Last Updated 25 Oct 2009
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I've been interested in photography for years ~ since I was a young lad, but to be honest I was never that good
at it. Despite the lack of any real "ability", I remain interested in the hobby and most of all admire the mind-boggling engineering that goes into a good camera.

Most of the time I've got my Lumix DMC-FX01 with me, It's a cracking little compact digital camera with 6 MegaPixel resolution, a true wide-angle lens and a superb 2.5" LCD. It has an all metal body, five focus modes, 250 shot battery and best of all a LEICA lens! I use a couple of 2Gb memory cards with it which give me all the space I need for most circumstances including a spot of video recording.

The other digital camera I have is a Samsung Pro-815. When I bought this, it was a bit of a record breaker! It sported the world's longest zoom at 15x optical. Resolution is  8 MegaPixels and it has a 3.5" LCD screen in addition to another top mounted colour viewfinder for waist-level shooting. The lens is a very high quality Schneider-Kreuznach  with a true wide-angle (28mm) setting. The whole thing is supported with the world's largest capacity lithium-ion battery. It's a fantastic camera and there's not much it can't cope with.

Then there's my film-cameras. The legendary Nikon F4s. Wow!! What a magnificent piece of engineering! I use a Nikon Speedlight SB-26 with this camera and that too is a marvel in its own right. Then there's my old Pentax ME SUPER. Just for old time's sake! Then I bought a Nikon D300 outfit. One of the finest DSLR's in the world, complete with a whole host of lens, but found that it was just too much trouble to lug it all around. The idea of walking for hours to the peak of Lakeland Mountains to get superb views was marred by the idea of carrying 22lbs of equipment, so I got me a superb new compact called the CANON G11.

My Canon G11...

click to enlarge

Independent Canon G11  Review Here                   Buy Here

Click Flashgun For Independent Review

I was originally about to buy the highly acclaimed G10 but luckily, I got wind of the imminent launch of the G11. The G10 was a 14 megapixel camera and it caused quite a stir when Canon announced that its successor would only have 10 megapixels! Sounded odd at first, but what Canon pointed out was that they had dropped out of the pixel-counting wars and had focused on image quality instead. Compact camera users have long complained about poor noise levels and finally, a manufacturer has had the bottle to go against the marketing department's advice and go for quality instead of quantity.

Everyone knows that pixels don't make pictures. And the G11 proves the point. It produces amazingly high quality images with two-thirds of the pixels of its predecessor. Effectively, it gives an extra two stops of useful speed. Where most compacts get horribly noisy at ISO400, the G11 looks superb.

My Nikon D300 Kit...


Shown fitted with the Pro Battery Grip and super-zoom 18-200mm Nikkor lens

Amazing rear screen
 

MDB-D10 Battery Grip
The compact SB400 takes care of most situations
 

The Nikon 18-200mm VR superzoom is a great all-rounder.
 

Just love this lens! F/1.4
 

Nicknamed by the press as the "Bigma"  Amazing sharpness for such a long reaching lens!
 

One of the best macro lenses available!
 

If it's super-wide-angle you're after, this is the one.
  
 The GeoPic II records the exact spot where you took your photo.
 

This is the kit I usually go out with. Won't accommodate the Bigma though.
   

This monster will accommodate just about everything!!!
 


And this little beaut will carry the D300 with battery-grip attached and the Bigma lens!

 
Photography

Click here to view photo-albums

or here to view Photo-Blog
 

 
All image and text are Copyright protected. Tom McQuiggan 2009