Photos
Macro Mode
28/06/08 23:25
The
camera that I bought a while back, a
Ricoh Caplio
R7, has a great
lens. As well as a really good wide-angle option,
it can capture some fantastic detail up close in
Macro mode.
I have been playing around with it over the last while, mostly with the produce of my wife’s flower beds, pots and hanging baskets.
A few shots after the jump, and a gallery here.
Wait! There's More…
I have been playing around with it over the last while, mostly with the produce of my wife’s flower beds, pots and hanging baskets.
A few shots after the jump, and a gallery here.
Wait! There's More…
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New Camera
16/03/08 22:35
Six years ago, I
purchased my first digital camera. It was an
Olympus C-200
Zoom,
which I bought in Jersey for £200 (about €330 at
the time.) It was the size of a sod of turf, had
2.1 megapixels and ran on AA batteries.
I remember
feeling smug, seeing it in a camera store in Dublin
soon after my purchase, with a price tag of €500 on
it. It served me very well over three years, and once
I upgraded, I gave it to my Dad, who made good use of
it for another while. It finally packed in last
summer. I took some very good pictures with it,
including this one, which I have framed on my wall at
home.
The next camera in my life was a Nikon Coolpix 5200, a very compact point-and-shoot job. At 5.1 megapixels, it was a significant step up from the Olympus. I paid €259 for it, buying it from the Apple Store online.
I realised soon
after buying it that it had some serious
shortcomings. It was hopeless for use in dark indoor
settings, as I discovered at my sister's wedding.
Even though it had a red-eye-reduction feature, it
still plagued the photos I took, especially those of
children. Kids tend to look straight at a camera when
a photo is being taken, which leads to red-eye. Last
years at a family event, I took a photo of my parents
with all of their grandchildren. Nearly everyone of
the kids had red-eye. Still, it served us well for
three years, recording about 3,500 photos, including
many our little darling Aoife.
I had been thinking about upgrading for a while, and for a good while had more or less made up my mind to take the step up to DSLR. It was going to be a Canon EOS400D or a Nikon D40x. Not being able to afford either, the decision was left on the long finger. Over the last few months, the Coolpix was starting to bug us badly, so the issue came to the fore again. The more I thought about it, I realised that a DSLR wouldn't be the right choice this time around. Apart from the money factor, the other main reason was the way that we use our camera. We tend to have it at the ready and take photos on the fly. It slips into the pocket when we're going to Emo for a walk. Neither my wife nor I is serious enough about photography as a hobby to warrant buying a DSLR.
So then, what to buy? In the three years since the last purchase, digital compact cameras have moved on a lot. There is a huge increase in the megapixel count, with compacts available now boasting 12 MP. However, some experts have stated that this doesn't necessarily lead to better photos, as the form factor of a compact negates the benefit of the extra pixels.
Reading many online reviews, one name kept cropping up - Ricoh, and in particular the Ricoh Caplio R7. It has 8.2 MP, and a really good lens.
It has a good few
of the features that you see in modern compacts like
face recognition, but it's not packed with
unnecessary, gimicky features. It has a good 2.7"
screen, and the controls are laid out well. Retail in
Ireland is about €220-€250. I was in London last week
and spotted one in a camera shop in the West End for
£154, including a free 1GB SD card. Sold.
It's a nice camera and a definite improvement on the Nikon. I'm still getting used to the various modes and settings, and am having some minor problems with under-exposure, but overall it's taking some really nice shots. Here's a small selection that I have taken in the last couple of days. Click on them to go see full resolution versions.
Aoife looking straight at the camera. Flash used but no red-eye reduction.
Back facade of the house at Emo Court. Good definition, even though conditions were dull.
A daffy up close, using the Macro mode.
A plant in the grounds of Emo Court. The colours came out well on this.
The next camera in my life was a Nikon Coolpix 5200, a very compact point-and-shoot job. At 5.1 megapixels, it was a significant step up from the Olympus. I paid €259 for it, buying it from the Apple Store online.
I had been thinking about upgrading for a while, and for a good while had more or less made up my mind to take the step up to DSLR. It was going to be a Canon EOS400D or a Nikon D40x. Not being able to afford either, the decision was left on the long finger. Over the last few months, the Coolpix was starting to bug us badly, so the issue came to the fore again. The more I thought about it, I realised that a DSLR wouldn't be the right choice this time around. Apart from the money factor, the other main reason was the way that we use our camera. We tend to have it at the ready and take photos on the fly. It slips into the pocket when we're going to Emo for a walk. Neither my wife nor I is serious enough about photography as a hobby to warrant buying a DSLR.
So then, what to buy? In the three years since the last purchase, digital compact cameras have moved on a lot. There is a huge increase in the megapixel count, with compacts available now boasting 12 MP. However, some experts have stated that this doesn't necessarily lead to better photos, as the form factor of a compact negates the benefit of the extra pixels.
Reading many online reviews, one name kept cropping up - Ricoh, and in particular the Ricoh Caplio R7. It has 8.2 MP, and a really good lens.
It's a nice camera and a definite improvement on the Nikon. I'm still getting used to the various modes and settings, and am having some minor problems with under-exposure, but overall it's taking some really nice shots. Here's a small selection that I have taken in the last couple of days. Click on them to go see full resolution versions.
Aoife looking straight at the camera. Flash used but no red-eye reduction.
Back facade of the house at Emo Court. Good definition, even though conditions were dull.
A daffy up close, using the Macro mode.
A plant in the grounds of Emo Court. The colours came out well on this.
Lolbaby
28/07/07 23:12
I downloaded
this pic of Aoife from the camera earlier today…
…which I thought merited a "lolcat" type caption. See here.
…which I thought merited a "lolcat" type caption. See here.
Some Photos
15/05/07 22:49
One thing I
have been meaning to do for a whole is to use the
photo page feature of Rapidweaver. It's a really nice
component of the app, and photos can be presented
either as a gallery or as a Flash slideshow. It's
also handy to be able to stay within the site rather
than to have to go out to Flickr or Photobucket.
So the first collection is an album of 29 photos taken at Emo Court, a short distance from where I live. Emo is the only private residence in Ireland to have been designed by the great Georgian architect James Gandon. Set in some beautiful parkland (which is kept impeccably by the Office of Public Works), it is a popular destination for weekend walkers.
Emo will host a major gardening exhibition during the summer, from June to September.
So the first collection is an album of 29 photos taken at Emo Court, a short distance from where I live. Emo is the only private residence in Ireland to have been designed by the great Georgian architect James Gandon. Set in some beautiful parkland (which is kept impeccably by the Office of Public Works), it is a popular destination for weekend walkers.
Emo will host a major gardening exhibition during the summer, from June to September.