Loose Leaf Notes

So Joe got me this new camera for Christmas, one of those new mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras that are only made by a few companies and are meant to combine the ease of a point and shoot with the quality of a SLR.

It’s a Nikon J1, which causes me to think about Ashton Kutcher every time I use it.  And it’s red.  “I make people nervous enough when I pull out my camera.  I don’t want to stand out,” I said to Joe.

I’m not sure I’m going to keep it, and so far the verdict is that I’m not so bowled over. In the best case scenario it works great.  In the worst, not much better than my point and shoot.  For the money it costs I want everything: crisp photo quality, fast focusing, good performance in low light and ease of use. I’m not happy that the lens cap is not attached, and, like an unattached gas cap, I’ve already lost it several times.  I’m not happy with the minimal zoom and the fact that I have to access it by turning the lens, which causes the camera to shake when I’m taking movies.

It may be me – I’m clumsy and mechanically dyslexic – but I don’t understand why the continuous shooting mode (like a flashcard model shoot) takes better pictures than the single shot mode.  And I have to remember at least three steps before I can take a picture, not the one button start up of my point and shoot.

I’ve already taken it on one interview where it turned out to be on the wrong setting and I inadvertently took silent movie clips mixed with stills.  I can’t figure out the point of that setting even being on the dial or how it ended up there.  Also, when taking movies I have to put the dial on movie setting AND find and press a hidden button on the top before it records.

Am I spoiled or what?  It’s more that don’t walk and chew gum at the same time very well.  There’s still time to take the camera back.  I’m planning on checking out other mirrorless cameras, the Sony Apha Nex and the Panasonic Lumix GF 2.  But what I’m really doing is hoping that Canon comes out with their own version of this type of camera very SOON.

Post Notes: All this came about because I dropped my Canon PowerShot G9, which at the time of purchase was THE intermediate between the point and shoot and SLR cameras.  I replaced it with a PowerShot SX210, not as good as the G9 but a high end point and shoot that has a great zoom lens (with a finger toggle). With all the pictures I take for myself and for the local paper, I want a camera that is easy to use and gives great results.  Anyone?

New Year’s Eve photos coming up next …