Panasonic DMC-ZS1 hands on...

Ok, so I could not keep my hands off this one. I picked up a Panasonic DMC-ZS1 today and I have made some preliminary conclusions already. I hoped that the somewhat larger camera would be justified with that so intriguing 25-300mm zoom range, and the possibility to use it even when shooting video.

But first some views of the camera:






Nice and shiny, indeed. Not too much larger than the Canon SD1200IS.

For you to be able to check out some photos, I have posted some full size 10Mpixels photos, and three videos, all directly from camera, and provide links here.

Photos:
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3
Photo 4
Videos:
Video 1, VGA
Video 2, WVGA
Video 3, WVGA

I guess if you are interested, you have probably seen all of them by now. My short summary of the pros and cons, at this time, would be:

Pros

• Fairly compact for a 25-300mm zoom range
  
• Nice wide 25mm lens
  
• Zoom while shooting video works
  
• Autofocus keeps working during video (not true for SD1200)
  

Cons

• Soft photos from long end of zoom (at least on my camera)
  
• Quite slow zoom operation in general. More so in video.
  
• Slow autofocus when taking photos
  
• My first impression is that the face tracking autofocus is much better on SD1200
  
• Mechanical button for review, shooting not possible without flip of that button
  
• Mode dial (on top) has few settings, and turns really easy (easy to do by mistake)
  
• Sound in video is sampled at 16kHz. Canon is 44kHz which makes it sound a lot better

I guess what I am trying to say, is that if you ask me right now, I am not that impressed with the Panasonic DMC-ZS1. I guess my Canon SD1200IS feels like a better overall camera. But, it is not fair to come to that conclusion already. I have to give it some more time...

You can check out the cameras at Amazon here: Panasonic DMC-ZS1, Panasonic DMC-ZS3, Canon SD1200IS.

Camera temptation...

It's not like I am unhappy with what I have, it is just that I seem to always want to test new stuff out. I recently saw Panasonic DMC-ZS1 on a Costco flyer and when I saw the details I got interested.

• 25-300mm zoom
  
• Zoom while shooting video
  
• Fairly compact
  

25mm is sweet. I had a Kodak v570 one time. It was the funky dual lens one that had one fixed 23mm lens and one 39-105mm or so lens. I just loved that wide angle, but on the kodak, one could not adjust the JPEG quality and the compression was quite high. And a 12x zoom lens starting at 25mm in a compact format just sounds really interesting. Well, I tried looking for reviews, but there is little to be found. DP review has a brief compact superzoom review where it is, but it is really brief. Get good marks though. It does not have HD video, but the more expensive, feature packed, Panasonic DMC-ZS3 has HD video. I guess ZS1 would be good enough for me. Question is just if I can motivate a purchase....

Macro - SD1200IS

I must say that I am very impressed with the Canon SD1200IS, and also its more feature packed sibling the SD780IS , capability to take macros.

I love macros and I have had a good macro lens for quite some time for my various DSLRs that I have had (right now I have a Canon 10D and Sigma 105mm EX, both bought used), and I appreciate how hard it can be to get good macros even with good, or maybe especially with good, equipment. With the tiny Canon point-and-shoot, the IS and the lens makes it possible to take a decent macro without any practice. Prior to Digic-4 (the imagine chip in the camera) one had at least to turn on the macro focus, but now, in auto mode, even that is automatically done. Just point and shoot :). Here's a sample for you of an unknown but very colorful beetle. And then a crop. Keep in mind that this happened to be ISO 250, so there's going to be some noise and noise reduction artifacts.



~100% crop or nearly so:


Buy SD1200 : Light gray, Dark gray, Pink, Blue, Green, Orange.

iPod Touch and free $25 gift card deal

I have been considering getting an iPod Touch 8 GB and now Amazon has an offer where you get a free $25 Amazon.com gift card when you order one. I would use the iPod both as a iPod and then also run the free Kindle app on it as one can share the Kindle books between the iPod and the Kindle.

Just add one of these:

Apple iPod touch 8 GB (2nd Generation) LATEST MODEL
Apple iPod touch 16 GB (2nd Generation) LATEST MODEL
Apple iPod touch 32 GB (2nd Generation) LATEST MODEL

and then the gift card and the gift card should be free during checkout. Please make sure you see the -$25 deduction on the final confirmation page. Think the deal is good until June 20th. Now, is it time or not? I am not sure just yet.

SD1200 on approach to SFO

When returning back from vacation yesterday, we had a nice view of North Bay (Marin) and then San Francisco and the Golden Gate bridge. Here are some snapshots. I think that the Canon SD1200IS did well considering that it's through a dirty airplane window and we sat behind the wing which means that the heated air from the jet engines are creating disturbances in the air...

What do you think?

Golden Gate, Alcatraz, Angel Island and parts of San Francisco


Golden Gate bridge


Bay bridge and downtown San Fracisco


This is the south part of Novato in Marin.

Buy SD1200 : Light gray, Dark gray, Pink, Blue, Green, Orange.

Kindle 2.0 review

My wife reads a lot of books and when she attends a talk given by an author of a book, she usually comes home with a book purchase. I know she had been eying a Kindle, so when Amazon released rev 2.0 and mothers day was coming up, I ordered one.

It really gave a good feeling when we (she) opened it. I guess Amazon has taken some hints from Apple who I think am doing a great job with their design of both the product and how it is packaged. It was a Apple feel in both cases when unpacking the Kindle. Powering it up and instantly you are up-and-running. I guess that is the case when you order it and do not select that it is a gift (I had not). It assumes you are the owner and that you want it to be setup to buy books without any password hassle and so, from the start. I think that is just great.

In addition to reading books, I know that she wanted also to maybe start getting the New York Times (in paper) for at least some days in the week. When I checked, it seemed that the Kindle version of the New York Times would be almost half price of even getting the print edition a few days a week (after the initial discount ran out). And not to speak of all the paper, or trees, that would be saved. All sounded good.

Now, did it work? It's been like 2 months or so, and both she and I have used the Kindle for reading books and the New York Times. So, this is a real end user review. We did not just test it, we kept it :).

In summary here are the highlights and maybe the not so good points.

Benefits

• Small, sleek, nice looking
  
• Battery life is just outstanding, especially if the wireless is turned off when you know you are not using it.
  
• Crisp and clear screen. Displays photos (gray scale) just fine from the NYT
  
• Good to home one-handed and read books
  
• Nice to be able to get the 1st chapter sample of books before buying
  
• Buy book and read it in under a minute, almost anywhere in the US
  
• "Free" wireless access in a somewhat limited browser
  
• Usable text-to-speech function. Maybe not for a whole book, but for a NYT article, it works fine

Drawbacks

• Navigating the NYT is not ideal (Not really something that cannot be fixed by changing the layout and use of buttons)
  
• When you are out of the wireless area (such as our vacation trip abroad) it is a little work to download the books and magazines, and you will not be able to get any first chapter samples
  
• No back lit option. Most times this is totally ok and better, but in some cases it would have been nice. You need a light source to be able to read the screen.
  
• High price
  
• The joystick is a little too stiff making it hard to navigate one handed

I think the benefits clearly outweigh the drawbacks, even with the high price. Now, if you only read a book or a few a year, this might not be the case for you. In that case, the Kindle is probably not a worthwhile investment. Keep in mind that Amazon has a very generous return policy, so if you do not like it, if you initiate a return and ship it back before 30 days (I think, check to be sure) you only will pay the return shipment.

I guess we run the risk of that this device will be somewhat old, only after a few years as the technology development is not likely to stop, recession or not. We will take the chance.

What now?

My vacation is almost over, and it was done without any DSLR at all, or almost (I did borrow my fathers Canon XTi). Otherwise I have been perfectly happy with the Canon SD1200IS for all snapshots and videos. But, I do need something better than the old Canon G2 that I currently use as my "nice" camera.

I did try the Nikon D60 but I guess I have been using Canon for too long as it was hard to get used to the different menus and so. Also, I did not buy any RAW converter program for the Nikon, like the Nikon Capture NX 2 program. Canon ships RAW software with the camera, which I think is nice.

Anyway, the review for the new Canon T1i is now up on DP review, and I was surprised that it was not better. I really like the idea of nice HD video in a SLR so that I could try to also sell videos on iStockPhoto in addition to the photos I sell there. But with the review, and the fact that the Canon T1i lack the auto focus adjustment for the lenses that the more expensive Canon 50D has, is making it hard for me to try it out.

I guess if money was not an issue I would just get it all by getting the Canon 5D mark II and a Canon EF 24-105mm lens and be set. But unfortunately, that is too much money for me. What to do... I just do not know. I feel that for all practical purposes, 10 or 12 mega pixels is enough for me, and although I would probably use the video on a D-SLR, I could live without it.

I guess if I do not come up with a winning super lotto ticket or so, maybe I will just scan craigslist and pick up a used XTi or maybe a used Canon XS. I think I would be able to use that for a year or more, maybe...