Amazon Marketplace, has accepted for return a spare battery I’d bought.
So, why did I buy the Panasonic!? There are plenty of online reviews for it and all of the ones that Google found were very favourable. By chance, I came across this review after I’d ordered it but before it had arrived!
I’ve now bought the Canon SX240 HS and, so far, I’m very pleased with it. Below is a black & white close up (100%) for comparison:
