Let me rave about my new camera. I'm calling it my Xmas present to myself. Been looking at them for a while as my little point & shoot just wasn't doing it for me anymore. I knew what I wanted in a camera and looked for those features. I needed/wanted (1) wide focal range; (2) viewfinder; (3) fast shutter speed; (4) easy battery; (5) video. Pretty much in that order of importance.
The viewfinder is the one thing that can't be found on most cameras, other than DSLR. But I really didn't need everything else a DSLR has, and couldn't justify the high price. Why was I so hot for a viewfinder? It's so much easier to take pictures in bright sunlight. The usual screen just isn't very efficient that way.
I wanted the wide focal range so I can get good closeups and zoomed shots. Closeups of nature has always been one of my favorite things to do with a camera. Fast shutter for moving targets. Easy battery means AAs for me. Fairly cheap and easily obtained. I use rechargeables in the camera, but I like that I can carry a set of regular ones for quick backup. Video was an afterthought as I don't know how much I'll use it. Not having an outstanding internet connection makes it hard for me to watch videos online, let alone upload them myself. But it's nice to have it if ever I wish I had it. I've never had a camcorder before, except for the rinkydink thing in my cell phone.
The Pentax X-5 ticked all my boxes and I'm so pleased with it. So far, it has done everything I've asked of it, and for half the price of the cheapest DSLR. The battery life is excellent, too. That was a thing for which all the reviews gave good marks. I've had it for about a month now, and I'm still running the batteries that came with it, and you know factory-included batteries are not of the highest quality. In fact, the battery meter is just now beginning to run down. I'm very impressed with the quality of the 26x zoom. It has an anti-shake feature and I've seen very little blurring at maximum zoom even when I knew my hand jiggled when I pressed the shutter button. It's also very comfortable and light in the hand, and there isn't that long bulky lens that you'd have on DSLR. Or the need to switch out highly expensive lenses. The screen display is actually very good, too. I can see right away whether a shot turned out too blurry. The only extra thing I bought for it was a bigger memory card, and I found that at a good price at Big Lots (8gb for $8). Oh and there's a nifty little lens cap strap. It's designed to be attached to the neck strap but I rarely use that (too bulky and in the way). I just zip-tied the tiny cap strap to the neck strap's ring. I like that as I don't always have a pocket to hold it. For a bit of insurance against clumsiness, I attached the wrist strap from my old camera to the other ring.
I posted a few pix on Facebook, but here's some of my favorites.
Close up detail on a clematis.
Red Admiral on pansy closeup. Yes, that date is correct...butterflies in Dec. I love the south!
Song Sparrow in birdbath at maximum zoom.
Mid-range zoom.
Birchen roo.
Something no other camera I've ever had could do well...aquarium.
In case you're wondering, these are assorted African Cichlids in a 45 gal. bowfront tank. I believe most of the distortion is due to the curved glass.
Oh yeah, and my current crop of babies. Baroquen x Smith's Lou. 4 weeks in these pix. There's another broken buck but he's a bubba so I'll be petting him out.
I created the triptychs to show the pattern from all sides. Doe #1 is my fav of the 3 but I like the others, too. That doe is also the 1st time Baroquen has thrown her excellent bold pattern. I call it "color block". She usually throws lighter like the others. And yes, all otters. The pattern is feathery right now but Baroquen's get always matures with very clean and crisp markings. These will be just big enough for Spartanburg at the end of January. That's probably my 1st show next year.
Happy Holidays
