New Toy

After reading multiple reviews and pondering over a new camera purchase, I finally made up my mind this past weekend. It took a while and up until the final click to purchase, I was unsure of my decision. I know, I know, it's just a stupid point and shoot, but I had my Nikon for about 6 years and had done very little research on new developments. My findings? There are a lot of cameras and a lot of opinions. I was initially inclined to just get the newer model of the Nikon I had before, since it took pretty good photos and I had no problems with it (other than all of the screws eventually falling out). However, the reviews on photo quality were mediocre and so I decided to dig a little further.

As I said, after hours of internet surfing and a lot of pondering, I decided on the Panasonic Lumix for two reasons: it got outstanding reviews overall for being a very versatile camera, and it has a Leica lens. If I learned nothing else from my photography class in college, I came away truly understanding the meaning of fine handcrafted German precision when I developed my first roll of film taken with my professor's 1940s Leica. The only compromise is the camera's size, which isn't as compact as some of the point and shoot cameras on the market right now, but it certainly isn't huge either. Realistically, Jesse and I would probably destroy a camera the size of a credit card anyway.

Judging from the test shots that I've taken so far I think I made the right decision -- or maybe I could have just upgraded to anything other than my 6-year-old Nikon and been happy. Either way, I have a couple of cooking projects going on tomorrow and a trip to Tillamook this weekend with Jesse's parents to really put it to the test.