Gizmo’s & Gadgets

Hello all!

As you might have read/noticed, I will not only be sharing my travel stories here (and stories that inspire me to travel to places), but also pictures and video’s. And I wanted to share with you which gizmo’s and gadgets I use. I would love to use professional stuff, but it is too expensive for me with my usage. The camera’s I use are good and were not cheap to say the least, but they are getting a bit outdated. So, as I have written about here on this blog, I am looking for a new (not too expensive) camera that can both make great shots and do awesome video’s.

But until I have the money to order the camera, I will have to make do with the ones I have. And of course the older travel stories (the ones I am able to share with you now) are all captured by use of these older camera’s (or even their predecessors).

I have bought a Sony Handycam back in Januari 2002. It was one of the first camera’s that also supported the Sony memory stick. If I remember what I paid back then for 128mb, WOW haha! I believe I paid almost 1200 Euro for the camera, 128mb memory stick and a Lowepro bag. Amazing… But I have used the camera on many occasions and it never let me down. But now, when all goes to HD, I guess filming with a 640*480 resolution on MiniDV tapes is kinda old fashioned… The model type is named: DCR-PC110e. If you click on the link, it will take you to an external site with info on the camera.

My digital SLR camera is a Minolta Dynax 5D (again click the link for an external site with a review). I first had a 35mm Dynax 5, but I saved and bought a digital body upgrade: from 5 to 5D. The Dynax 5 already came with two lenses: 28mm – 80mm and 75mm – 300mm. I really love the quality of the pictures it takes. It can be quite a job to take the lenses and all, and change them rapidly when needed. Minolta doesn’t exist anymore, but my model camera lives on in the Sony A series; since Sony bought Minolta).

I also have a small digital camera that easily fits into my pocket (because a SLR won’t be able to fit there!). It’s a Sony (as well). It is a DSC-W90. It makes good pictures and it’s movies are (for a pocket camera) not bad at all. But still, it’s only an add-on to the big one. Easy to use, easy to carry. But when I bought a small Fujifilm camera that would allow me to make pictures and movies under water (see below), I have decided to give this camera to my mum. Now she has a camera of her own and I know it’s an easy to use one which will provide her with some nice pictures in the (near) future.

I had my eye on a Nikon P500.So I saved up and bought it. I wrote a small blog including my first impressions. I will have to try it out in more circumstances to make a real ideal post, but well, check this link to read about the first real ups and downs of the Nikon Coolpix P500.
For outside photography, I love this camera. It handles itself really good, plus it’s not too heavy to carry about with you. Inside, you can still make good pictures. But when you can’t use flash and the subject keeps moving, you’re better off with a DSLR camera.

My latest addition: the Fujifilm FinePix XP30. If I’d be honest, I would have rather bought the Nikon Coolpix AW100. But it was over €100 more expensive and unfortunately I had to time to save more money… I wanted to take an under water camera with me on vacation to Center Parcs so I had to buy it before departure.
I wrote a small review about the camera here.