The cause of my angst ? My new compact camera.
A few weeks ago my old compact, a Fuji F460, started to die. First a few of the buttons on the back stopped working. Then all of the buttons on the back stopped working. Finally the lens cover stopped closing. All of which was a shame because I liked my little camera. It had done me some good service and worked very well.
Anyway, I dived into the world of cheap(ish) digital compacts. I discovered that there is no point going to a shop. Camera shops don't do anything below £140 and the big stores might have a model or two but can't demonstrate it or even tell you as much as the web site. However, browsing the Currys catalogue I spotted a Fuji A100. The only on-line review I could find said nice things and I generally like Fuji cameras so I flashed the virtual plastic and it arrived today.
Out of the box it seems OK. I took a few photos and they worked. Even the cats deigned to pose, well sleep anyway. Then I wondered how the 10mp A100 compared to the 9mp 9500S - the "proper" bridge camera I use for magazine work.
The results are scary.
Click on the photo for a bigger image
There is very little difference between the two. Now I've always been very happy with the 9500S but it seems that a tiddly compact can do nearly as well. I thought the point was that the compacts smaller CCD Chip would mean noisier photos ?
OK, so the bigger beast can still do more - I can have 80ASA and long exposures for plenty of depth of field for example. The compact can't auto expose as well. And for what I laughingly refer to as studio work, it's a lot easier to use with a flip up screen and proper zoom. And it handles like a proper camera should do too. If only it had the weight of my old Zenith I'd be really happy.
But the results speak for themselves. A compact can do a good job. And that just doesn't feel right.
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