Ronin Marketeer » Photos

What Point and Shoot Camera Should I Buy?

john — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 12:29:13 +0000

A friend asked me this question today and I went through the trouble of putting together the (affiliate) links so I thought this would make a decent blog post for the holiday season. This is not a discussion, but rather I was asked what I would buy for a point and shoot and this is it:

Canon PowerShot SX210IS 14.1 MP Digital Camera with 14x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3.0-Inch LCD

This camera is a little bigger than the average point and shoot but it takes incredible pictures. It has a great lens with huge zoom, and can shoot HD video. It’s Ronin approved.

Don’t make the mistake of buying just the camera, if you are giving a gift you want to include the whole set:

A case so it doesn’t get destroyed, an extra battery so you can always have one charged and ready, and a SanDisk 8GB fast memory card – not a cheap knock off stolen out of the SanDisk defect pile.

So that’s a great package for about $350 all in. From there you could go in three directions:

Smaller if carrying it around is the primary concern
DSLR for fantastic pictures but you’ll have to carry around a bag of junk
Up or down if you have a price number to hit

For smaller I’d check out the digital Elph line from Canon, the PowerShot SD4000 IS is around $280 and a great camera.

You can check out and compare the whole Canon Line here.

For DSLR the Rebel T2i is the latest entry level and around $700, plus you’d have to kick in another $300 for a good lens. Expensive and a lot to carry, but great shots.

You can go more expensive on point and shoot but I don’t think it’s worth going over $350. You can get cheaper if you got a model that you can still get new but has been out for a while, like the Canon PowerShot SD940IS for $165.

Amazon is good especially if you have free shipping with Prime, but also and check prices at B&H Photo and go there if you ever have the chance when you are in New York City, it’s right near Madison Square Garden.

The Time for Training is Over

john — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:21:39 +0000

Lately I’ve been testing a few things out and I’ve found that I’ve learned a lot more from the practical application of tactics than just reading about them. Yeah, I know, big surprise. The thing is – it’s much easier to just read as much as you can rather than try some experiments on your own. All the training in the world can’t substitute for time spent in the field under fire. This is probably why I don’t spend my time doing case studies – I’d rather be doing the program than reporting on somebody else’s results.

Speaking of projects, I’ve rented a 15mm fish-eye lens for the weekend and I’m going to be putting it through the paces at Tanglewood. I’m also starting to think about two other photography projects – there’s a studio in MetroWest that can be rented for less than $300 a day (includes lighting gear), if you are interested in a ghetto style photo clinic drop me a line. In the same vein I’d like to make some prints that could be shown in a gallery, but that’s a much bigger project than I want to bite off (right now).

Tennis Valentine

john — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 13:50:17 +0000

As a teenager I spent many hours on the tennis court, both playing and teaching. I played a bit in college where I finally burned out after a year, but I still play once in a while. Last month Carin was offered tickets to the Champions Cup here in Boston and we went to the tournament yesterday. Thanks to Staples for getting us some great seats, and setting me up for what will probably be my photo of the year:

And what will probably be on my desk by the end of this week: