At Christmas we brought a new digital camera with some money we were given. We’ve moved from using a Canon Powershot G6 to a Fuji Finepix AV250. This blog post covers my experiences with the Powershot G6 over the years and getting used to the new AV250.
Canon Powershot G6
It is a great camera and only since I’ve got the new camera have I realised how forgiving the Powershot was with regard to my photo skills! The more light the better the photo, but the size of the lens did help, as did other factors, even if the iso on this camera wasn’t as high as I would have liked. I’ve taken many great photos with this camera, not because of my ability, but because I was in the right place at the right moment, tried to stay still and have reasonable light, then the camera did the rest.
Canon Powershot G6
However I’ve also struggled in low light situations with the Powershot G6, especially indoors and deleted countless photos that didn’t come out right. I didn’t want to invest in an additional flash or in some instances build light boxes, I just want to point and click.
The ability to change the lens on the Powershot was nice though, and the ability to change lens shouldn’t be underestimated, and can hugely widen a camera’s abilities, but I rarely changed the lens, as I didn’t want to carry them with me or take the time to change them.
Photo taken with a Canon Powershot G6 camera
I have two rechargeable batteries for the camera and the original battery still works well to this day, even though I’ve heavily used it.
The ability to record 30 second 640x videos was a nice feature which I’ve used countless times. I’ve uploaded over 300 hundred YouTube videos made with the Powershot G6. Sometimes I’ve merged the photos and videos together, but usually I just upload the 30 second clip. However during 2011 I found I wanted to move beyond 30 second video clips and jump onto the HD bandwagon, even if only at the lower levels.
I used to use the Hugin software to stitch photos together for large panoramas, and every so often clarify or sharpen an image using ‘Paint Shop Pro’. In the end I decided I didn’t want to invest in this camera, instead of buying more lens, I wanted to use that money to buy a new camera with more features in-built. I realised I need a cheaper camera, that had a wider range of options and yes a few modern touches. I’m still going to use the camera, but not as often.
The Fujifilm Finepix AV250
The Finepix AV250 is our new camera and I’ve not read the manual which I guess hasn’t helped my teething problems with the budget camera, some of which I will mention below.
Fujifilm Finepix AV250
I’ve already come to not trust the auto modes for choosing the right camera mode for the photo setting. i.e. day, night, flash etc. I’m currently undertaking a photo per day project, and yesterday all my outside photos looked awful. It is my own fault as I’m still getting used to the camera.
I’ve selected the highest quality settings for photos and videos, but I’ve noticed the default Jpeg compression being used for photographs is too high, which I must change shortly. Though I’m quite liking the widescreen option for photos and videos.
The batteries that came with the camera have been used incredibly quickly, luckily I’ve invested in some rechargeable AA batteries to use, and I’ve been carrying around additional spare batteries as I find I use the battery loose charge quickly, especially when videoing.
Photo taken with a Fujifilm Finepix AV250
I’ve been using a 2GB SD card with the camera, but am glad I’ve got a 8GB SDHC card on the way, though I now realise I should of brought a 16 or 32GB card as I like to take videos, which currently is my favourite feature of the camera. I’m very impressed with the video quality, and as I didn’t want to carry around a separate device for videos, this camera meets my requirements for short video clips.
The camera is light and incredibly small and I’ve taken to calling the camera bag I brought GI Joe’s backpack, which I brought separately as the camera didn’t come with a SD card or bag. The camera easily can fit into my coat pocket or doesn’t take up much room in a backpack. Walking along I don’t notice its presence.
When you hit the power button the shutter opens and the lens extends extremely quickly, which is fantastic in those moments when you need to quickly take a photo. This camera doesn’t allow changeable lens, unlike my old camera, but then the Finepix AV250 is small and light, which fits my requirements more.
There are options such as taking photos of fine text, which I’m sure any budding James Bond would appreciate, but it is the ‘flower’ mode which takes macro images which ultimately might become my favourite feature, or at least for a while, as I’ve been looking forward to capturing the finer detail in close up photos.
Whereas every so often I would ‘clarify’ or ‘sharpen’ images with the Powershot G6, I’m not doing this with photos from the Finepix AV250 as the photos I do like, already look incredibly sharp, if I’ve used the right mode.
So basically it is early days with my use of the Finepix AV250. I know it was a good investment for a budget camera, but also I need to sit down and read the manual, look at the photo quality and when possible manually set the camera mode. Then I really will be able to maximise the use of the camera.
In the future I will write a new post about my experiences with the Finepix AV250 and I look forward to spending time getting to know how to properly use this camera.
So whilst I enjoy using the Canon Powershot G6, I’m glad we’ve now brought the Fujifilm Finepix AV250, even with my current teething problems. I’m not going to dispose of the Powershot G6 as it is still a good camera, but for carrying a camera around for quick point and click photos, and recording short HD video clips, the Finepix will be my camera of choice on a budget.
I realised I need a cheaper camera, that had a wider range of options and yes a few modern touches.