Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Suggestions welcome


As you may have noticed, I enjoy taking photos, especially close-ups of flowers and small critters. The first digital camera I owned, a Canon PowerShot G2, did pretty well for me for about five years, until it died an untimely and unwarranted death from unknown causes.

I managed to get some pretty spectacular flower shots with that camera over the years, and in particular while on my trips to Asia.

For this combat deployment, I needed a camera, and wanted something small, so I got a Canon PowerShot SD800 IS, which has been OK (great battery life; easily-rechargeable proprietary batteries; 4GB SD memory card), but the sand and dust have done a number on it, and it's so small that it does not do well in low light situations.

Most close-up work requires good light-gathering capabilities, and this camera just doesn't cut it, to be honest.

So, before I leave for my next mobilization/deployment (no more than three weeks after I return from this one), I'm considering trying to acquire a different -- better! -- camera that would allow me to shoot the subjects that most capture my attention and imagination. My 'idiopathic benign essential tremor' really does get in the way of taking the photos I'm interested in, when the shutter speed is forced by circumstance to be slower than about 1/60 sec.

Therefore, gentle readers, I'm soliciting suggestions concerning what I ought to look at in terms of new photographic equipment. I suspect I won't have to put up with 130-degree-Fahrenheit weather and/or dust storms in Kosovo (though the winter will prove a challenge, I'm afraid -- but I suspect I won't be photographing many flowers or tiny critters under those conditions, anyway!), so I can probably consider getting a more substantial camera body, and perhaps even interchangeable lenses.

If you have experience in these matters, or know someone who does, please don't hesitate to drop me a line and share your expertise!

Thanks in advance.

Blessings and peace to one and all,


Fr. Tim, SJ

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1 comment:

Mary Coady said...

I'll check with my friend Susan Gilbert who has been a photo editor at papers all over the country. Mary

 
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