Thursday, April 4, 2019

Out to Pasture goes Nikon

Have always traveled with either one or two cameras when going anywhere. Various small point-n-shoot pocket cameras has always been on board on all my travels. But when the trip calls for it, a larger DSLR camera for landscape shots with sharper details is carried too. 

Last weekend, was the wedding of our youngest son Sergio and Amanda. A professional photographer was hired for the wedding, but not for the rehearsal. Knowing they would have a pro taking wedding photos, I left the DSLR at home. Then seeing no one was taking photos at the rehearsal, out came the old reliable Nikon point-n-shoot.

The preacher explaining tomorrow's ceremony to Serg and Amanda.



The wedding venue is on a high cliff overlooking the green valley of fields below.  
Late afternoon light filters thru a canopy of leaves as mother of the bride watches over the rehearsal.


This Nikon point-n-shoot has been the old reliable camera for discrete street photography as well as quick snaps of people, places and events when the larger DSLR would attract too much attention. 

The other night, I took a few candid pix with the old Nikon at the photography club meeting. I noticed it was not getting the sharp details like before. Okay images but not great.





This pocket camera is a Nikon Coolpix S9900 with a Nikkor 30X power optical zoom lens. While it can still capture a decent image now and then.... it could do much better.


Now over the past week or so, I realized this camera has been banging around with me on motorcycles, sidecars, trucks, cars, trains and planes over the past six years. Been to Alaska several times, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, South Africa and many trips in between. 
Looking closer, it is showing its age...


Has a few nicks and dings... then noticed the guide letters are worn off. Who remembers if the shutter priority or manual mode was before or after the aperture priority? I don't!


Looking at the quality of recent photos and the condition of the camera itself, I realized it's time to open the wallet and find a replacement. 

Before reading volumes of camera reviews and recommendations, first is to decide what are my requirements in a point-n-shoot replacement. 

Not necessarily in order of priority...

1). Pocketable - no big lens sticking out, must be lightweight and fit in a side pocket
2) Discreet - people don't like having a big camera lens stuck in their face. Nothing chrome or flashy. In some cultures people demand payment for taking their photo or refuse completely.
3). Quality lens and sensor, extreme telephoto not needed. The DSLR camera handles that work.
4). Fast autofocus - some great photo opportunities only last a second or two, then are gone.
5). Better light gathering capabilities in low light situations
6). Captures great details for Black & White photo work
7). Easy to handle and use with one hand while riding a motorcycle
8). Durable to withstand bumps and drops
9). Proven design for quality photos and reliability
10). Affordable so not to worry too much about dropping in a river.

Then spent several days reading the various camera reviews, descriptions and reader comments to narrow down the camera field. Finally I selected a known brand that am already familiar with... a SONY.  Ordered one of their small point-n-shoot models... amazoned it.

The old Nikon Coolpix S9900 will soon be retired. Its replacement is in the mail.

On an upcoming Fly-n-Ride from California back to Texas in a few weeks, will put the new SONY through its paces. The photos taken during that trip will determine if the pocket SONY RX100 V was a good choice or not.

Ride safe ya'll

CCjon








10 comments:

  1. I've using point-n-shoot Sony Cybershot's since 2003, I love them. They are very easy to carry around. Currently own a Sony DSC-W530 in addition to my DSLR.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank Kolfa, Sony does make a great camera. The benefit of both cameras being Sony, they both use the same operating system. No need to learn two different systems.

      Had troubles answering your post due to Google making changes to their structure/system on Blogspot. Might have to move everything over to another host site....

      Delete
    2. Google is making serious changes to this Blogspot hosting site, making it difficult to post and answer. Anyone have experience with other services/sites they can recommend? Somehtin easy for a non-techie person to use?

      Delete
    3. I've been hosting a premium Typepad blog since 2009, been using 3 separate blogs there. The only reason I recently created a blogspot blog is because I recently learn that once I stop paying Typepad, my blogs and images will be removed. I am now trying to repost/update some of my older Typepad post on blogspot.

      Delete
  2. That Sony looks pretty nice though I wouldn't put it into the "Affordable" category. The only problem I've been having with Blogspot has been from the enhanced privacy features in Safari. Chrome on both the Mac, Win 10 and iOS has been working without issues. There are a variety of hosting options such as Wordpress.org (not self-hosted) but I like the Google authentication. It generally works where the WordPress one makes me re-log in every time to leave a comment. Not very user friendly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I appreciate the comments Richard. I can post comments if on my desktop computer, but if on the laptop, It won't let me. It deletes everything I write there.

      Definitely want a user friendly blog site, also must have translation capability. Have followers from all over.

      Delete
  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I feel a lot more people need to read this, very good info!
    islas de san blas

    ReplyDelete

please comment here: