camera change

another page i do:
http://slavonicquijote.blogspot.com/
is currently more of a foto journal.

I am now on my 3rd digital camera. The first one, i bought from a friend's brother, and it came with a bunch of junk, which i never used.  Its pictures were 1536 x 2048. It had two set zooms. It eats two AA batteries. I am out of practice with it. It had some utility, but it seemed deficient.

I wanted a bit better of a camera, that, i could still place in my pocket. It served me fairly well. Its pictures were 3000 x 4000 and had 10x optical zoom. It was slow to focus. I could often take 300+ shots before the lithium battery needed charging. Recently, i went to a rare outside drinking water fountain and it fell from my pocket, disabling its lcd viewing screen. If it had a a real view finder, i'd be fine. I then needed a new camera, and got one.

This is not a pocket camera, only because the lens is long.  It is not changeable, so the price was not steep. This one is 3456 x 4608 and has a 30x optical zoom. It is a much faster camera. First time out, after 80 pictures, the battery conked out*. This camera came with instructions [pdf], the last one had a disc which functioned mostly to get prints of fotos to be made. I have not gotten to the instructions yet.

The zoom has proved interesting. I took a dozen shots of an indigo bunting, and not one was satisfactory. Five shots the little fellow was in tall grass and vines, one wee tendril was in front of him. I did not visually notice the tendril, the camera did. Whilst the second camera would focus on the nearest object in sight, this one auto focuses at its will.  One has to isolate one's subject. I shot at a distant bird using the digital zoom, i thought it a kingfisher. [Another digression, Cleveland is an urban area, but there are near pockets of wild, natural diversity. There are birds here, beyond the sparrows and starlings in your backyard and the occasional flocks of pigeons downtown, and about abandoned factories.] The foto showed yes it was, but a grainy foto. I can increase the range of my picture, but still need to account of similar limitations. I have to wonder how one balances an 18" lens.

I was at the Latin cathedral in Cleveland to-day [who is writing the prayers of petition?, very politically imperial sounding], and i quickly snapped at four stained glass windows, making no adjustments. It was grey outside. On a near shot, perfect; on three distant ones two were slightly unsteady, and therefore, fuzzy. The light level was good. With the lens extended, i will have to be very steady.

Again, there will be some pictures i can take, and some i will not be able to. 
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*Postscriptum 7 July 2013: Since then, i have taken the camera to near 200 shots without the battery failing. Perhaps with less telescoping, and waiting for birds, the shot count is higher. Still, backup is prudent.