Bag your camera

The other day I noticed decent point and shoot with a cracked screen. I had to help my wife get her camera out of her purse. If you are going to spend 100 or more on a camera be sure to take the time to get a new camera bag. The bag is not just about carrying the camera it is to protect the camera. It keeps it cooler in the car ( if it is out of direct sunlight) and protects it from the bumps and dings you get with it bouncing around in your purse or pocket. Most digital cameras will give years of great service. IF you take care of them. Don't let them get too hot or too cold. Keep them away from dust, pocket trash or other items that can scratch or damage the camera. Keep them dry. A good camera bag is the best way to do this.

I have been resarching various DSLR bags for my nikon. As the current bag, that has performed well no longer holds my all my stuff. I have found several possiblities and in the process have identified a few companies that seem to have the edge over the competition. Lowepro is a good bag with several good options they make bags for all levels of cameras, and they are competitevely priced. Best buy, and Columbia Photo have a good selection of these bags.

Kata has great ratings. IT is the bag I chose because it has options of a back pack, or either a left or right shoulder sling bag. It will also hold all my stuff. I can't wait to get it. Kata has great ratings. I will let you know more. Unfortunatley they are not available in the Columbia area.

My current bag is Tamrac bag. I have had it for 3 years and it has performed flawlessly. It is still in great shape. In fact I will be selling my current bag when my new one gets in. Columbia Photo carries Tamrac bags.... Check them out.

The real story is that if you go to all the trouble to find a great camera that meets your needs take a few more minutes and a few more dollars to get a great bag to keep it protected. Just because your point and shoot will fit into your pocket doesn't mean you will get the logest service from it by doing so.... Bag your camera now..

Stein em Rhein

May have mispelled the name of the town... I took this last year on a bike ride in Europe, have been looking at the picture for some time and now it is a new addition to my portfolio. This community is over 600 years old...

Photo Excursion

Saturday October 24 beginning at 8:30 am and ending at 3:30 pm I am offering a day of taking pictures in and around Columbia, I will
Help you learn to use Your camera to get great pictures,
Help you learn to look for the type of pictures you want to do whether it be family shots or art shots.
We will be in Down Town Columbia, and on the Katy trail.....
The focus is to help YOU take better pictures,
The Costs is $85 for the day... IF we have 5 or more sign up we will vote on the best picture for the day and that person will get a $100 cash prize. Sign up today the group size is limited to 10 people. Email me and I will send you a registration form.... stanley.jack@gmail.com

Sensual Plants

In August I was checking on the work completed by a contractor at a Condo I manage for a family that lives out of town. The neighbor had this very interesting small planter in the front of her condo. The day was overcast day and a fun shot. I took three shots total. I can't totally explain the sensual part, but as I took the picture it had a sensual sensation. So the name "Sensual Plants". I will have only 125 prints avialable, wonder who will be the first to purchase one. Let me know.

Jack Stanley

Fall Photo Excursion

For the first 10 to sign up, I am offering "It is Not the Camera" photo excursion taking pictures of the fall Colors the second and/or third weekend in October. The event will be in and around Columbia, Point and Shoot Cameras are great for this event. The class is hands on, taking pictures using your camera with help from Jack. Sign up today, The cost of the class is $95 per person...We will have some fun, and learn a lot. I suspect we will end the day at a winery in the area to look at the pictures we have gotten....The person with the best shot will win $100.

Look forward to seeing you...

Photo Excursions

The last few art shows I have participated, I have found a real desire to learn to get better pictures. In the Zona Rosa Show I spoke with over 100 people interested in getting better pictures. Some thought they needed new camera's. In almost every case it is not the camera it is the use. So I will be scheduling some "It is Not The Camera" photo excursions for groups up to 10 people. The goal will be to group people that have similar goals. For example, if you want better pictures of your kids or grand kids, we would have a day of hands on taking candid shots of kids and people with different lighting and I would teach you to use your camera to get the best possible shot. OR if you want great scene shots or sun set or sun rise we would work a group. And then I suspect we should look at a 10 day photo excursion to Italy.

The one day excursion will be $95 per person, I will hold one in St. Louis, Columbia, and Kansas City, possibly Chicago. If you are interested let me know soon. The Fall Colors could be a great excursion in the next couple of weeks...

Jack ....

The Polorad Swinger

The Polorad Swinger.
When I was 15 I purchased a Polarad Swinger, it was $19.95 which sounds cheap today, at that time I was working for $1.00 per hour. (1968). It was the beginning of my love of photography. I traveled around the highschool hangouts and took pictures., Mostly candid shots of friends and acqaintances, my friends liked the shots for the most part and I began for the first time to consider taking pictures. For those of you who are younger the Swinger was a black and white camera. The original swinger did a print about 2.5x3 inches. And the print developed instantly on the paper. For me, the camera represented more than just taking pictures, it quickly became my itentity point with many acquaintences. To the point that in just a few weeks of using my Swinger, when we had the Year Book Staff meeting, I was elected to be the yearbook photographer. A huge step for me in that it put me in contact with M. Geary our highschool English teacher, who came from a family of photographers. I will talk more about that relationship in future blogs. The point is that this $19 dollar investment, sparked an interest, that has followed me all my life so far, specifically for 41 years. Each level I have moved up has engendered a greater love for what I can capture with the camera. And the range of expression it allows me to share a part of how I see the world with the people around me. The Polorad Swinger. The beginning of one of my life long passions....

Dreaming about Pictures

There seems to be a dry spell in finding or seeing photographs I actually like. I am sure it is my camera simply not taking good pictures. Or is it my own perception. At any given time taking good pictures is certainly effected by the equipment (about 10%) and 90% based on your perception and attitude. I find that to be true and false. To take a good picture you have to see it as you take it. Or see the potential, this requires an open mind. It does not require a specific mood. For example if you are in a down mood take pictures, you may come up with a poignant result., if you are up take pictures, you may well find a product that is up lifting. If you enjoy finding just the right picture, it requires two things, 1. pick up the camera, 2. take time to look for and take pictures. These are the two things I have not done enough lately. And the sole reason I have not found the pictures I want. So today I will pick up my camera and shoot. How about you?

Art Shows..

I am preparing for the fall round of art shows. It would be most helpful if you checked my website and posted in the comments your favorite pictures, that is the ones you would be most likley to want on your wall. I am trying to reduce my work to only the very best.. If you don't like anything comment on that as well. www.jackartphotography.com

Computers

I have had a couple of questions about computers specifically the new net books. I am not a computer expert and yet I am still a geek. My youngest son is an IT guy so I guess this qualifies me somewhat.

If you are considering the net books keep a couple of things in mind. They are not just smaller lap tops. They are net books. Many have limited memory and limited computing capability. They will run some basic software (if there is enough memory) however they will be slow. So here goes.

There are two types of drives available. Flash drives (built in) usually under 50gb drives they are solid state, no moving parts. These are lighter and smaller than the ones with a regular hard drive. The response time is a bit faster, but I haven't been convinced it is worth the extra money.

The other drive is a regular hard drive like in many lap tops. These will have more memory, be slightly slower in response time and usually are cheaper.

I have a Dell net book purchased from Sams for around $300. I tried to work with Out Look through a vpn and it was ardously slow. It works much better accessing email via web mail. This seems to be true of all the net books (as my son says "hence the name net book") It handles word processing and basic features ok yet slow. My computer has a 160 gb hard drive. Which is very handy.

The coolest one I have seen so far is the Sony net book. very small very cool and very expensive (around $900)

Battery Life : be sure to check the battery life of what ever computer you are considering a good measure should be about 2.5 hours or longer. Some of the net books with flash drives have a very long battery life.


So what do net books have to do with photography. As I travel I find my net book is excellent for additional storage, and viewing of files, (raw is a problem yet) and connecting to the web and email. That is about it. It is also light and easy to carry. I can view and edit files and it is a useful tool.

I have not heard favorable things about the Acer net books, but have heard good reviews of most of the HP, Sony, Dell ect.

My basic advice would be unless you absolutely need a net book don't, the current deals on lap tops are great. HP, Sony and Toshiba make some pretty good lap tops or notebook computers for around $600 and they are much faster and more versitile, and yes a bit heaver.. I would go with a minimum of 3mb ram, Core 2 duo processor, preferably intel, and the size screen that best fits you. Comp USA has some good deals on both net books and laptops. Don't get carried away with High Defninition laptops unless you are gaming or watching a lot of movies, for most work applications the High Definition is not necessary. The other good thing about a full lap top is you can run Photoshop on them and fully edit on the move.

As for operating systems, Be sure what ever you buy will allow you to up grade to Windows 7 when it is released. I am working on a pre released version of windows 7 as I write and will tell you it is much more stable than Vista ever could be. Windows 7 should be released in September. If you don't want to bother with upgrading later you could wait until then to get a computer with windows 7 already loaded.

Disclaimer, I have purchased 100's of comtputers for my former company over the last 15 years. I have opinions but they are mine. If you note I have trouble with the gb and mb designations. One is for hard drives and the other is for the ram. I never get those quite right. In a net book you need at least 1 gb of ram.... I hope this helps.....

Jack

At a recent art show, I had an early visitor. A man and his son about 8-9 years old. He was looking at my display and pulled the print below out. He looked at it intently for a bit and then asked me to tell his son what this was about. He had tears in his eyes and his voice was broken. I explained that in war sometimes soldiers died and lost their dog tags and we did not know who they were. This tomb is to honor those soldiers who are not identifiable, and the guard who gards to tomb to show honor to this soldier is unknow since his back is to us and the child's hands is unknown. And I hoped that child would not have to see or make such a sacrifice. The man asked me how much, and handed me the money for the print. I thanked him as I wiped the tears from my eyes and was thankful for the opportunity to take such a shot.

Jack
UnKnown....

I find it interesting that in different shows what pictures seem to attract the most attention. The
Artist's Brain I started showing a couple of years ago has suddenly picked up popularity. It is a fun picture , did while visiting Branson at Christmas time a couple of years ago. When I saw the lit wreath in the tree I knew what I wanted to do with it. I was discouraged with the print as the first several times I displayed it, I saw no response and no sales. And now since last fall it has continued to increase in popularity. So here it is......


The Artist's Brain
copyrite 2005
Jack Stanley
Let me know what you think. And if you like order one for your self, It is a fun colorful picture for almost any wall...

Jack

Looking Large Lately?

I have added a couple of printers to my arsenal. An Epson 4000 professional printing archival, photo quality images up to 17 inches wide. And an Epson 7600 printing archival, photo quality images up to 24 inches wide. So when you look on line at my photos at Jack Art Photography you know you can order larger sizes. OR if you have taken a picture you want in a larger size I can do it. I can do it on Gloss, Semi Gloss, Canvass, Velvet Art Paper and more.... let me know.



Jack

Kodak Camera's

I was in Best Buy today and the Kodak rep was there demonstrating the new line of Kodak point and shoots. They have some interesting features. The one that stood out to me is the feature that automatically moves the camera from Macro, to scene to portriate with no input from the user. Certainly interesting. I also noticed there was some issues with accuracy in focus, HOWEVER since I shot only4 shots with the camera I can't say if that is a consistent issue or not. For the money there seems to be a good value, it is a pvc case, (not metal like many others) If I had a teen, or person not very tech saavy looking for a camera, I would sugget this as a beginner camera. Check out the line, at this point I am recommending as a fun, less expensive limited possiblity, for the very occasional user. Next time I will try to do a recommendation with more qualifiers on it.

Sunny Days Not always necessary,

Sunny days often give photographers a tinge of excitement. The bright light and good contrasts are great on a sunny day. Except. As I pointed out in an earlier blog, that flowers are often best photographed on cloudy or with out direct sunlight. Or as in the picture below.

This was taken in St. Louis Missouri, at an old church. The contrast is smooth not a distinctive as on a sunny day, the tones are solid as well. The day was overcast and just before a rain shower. I was frustrated because I had made the trip (120 miles) and it was overcast. On that trip I got this picture, one of my favorites. It was shot with available light. Thank goodness for image stabilization. So go out into the overcast day. You never know what you may find. Sometimes overcast is a good time to shoot.

Camera's again

Once again I was in a store tonight and saw someone looking at a digital slr and not really needing one. The point is for 99% of what you may want to do photographically (unless you are working at a professional level) can be done with a good point and shoot. Nikon has some new ones that have an 18x zoom image stabilzation and even one with 24 x zoom. Sony Nikon and Canon have some great point and shoot camera's that will do most anything you want. The 8 and 10 megapixel camera's will easily produce a 16 x 20 and even larger. To get a digital SLR camera with the range of lenses that the newer point and shoots have would easily cost in the thousands of dollars. So if you are thinking you need a new digital SLR please take some time and identify what you want to do with it. Then look carefully you may find a 300 point and shoot will do more than you ever imagined. Ask me if you have any questions...

Tempe AZ./ Art in the Park Columbia, MO

I just returned from the Tempe Festival of the Arts, and it was a great show. I found even Southwesterners liked my stuff. I drove out, 21 hours, and set up and completed the 3 day show and drove back. Thousands of people, lots of lookers. A great show.
My next show will be in Art in the Park in Columbia, I am going to have some of my older stuff priced very reasonably and introduce several new peices. Be sure to check it out in June. Of course I have my art available on www.jackartphotography.com.... Thanks to those of you in the Temp/Phoenix area that purchased my work. I hope to hear more from you soon.

Jack

Two Doors and a Window

Hey a new picture. I took it on a trip to Fayetteville, AR. It is one of the simple ones that I like the feel and texture... I printed it on water color paper. Just feels good to me. Two Doors and a Window. If you like it you can order it from my website http://www.jackartphotography.com/

Photo Safari

I am considering a photo safari, possibly to the Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, on this trip I would have up to 12 people that would like to learn to use their camera's better. The cost would be in the 20-30 dollar rage... Woul any of you be interested in a photo day with training?

New Photograph Angel Moon.

When I go to take pictures, I slow down. I start looking at things people and details. I take a lot of time in a relatively small area. In August of 2008 I was working in Fayetteville, Arkansas. I spent my evenings taking pictures. This Angel was found on a 1957 Jeep. A fantastic hood orniment. The light (moon) was in the right just a position to achieve the shot. It took a few tries to get the shot just right. I used an indirect flash on this one, others you will see soon were taken with a flash light. I have it placed in a mat to give you a better idea of how it might look in your world... If you like you can order from www.Jackartphotography.com or email me at stanley.jack@gmail.com

Taking Pictures of flowers

Taking Pictures of Flowers is Probably not the best winter topic, but I am getting ready to do a class for a gardening group on how to take pictures of their flowers. So I thought in preparation I would write an entry about the subject. There are several aspects to taking pictures of flowers. The first is focus. Each camera is a little different, however you will want to use the one or two point or center balanced focus setting on your camera. I would also choose the vivid selection and set the light balance to auto.

Flowers are generally best shot in diffused light, rather than direct sunlight. Direct sunlight can dilute the colors and the details of your flower.

You can wait until a cloudy day or you can use wax paper to diffuse the sunlight if you need, by holding a sheet of it above the flower, making a shadow. Be sure the shadow covers the whole frame of the picture.

The picture to the right shows several common mistakes. First, the shadow is not covering the whole picture, then the bright sunlight reduces the ability to capture the texture of the flower and finally the back ground is not difussed and distracts from the picture. So this one is a reject.

BACKGROUND: If the back ground is too busy or detailed as noted in the picture above, it will detract from the focus on the flower. You can accomplish blurring the background with a wide or more open f stop (if you can control the f stop). If you have a digital camera that is more automatic, then you can focus as close to the flower as possible, making the focus range tight.

If you want to get even closer, then use your zoom. Every zoom has a minimum focus range. You are looking for the most zoom and as close to the subject as possible; most cameras will blur the background with this setting. The picture below was captured with the zoom- note the background is several feet from the flower and reasonably blurred, making the flower stand out.

Macro: Usually you do not need to use your macro setting to get a good flower shot, unless you want only a portion of the flower. I will discuss the use of the macro in another entry.

FLASH: Sometimes using a flash even on a bright day will darken the area around the flower reducing the background distraction.

Another way to control the back ground is to use some black masking paper several inches behind the flower. Be sure it covers the entire back ground and is slightly blurred in your focus. If done correctly your flower will stand out very well from the background.

Since I am writing this for a wide range of camera users, keep in mind some of the techiques will not work with every camera. The trick is to experiment with your camera. Many digital cameras have a flower or close up setting. I do not use this setting; I prefer the camera setting usually signified with the "camera" icon. With a point and shoot, I would use the auto setting for the white balance, shoot in the highest jpeg or tiff resolution possible, with jpeg it is usually called "fine". Then shoot the picture.

BREAKING THE RULES:The picure to the right was taken in very bright sunlight. I did not get the detail, however I did achieve a the effect I wanted. So even breaking the rules can be o.k. This is one of my favorites, and has been a popular one for my clients as well.

Taking a picture with the back ground in focus can be a good shot as well. It can set a wider tone and mood. It may take a few tries to get the picture you want. The picture below was done in Hawaii, and keeping the background in focus gave it a real sense of the natural setting of the flower. Yes I broke the rules...

The Picture above was shot in bright light with the shade of the woods behind the flower garden making the background dark.

What Kind of Camera: One of the most common questions I hear is what kind of camera should I use. Some of the pictures above were shot with a 5 megapixel point and shoot and some were shot with a $2000 digital SLR. Can you tell what camera was used?

One more thing: If you like any of the pictures and would like them for your walls let me know. stanley.jack@gmail.com.

copyrite 2009

Some Cool Camera's To Consider

Some Cool Camera’s

I am going to discuss some camera’s in price ranges from 100 dollars up to 400 dollars. These are good cameras but certainly not the only good ones out there. As I said I am partial to the Sony point an Shoot camera’s. You will find Nikon and Canon’s with similar features and prices. Most will serve you well. These are the three brands I would recommend. Many other companies have a good camera model but Nikon, Sony and Canon, have great cameras.

Sony Cybershot H50 Priced between $325 and $399

It is a full featured point and shoot. It touts the Smile Shutter technology that will automatically take the picture when the subject smiles. It also has face detection and will balance the focus on up to 8 faces. It is for the serious amateur or someone who just loves to take pictures. Unless you just want a digital SLR, this camera will do more than 99% of the population would ever use. This is a great camera, if you use your camera a lot and want great shots. You certainly will need to read the manual a couple of times to get the full benefit of the H50. And prepare for a Learning Curve for special situations. Check out the rest of the specs below.

Sony H50 Specifications
9.1 Megapixels
15x Optical Zoom / up to 81x digital Zoom
Smile shutter, face detection, intelligent scene recognition and Double AntiBlur
Solution.
Optical Image Stabilization
MPEG1 Movie Mode
Multi-pattern, Center-weighted, Spot Exposure Modes
80-3200 ISO Levels
JPEG File Formats
3-inch LCD
MS Duo / MS PRO Duo Storage Media (plus 15MB internal capacity)
Proprietary Lithium Ion rechargeable

The Sony Cyber Shot H10 Price $185-279

My wife owns this camera and uses it for her real estate business. She tried a couple of other cameras that did not fill the bill like the H10. Kim is a point and shoot diva. She does not like fiddling around with the camera, just wants great shots. The H10 had Delivered that. This camera has Optical stabilization like it’s big Brother the H50. It also has a digital range optimizer that tones down the highlights and brightens the dark areas, which gives you a very even tone. The H10 has the face detection, but you will have to catch the smile yourself.
If you want a little more challenge, this camera had a manual mode to allow you full manual control, if you want choose your own settings. This is a solid choice, for some one who uses their camera regularly. It is a lot of camera for the money.

Sony H10 Specifications
8.1 megapixels
10x optical zoom / 2x digital zoom
Optical Image Stabilization
30fps movie mode with sound
Auto and manual exposure
Auto focus
3.0-inch LCD screen
Memory Stick Duo and Pro Duo storage (with 31mb internal memory)
Lithium-ion battery pack

Sony Cybershot S750 price $99-160

The Sony Power Shot S750 is an entry level camera for anyone who wants to begin or continue taking digital photography. This camera is small and easy to carry (I would suggest a small case to protect the camera) in your purse or in a pocket. It has a 3x zoom which is pretty standard on this level of camera. And it has the added feature of face detection and a very decent ISO 1200 mode for lower light pictures. It is a good basic point and shoot and well worth the money if you are wanting a simple camera, easy to use and easy to carry.

Sony S750 Specifications
7.2 megapixels
3x optical zoom / 2x digital zoom
Face detection
ISO 1200 high sensitivity mode
30fps movie mode with sound
Auto exposure

Canon Powershot SD770 IS Price $145-190

The Canon Sd770 IS is a 10 megapixel camera, and like the Sony S750 it is very compact. You get a few more megapixels as this is a 10 megapixel camera. Canon’s lens-shift image stabilization, will provide a crisp picture, highly detailed, you will be pleased. It is a solid contender for the average point and shoot user. You won’t go wrong with this camera.

Canon SD770 IS Specifications
10 Megapixels
3x optical zoom / 4x digital zoom
Face detection auto-focus
Lens-shift Image Stabilization
Movie mode with sound
JPEG file format
ISO 80-1600
Auto and manual exposure
2.5-inch LCD monitor
Secure Digital card storage (32MB card included)
Lithium-ion battery

Regardless of the Camera you choose I would suggest you consider do you want a range finder to look into or are you o.k. with the screen. And what size screen works best for you. Once again let me know if you have any questions…

Jack

What is the Shutter Release Button For anyway?

Most of us think we point the camera and push the shutter release button and everything should be fine. What you may not realize is that on most digital camera's the shutter release has two functions. The shutter Release of course, and it is also for locking your focus. You get the scene you want and the focus you want press your shutter release 1/2 way down and hold it and crop your picture and then when you are ready press it the last 1/2 way down to take the picture. Pressing the shutter release 1/2 way down holds the focus you have achieved as long as you hold it partially down. This can save you the frustration of poorly focused pictures. Read your user manual carefully for better instructions.

A Quick Fun Idea

Something To Try:::
Take your digital camera, dis-able your flash. Then take a couple of flash lights and after dark try taking a picture using different flashlight, an LED often will give a blue hue etc. Be sure to hold your camera still or use a tripod. can be fun. You may see some purple fringing, or even some blur. Take it play with it and see what you create. Let me know what you get.

New pictures on my gallery site. We were biking in Germany in September and this was on the motel desk infront of the picture on the wall. I couldn't resist. Check the gallery site www.jackartphography.com/ say you saw it here and you can purchase this picture at a 20% discount. This picture is copywrited by Jack Art Photogrphy.

What Camera Should you Buy...

What Digital Camera Should you buy? Great Pictures are done by the person not the camera……

If you are a professional photographer looking for a camera, then this is not your article. This is intended for the average person who wants to take great photographs.
First Ask yourself…
What Am I going to do with the camera?
If you are taking family pictures, vacation pictures, and want an easy camera to use, there are several fine choices. Basically there are two or three things to consider. If you know these answers you can more easily choose a camera.

Size Matters. If you rarely enlarged your pictures beyond an 8x 10, you will be fine with anything 3 megapixels or more. If you don’t really use your camera often and only want the typical 4x6 then a less expensive point and shoot will be a good choice.

How Much Zoom? Zooming in allows you to get a closer picture without being closer. However, it can be challenging to find the right cropping and catch the picture on the fly. Most point and shoots will have a 3x zoom. Some will have 5 or 10x zoom. The larger the zoom typically the larger the camera needs to be to make room for the additional lens space needed. I like a 5-10x zoom. My son loves his 3x zoom.

How Often Will I use the Camera? If you use your camera only a couple times a year, consider a camera that uses disposable batteries, (never store your batteries in your camera). If you use your camera regularly, see the discussion about Lithium Ion Batteries below.

Now you have defined your use. Begin looking at camera’s

Point and Shoot cameras are not what they use to be, they do a lot more!! If I were purchasing a Point and Shoot I would look at the Sony, Canon and Nikon lines.

Zoom comes in two forms.
Optical zoom which is most clear and accurate and..
Digital Zoom, where the computer in the camera creates a zoom based on logarithms. Good but less clear and accurate.
Many cameras will have both. This is ok.
I would look at a minimum of a 3x zoom.

Built in Flash… absolutely necessary and a minimum requirement. For most people the flash built in the camera will be more than adequate.

Macro Setting, allows you to focus very close to an object. You may not be use to such a setting but once you have it (it is usually already there) you will find it a lot of fun to play with.

Camera Battery: Unless you only use your camera a couple of times a year, I would avoid cameras that use disposable batteries. For the more frequent user, Lithium Ion batteries are great. A Sony with a Lithium Ion Battery freshly charged can take a couple hundred jpeg pictures on a charge, usually about ½ that if you are using the flash.

Some Great Cameras are available from Sony, Canon and Nikon. For point and shoot my personal favorite is Sony. My wife has the Sony H10 which is a great camera for almost everyone. It costs between $199 and $299.
For $99 to $200 you can find a great point and shoot with a 3-5X zoom in either of the above brands.
Today’s digital cameras can handle a wide range of photography and situations. Do not let someone talk you into more camera than you need.
Next Time we will talk about Digital SLR’s…. Jack