I carry digital cameras, I've always carried cameras, but the digital age has reinvigorated my interest as well as put me back to work shooting for money.
Many years ago I lugged a 35MM and a bag of lenses around shooting handshakes for a series of small to medium sized publications in Central Florida, USA.
Like anyone who has had to carry a weapon for a living will tell you, it ain't NEAR as 'glam' as it may be made out to be in the media.
Camera bags are heavy, awkward and inconvenient.
Leading to my point. A few years back I was balancing budget versus need and as usual ended up on eBay. Looking for a digital SLR and lenses I happened across Panasonics LUMIX line of cameras.
A Leica lens is as close to the gold standard as you can get in photography, and many, (but not all) of the Lumix cameras come with one.
Then there is the zoom. See photo below. It was shot sitting still in ambient light from exactly the same place using oncamera controls only. No swapping lenses, no fumbling getting profiles matched, no nuthin,… just point it, line it up and shoot.
I don't miss lugging that camera bag AT ALL!
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 20
Panasonic makes a line of 'point and shoot's that carry leica lenses and are small enough to slip in a pocket. the glass REALLY DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
can be had on eBay BRAND NEW for under $200.00
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-FX07T-7-Megapixel-Digital-Ca_W0QQitemZ180260866038QQihZ008QQcategoryZ107904QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX07T 7 Megapixel Digital Camera with 28mm Wide Angle Leica Lens, Venus Engine III, 2.5" LCD, High Speed AF, Variety of Scene Modes to enrich your Photography - Taupe
THIS IS A BRAND NEW ITEM.
Buy SKU: 206609488
Description
28mm Wide Angle LEICA DC lens in a Compact Body
The 7.2-megapixel LUMIX DMC-FX07 camera has a 28mm wide angle 3.6x optical zoom f/2.8 LEICA DC VARIO-ELMARIT lens housed in a compact and slim body, achieved thanks to the incorporation of a EA (Extra High Refractive Index Aspherical) lens. This wide angle lens enables easy capture of large indoor group subjects or expansive architectural structures and sceneries with dynamic width and a rich perspective.
MEGA Optical Image Stabilizer
Taking advantage of its superior lens technology, Panasonic invented the MEGA O.I.S.(Optical Image Stabilizer) system to fight against the major cause of blurred images. It compensates for handshake and is now featured on the entire LUMIX range and has been highly evaluated and appreciated by the users across the world. Every slight hand-shake movement is detected accurately with the sampling frequency at 4,000 times per second and will be compensated to render clear, sharp images.
High Picture Quality With The Venus Engine III
The DMC-FX07 camera adopts the Venus Engine III to realize high sensitivity recording at max. ISO 1250 at full resolution. The noise reduction system is greatly improved by removing noise at the processing stages in series. First, critical noise is roughly undraped and the chromatic noise and the luminance noise are separated to respectively go through the supplemental noise reduction process so that the remaining noise is appropriately minimised.
2.5-inch Large LCD for Easy Shooting and Playback
The DMC-FX07 incorporates an easy-to-see 2.5-inch 207k pixels high resolution LCD. Taking advantage of this large, high resolution LCD, the DMC-FX07 enables dual image playback to display any 2 images vertically in the LCD and compare them as well as the 9-frame cutouts from a motion image. Also, the pixel-mixed readout method performed by the CCD automatically increases the brightness level of the live image on the LCD, which greatly facilitates shooting in low light situations.
Clear VGA Motion Image Recording
In addition to standard VGA (640x480) at 30 fps motion image recording, the DMC-FX07 camera can also record stunning full-size movies in wide-aspect VGA (848x480) at 30 fps. Shooting is one thing but viewing is another, and users will be suitably impressed by the 16:9 moving image when it is displayed on a wide screen TV. The brightness level of these motion images is also enhanced as a result of the pixel mixed readout method performed by the CCD.
Unimpeded, High Speed AF
The various AF mode can be selected according to the shooting environment and the position of the subject: 9-point, 3-point high speed, 1-point high-speed, 1-point normal-speed and spot. In the 1-point normal speed AF, the AF time is reduced by one third of the time compared to the predecessor, to provide a quick and smooth AF without screen-freeze. The inclusion of an AF assist lamp provides further assistance in low light situations when focusing is difficult. The result is stress free photography with never a moment missed.
Variety of Scene Modes to Enrich Your Photography
Eighteen scene modes are included for the DMC-FX07 to assist the user in a wide range of photographic situations. The newly incorporated "Beach mode is perfect for shooting in strong sunlight and the "Arial mode assists with shooting through the windows of an aeroplane. In the "Simple mode, almost all adjustments can be automatically set even including the backlight compensation, allowing even entry-level users to take beautiful images easily.
If you want additional information regarding the content of this item please refer to the manufacturer for more details.
When you buy from Buy Internet Superstore, your satisfaction is our number one priority. If you do not feel comfortable giving us 5-star ratings across the board, please contact us before you leave any feedback so that we can make things right. Use the "Ask seller a question" link above and we will be more than happy to immediately assist you.
it's WORSE THAN THAT... I PUT MY FOOT UNDER IT TO BREAK THE FALL!
Someday...
yeah and Bozo died this week too!
Thanks for this one. Great info as always.