Point-and-shoot fun

Like everyone with an interest in photography, I'd love a digital SLR with a range of lenses for all purposes.....but for the moment I have a Panasonic TZ7 10.1 megapixel compact digital camera and I love it.....you can do so much with a simple point-and-shoot digital camera these days that they suit most peoples' every need. Below are a few recent photos I've taken to show just how versatile a compact digital camera can be.....

Bee Orchid


Tufted Vetch


Common Green Grasshopper


Male Kestrel hovering


Saltmarsh at Dundrum Bay


You can flick between macro (which I use a lot) to other modes and even zoom in by a good amount, all with the flick of a button. The Kestrel photo was taken as the bird hovered perhaps a quarter of a mile away, I wanted to know if it was a male or female so zoomed in to find out....yes the sharpness isn't there but as a reference photo its fine....a few seconds later I switched onto macro mode and was able to photograph the grasshopper at my feet! Its this ease and versatility of use that I love!

Great shots Karl. I have to agree when it comes to ease of use & even transport (being pocket size) point n shoot can produce some top notch images as you've shown and I do use mine FAR more then the SLR or DSLR just for those reasons alone and as your shots prove it can be just as rewarding, when used correctly of course lol (although you will never beat the advantages of SLRs)

beautiful shots. I need some photography lessons, have never gotten round to using any functions on our cameras - I simply...point, and shoot
esp love the grasshopper shot...

Grasshopper is outstanding Karl...

I too have found myself recently wanting a DSLR camera. Though if I had one, I'd probably forget to bring it out with me. Also, generally most good pics are spontaneous (like the grasshopper shot) and youu never know when you're gonna come across a good photo op, so a decent compact is as good an option as any.

That being said, I hate having to carry several devices with me and I use my phones as my sole camera. I remember getting the Sony Ericsson k800i when it first came out - 1st phone with a 3.2mp camera with XENON flash (still quite rare on camera phones!). Even in comparison with today's devices, the k800i takes cracking shots, especially in macro mode. You also can't beat the xenon flash for night shots! Unfortunately, my iPhone 3GS stills camera isn't that great (especially with no flash!), but the video camera is pretty good, with the ability to focus mid-video capture. I use my Nokia N900 with it's Carl Zeiss 5mp camera for stills (not the best camera in the world, but has never let me down).

Probably a load of spelling mistakes there as it's almost 5am and I'm just about to head to bed lol.

Amen to technology!

That bee orchid is amazing !!
Great shots all round there....