Photography has always been an exhilarating and captivating experience for me. Albeit, an expensive one. A hobby that, time and again, would burn a big 'chedh' in my pocket, rendering me impecunious - until my next pay check.
Whoever invented photography probably never lived long enough to click more than a few on his own, that’s the impression I get (blinded by circumstantial evidence, I suppose). At least that would have made the inventor realize how expensive owning and using his creation was. But, what an ingenious way to relive memories!
Purchasing a decent camera is not an end in itself, as I found to my utter chagrin. At most, it is only a means to an end. The end is never in sight, though. Purchasing film, shooting, developing and printing copies, and opting for more prints are amongst a few of the inevitable but unthrifty acts to follow. And the cycle resumes all too quickly which does nothing to soothe my poor frayed nerves.
I graduated from compact ‘aim and shoot cameras’ to auto-focus cameras, and to the outrageously expensive SLR (Single Lens Reflex) cameras. My previous camera was a Minolta 5000 SLRwhich came with a programmed dedicated flash, two separate auto focus zoom lens and a paraphernalia of other accessories. It set me back by a cool forty grand. The results were stunning, but expensive. It was a power hungry camera and I needed a constant supply of expensive lithium batteries.
The M 5000 was pretty complicated and nobody in my family could operate it. I constantly found myself behind the camera and seldom in front of it. I began getting offers from my friends and relatives to be their official photographer in celebrative occasions ranging from birthday parties to weddings to anniversaries to …aw … forget it.
Then came the digital era…the advent of the digital camera soon changed things…for the worse, at least for me financially.. Now, I needed a digital camera to shoot pictures at short notice, it didn’t require a film, and also to send photos to my relatives across the world. I started looking for a decent digital camera which would complement my already existing M 5000. Three years ago, I was impressed by the Sony DSC P72 which was just launched. It was quite expensive at that time, close to 20 grand (prices have since come down) when I bought my piece from a customs notified shop which I frequent regularly.
SPECIFICATIONS- do you really need them?
Warranty Parts : 12 Months. Warranty Labor : 3 Months
Camera style : Point and Shoot: All you need is look into the LCD display, compose the picture, and shoot. Alternatively, you can switch off the LCD display to save power and use the view finder to shoot. But the view is not accurate as the picture you see is not through the lens.
Included software : Pixela Image Mixer for Sony v1.5. This software is okay but not much to write about. If you have Adobe Photshop, or Corel's Photo Paint, then you will find it much more satisfying to edit the image.
Direct to TV : Yes, this is useful to watch video though mostly I tend to watch it on my PC itself.
USB Driver SPVD-008: For connecting it to the PC
Resolution : 3-4 mega pixels, enough for most requirements.
LCD screen size : 1.5'' very sharp and bright Active Matrix (TFT) LCD display for viewing as well as reviewing photos you have taken.
Included memory : 16MB not enough, I had to buy 128MB stick separately. You need 256MB if you want to record MPEG video of reasonable length.
Type of memory storage : Memory Stick This is Sony’s proprietary storage media, personally I would have been happy if Sony switches to the universal MMC or SD Card.
Zoom range : Comes with a world renowned high-quality precision optics Carl Zeiss lens for brilliant images. 3x optical, 6x digital zoom. I felt the optical zoom was sufficient for normal day to day photography. Don’t place too much emphasis on digital zoom, it is not good enough for photos.
Flash features : Auto, forced on, forced off, red-eye reduction on, red-eye reduction off, slow synchro
Self timer : Yes (10-second countdown) You got to have a tripod for using this feature, luckily I have one which I used with my M 5000 SLR Camera
PC system requirements : USB cable & driver for Windows 98/98SE/ME/2000 Professional/XP Home/Professional. I found my XP home edition recognizing it in no time and transfer of pictures to my PC was a breeze.
Mac system requirements : USB cable and driver for Macintosh OS 8.5.1/8.6/9.0/9.1/9.2 Haven’t tried it on a Mac.
Mega pixel effective CCD : 3.2. The greater the MP number, the greater the resolution and consequently the sharper the image. Up to 6” X 8” photo-size, 3.2 is quite sufficient. For larger size pictures you would need a higher pixel count for clarity. The latest cameras come with up to 8 MP resolution but they are expectedly quite expensive. And also, on the flip side, such high resolution pictures hog valuable memory space. I found my normal 4” X 6” size photos of excellent quality. The CCD stands for ‘Charge Coupled Device’ and is much better in performance than the cheaper CMOS ones. My advice is always go for CCD cameras.
Batteries required : 2 ‘AA’ Rechargeable 2100 ah NiMH batteries. These batteries have more power than Alkaline batteries but are more expensive. You need to keep a spare set fully recharged close to you. Because of the LCD display, the batteries tend to get drained out quickly.
Cost: Approximately Rs.16000/- I bought mine for Rs.21000/- but it was three years ago.
I consider myself a decent photographer but definitely have no pretensions to being a professional one. I believe in enjoying the journey and not worrying too much about the destination, most amateur photographers do that anyway.
The Sony DSC P72 is a camera which can be operated by anyone, I repeat anyone. It is really that easy to operate. For once, I like being in front of the camera as much as I love being behind it. I have in the past become so engrossed in ''getting the shot just right'' that I confess, I seldom enjoyed the experience of the shot. I was so preoccupied in getting the details and the final print exactly the way that I wanted that I missed the whole point, I failed to enjoy the moment - to ''see and experience'' the shot.
“Photography should be about experiencing a moment in time, the environment in which it was captured, and how it impacts us.” With my M 5000, I got too complicated and too technical. My Sony DSC P72 has taught me to relax and enjoy the experience of shooting pictures with the added confidence that I can always delete not so flattering pictures and go for a retake. The storage media, Sony Memory Stick, gives me just the freedom to shoot as I like without ever fearing about not getting the snap right. That’s the major advantage of a digital camera, I get to know the result immediately so I can decide whether a retake is in order or not.
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