Finally a New Camera

I have not had a new camera in so long that it is depressing.  My old camera would not even hold the new SD cards since they had so much more memory than the old cards available when I first had it.  I did not even buy that camera.  It was a gift and I used it until I finally upgraded to a smart phone with a better, easier to carry camera.  Finally, I bought my own camera. My first non-phone camera to ever purchase!

I really want a DSLR, but have not used one or do not have the time to study and take classes about it's use right now.  So I chose one that had more mp than the DSLR I had researched, smart auto features for quick shots and a way to change settings myself to learn what settings are good for  certain types of picture.  I also picked one that had the same ISO as the more technical camera I had originally wanted.  I wanted this for low light photos and night photos.

So far I have not been disappointed.  It is so much better than anything else I have owned and I have learned a few tricks with settings already.   I purchased the Nikon L820.  It has an amazing price and so far it has not upset me.  I think it is a great "learning" camera.  Maybe next year I will take the leap to the higher value cameras with more settings.  For now I am very happy playing around with this one.

It picks up amazing detail and color with every shot.  Focus time is pretty fast.  The only thing that I have not been able to focus one was a full zoom night photo. This photo was taken through a fence at the baseball fields in full darkness with highly active kids.  With the lighting and fence it was hard to capture a nice full zoom picture during the game.  Closer pictures were not a problem and neither was the next game that was not at night.  Below are both full zoom photos.  The first is a night shot without much detail.  The second is a day shot that looks great.  I can even crop the photo to get a better picture of him and still have all of the detail of the water falling off.

This camera has been great for action shots of baseball and animals.  Full zoom without a tripod will make a  few pictures a little blurry, but anything less will give a great picture.  The 120 fps has helped the little monster with his swing since he is a visual guy.  He now sees what it means to swing late. 

 Ducks swimming away.

I love the effects that the camera has for editing.  My favorite is the color selection.  You can select a color to stand out before or after the picture has been taken.  The rest of the picture will be in black and white.  So the first thing I did was take a photo of my lovely blue toenails!  I will spare you a picture of my feet and show a before and after picture of a very pretty rose.

 Before, a little shaking since someone screamed "Mama" at the time.

 After color selection

I am very pleased with this camera.  It has been the perfect Mother's Day gift for myself.  I would like to get a rechargeable battery for a little longer battery life. I also need a tripod for the higher iso night photos I would like to take.  I love the HD video option.  Everything in one device is so easy.  You never know when a kid will do something that needs a photo or a video.  This usually happens to me when I am not prepared, but now I will not miss anything.  My favorite thing by far is the details this camera captures flowers.  Now blooms can last forever.  I already have plans to make a few into canvas art!