I took this picture of Ellie the day after Scout died. Her cheerless disposition is not because she was mourning Scout’s passing, mind you, rather it’s the expression I usually get whenever I raise the camera to my face.
She was bored.
Ellie is happy-go-lucky to the core but I don’t have a lot of pictures that show it.
I love taking pictures of the pets but wish I took more. Certainly having one camera has been a limitation, especially since it is often set up for wildlife photography. But some of the shots I want to take are surprisingly demanding. Since I prefer not to use flash and the light levels are usually low, I like big sensors that work well in these conditions — I’d prefer even bigger than what I have now, but that gets expensive and very limited in options.
Fast lenses are nice, but image stabilization is a must. I want control over depth of field — for many of these shots I want more, not less — and image stabilization gives me more of that control without the cumbersome nature of a tripod.
My current camera, a traditional SLR, is pretty good with these things.
But I also want the camera to be completely silent and as unobtrusive as possible. And I want to shoot without holding the camera to my face, to keep the pets more engaged — and more natural — and articulating LCD screens are best.
The camera needs to be small so it’s readily at hand and easy to move about.
Fast autofocus is good, but accurate focus is better. Especially in low light, and with black fur. Close focus is also required for when the pets are on my lap.
Nothing out there does all of that, but there have been a number of interesting small cameras in the past year from the likes of Fuji and Sony and Olympus that are providing a quality alternative to the traditional SLR. I’ll stick with the SLR for wildlife shots, and maybe for everything else too, who knows.
Just casting my eyes about for now.
