I bought my first digital camera many, many years ago. It was the Casio QV-10A, and it was 1995 if my memory serves me correctly. It had a resolution of 320×240 pixels (so 0.25M) and internal storage that could hold 96 pictures (which wasn’t that bad). It had fixed focus, and a very basic zoom. At the time, it was state-of-the-art technology, and cost around £500.
As the years have gone by I’ve had a couple more cameras, the latest being a Sony Cybershot with a 5.1M resolution – 20x more than on that original Casio. Even my phone has a 5M resolution camera in it. A problem with the Sony was also with the zoom – 3x optical just doesn’t do it, and digital zoom is almost a complete waste of time.
As I’ve mentioned in the recent posts about the Rush Time Machine Tour, the Sony simply wasn’t cutting it at the concerts. To be honest, it never has, mainly because of its maximum ISO setting (and the zoom) results in blurring unless you are very lucky (i.e. both you and the target stand still for long enough for the exposure to occur, and something not likely at gigs). To be fair to it, it was fine outside and in good lighting – but that wasn’t my main requirement in a camera these days. With the Casio, I began creating photo-based SOPs at the Company of Clowns I wasted a huge chunk of my life working for – I was the first one there to do it, and it caught on big time – but I have never really been one for taking pictures of everything and everyone. I just like gadgets and putting them to value-creating uses.
I’d been planning on getting a good digital SLR at some point – one with a high ISO range – but the abject failure of the Sony at the Glasgow SECC Rush gig made me rethink my immediate plans. I had an hour between lessons, and nipped into PC World on last Sunday. I was looking specifically for resolution and optical zoom, and as I scanned across the range I was also attracted to the full HD video facility offered by the Panasonic Lumix TZ9 (12M and 12x optical zoom also did it for me). Plus, it was only £150 – I’d been ready to spend much more than that on an SLR.
I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get any decent pictures in time for the next Rush gig after I bought the Lumix (before I’d learnt how to use it). But I’d learnt a lot about basic photography from messing with the Sony and trying to squeeze the best I could out of it, and as it happens this came in really handly on the Lumix. A big plus was the ISO, which you can set manually up to 1600, but in the high-sensitivity setting it will go as high as 6400.
Having said that, the Lumix has loads more features. One I’m particularly anxious to try out is bracketing so I can do some HDR (high dynamic range) pictures. But if you’re looking for a reasonably priced camera with a high spec and which will take great gig pictures, this is it. You can see what it can do from the Rush gig reviews I’ve written.