Post by PeterW on Jul 17, 2011 15:13:34 GMT -5
Hi everyone.
I know I've said on a couple of occasions that I couln't see myself buying a point and shoot digital camera without a viewfinder.
Well, I've got to eat my words because in the words of the Victorian London Musical Hall, I bin and gorn and done it!
I didn't buy it on ebay, too chancey for this sort of camera. I was browsing round a local shop that deals in DVD games and the equipment like X-Boxes and Playstations and the like on which to play them. They also take stuff in part exchange including, on quite rare occasions, a camera.
My eye was caught by a little Pentax Optio W30, 7.1 Megapixels. It looked like new in the showcase, even though it's four years old, so I asked to see it.
As I said, it's 7.1 Megapixels, built-in flash, 3x optical zoom, waterproof Class 8, dustproof Class 5, anti-shake and, somewhat unusual for a digi P&S, it's got a tripod bush. I wouldn't want to trust it underwater, I reckon if light seals can leak, waterproof seals can. But at least I won't be over concerned if it comes on to rain when I'm out with it.
I thought the price, which I thought was for the camera only, was quite reasonable. Then I learned that it came with a soft case, a battery, a charger and a new 4Gigabite memory card.
Also included was a 12-month warranty (repair, replace or an equivalent camera) and a promise that, for full deposit I could try it for a week and if I didn't like the results or just didn't get on with it I could take it back and have my money back. Customer service does still exist in some smaller shops.
All this was at a price just over half what identical models are priced on Amazon.
In short, I bought it, and tried it out a couple of days later on a trip with John and Luke to the Historic Dockyard at Chatham, about 40 minutes drive away.
I couldn't take my electric buggy because it won't fit in the back of our little Renault Clio so I took an ordinary arm-propelled wheelchair.
One of the exhibits there is a diesel-powered submarine HMS Ocelot. With the advent of nuclear-powered subs she was decommissioned and bought and restored by the dockyard where she was originally built. You can go on a conducted tour inside - at least you can if you can walk! But no way could I get my wheelchair inside a sub where space is at a premium, and I could definitely never get throuh the tiny hatches between compartments. So while John and Luke had the tour I trundled around taking a few pictures with the Optio. After about half an hour my arms were aching!
After the sub, we all went over the Sloop HMS Gannet. Again it was originally built at Chatham and bought back for restoration. This was easier for my wheelchair but once again I couldn't get everywhere. Some areas involved going up or down flights of stairs.
Even so, we all enjoyed the day - or afternoon by the time we got there and had lunch. Here are some pictures I took during my trundle round while John and Luke were in the sub.
HMS Gannet, built in 1878. Restoration is almost finished except for new masts and a new bowspit.
The diesel powered sub HMS Ocelot, originally built at Chatham, bought back and restored when she was decommissioned.
The day was fine, with light overcast, so I set the Pentax at 400 ISO, and left it to do everything else - real indolent photography
The pictures are straight from the memory card with no Photoshopping apart from resizing for posting here. All in all, I'm pleased with the little Pentax. I've got to get used to composing on a screen instead of in a viewfinder, but I expect I'll get the hang of it.
PeterW
I know I've said on a couple of occasions that I couln't see myself buying a point and shoot digital camera without a viewfinder.
Well, I've got to eat my words because in the words of the Victorian London Musical Hall, I bin and gorn and done it!
I didn't buy it on ebay, too chancey for this sort of camera. I was browsing round a local shop that deals in DVD games and the equipment like X-Boxes and Playstations and the like on which to play them. They also take stuff in part exchange including, on quite rare occasions, a camera.
My eye was caught by a little Pentax Optio W30, 7.1 Megapixels. It looked like new in the showcase, even though it's four years old, so I asked to see it.
As I said, it's 7.1 Megapixels, built-in flash, 3x optical zoom, waterproof Class 8, dustproof Class 5, anti-shake and, somewhat unusual for a digi P&S, it's got a tripod bush. I wouldn't want to trust it underwater, I reckon if light seals can leak, waterproof seals can. But at least I won't be over concerned if it comes on to rain when I'm out with it.
I thought the price, which I thought was for the camera only, was quite reasonable. Then I learned that it came with a soft case, a battery, a charger and a new 4Gigabite memory card.
Also included was a 12-month warranty (repair, replace or an equivalent camera) and a promise that, for full deposit I could try it for a week and if I didn't like the results or just didn't get on with it I could take it back and have my money back. Customer service does still exist in some smaller shops.
All this was at a price just over half what identical models are priced on Amazon.
In short, I bought it, and tried it out a couple of days later on a trip with John and Luke to the Historic Dockyard at Chatham, about 40 minutes drive away.
I couldn't take my electric buggy because it won't fit in the back of our little Renault Clio so I took an ordinary arm-propelled wheelchair.
One of the exhibits there is a diesel-powered submarine HMS Ocelot. With the advent of nuclear-powered subs she was decommissioned and bought and restored by the dockyard where she was originally built. You can go on a conducted tour inside - at least you can if you can walk! But no way could I get my wheelchair inside a sub where space is at a premium, and I could definitely never get throuh the tiny hatches between compartments. So while John and Luke had the tour I trundled around taking a few pictures with the Optio. After about half an hour my arms were aching!
After the sub, we all went over the Sloop HMS Gannet. Again it was originally built at Chatham and bought back for restoration. This was easier for my wheelchair but once again I couldn't get everywhere. Some areas involved going up or down flights of stairs.
Even so, we all enjoyed the day - or afternoon by the time we got there and had lunch. Here are some pictures I took during my trundle round while John and Luke were in the sub.
HMS Gannet, built in 1878. Restoration is almost finished except for new masts and a new bowspit.
The diesel powered sub HMS Ocelot, originally built at Chatham, bought back and restored when she was decommissioned.
The day was fine, with light overcast, so I set the Pentax at 400 ISO, and left it to do everything else - real indolent photography
The pictures are straight from the memory card with no Photoshopping apart from resizing for posting here. All in all, I'm pleased with the little Pentax. I've got to get used to composing on a screen instead of in a viewfinder, but I expect I'll get the hang of it.
PeterW
