My new toy

I finally relented and bought myself a new digital camera. My Sony Cybershot has served me well ever since I bought it back in October 2004, but recently I've found myself getting more and more irritated with it. I thought maybe the lens needed a good clean, but that didn't seem to improve the sudden inability of the macro function to work reliably. And I won't dare mention the white balance!

So I took the plunge last weekend and ordered a more advanced camera from Amazon. The new Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3EB-K seemed to tick all the boxes -- a 3-inch LCD screen, 10 x optical zoom and a 28mm wide-angle Leica DC lens -- so that's what I went for, completely unaware that T had been eyeing up the same camera since Christmas!

Anyway, it arrived on Thursday. It has a sexy-looking black body and so many functions it will take me six years to figure them all out.

Late this afternoon I took a quick walk around the neighbourhood to have a play with my new toy. It's slightly heavier than my Cybershot but very easy to use. The 10 x optical zoom is a vast improvement on the Cybershot's 3 x optical zoom. Similarly, the wide-angle lens is a revelation, but I think it will take me awhile to get used to it, as I've spent the past two-and-a-half years taking photographs with a fixed lens.

On the whole, it seems like a good purchase. But I won't know for sure until I test it out properly on my holiday -- which, if truth be known, is the real reason I bought it.

Comments

[Melody]

Looks like a great new toy. Tell me how you go (your photos above with the camera look great) and how you go with shots of the sky etc., You know I am too over the Sony Cybershot... (It's good you do the research for me!)

[Raelha]

Ooh, ooh, me me, I want one!
I frequently curse my 3x zoom, and Matt dropped the camera a while back and there's a crack in the case now. If I had enough spare cash I'd use it as an excuse to buy something sexier.

[kimbofo]

Melody & Raelha, the camera got a good working out on my holiday (took about 340 pics) but I can't quite say that I have fallen in love with it. Well, not yet, anyway.

[Colin]

There's a thing, I just bought one of those - in black also - and a high-speed 2GB card to go with it. I have no idea if it will produce better quality pictures than my old Nikon digital camera, but if it actually focuses on the children and takes pictures fast enough that they are still in frame, then I'll be pleased.

[kimbofo]

Colin, we'll be able to compare notes! I got a 4G card and am simply amazed at how many pics I could fit on it -- just over 1,000!!

[Colin]

I'm trying not to be jealous about the 4GB card. I went with the 2GB card because 1) it was on sale, and 2) it has a 20 mb / s write speed - which is nice.

Once I have pictures of something other than the fuit bowl in the kitchen, a botched attempt at getting the praying mantis on the kitchen window, or my kids in the tub, I'll let you know how it went.