Finally got myself a camera

[Gazza_DJ]

And i chose the Panasonic Lumix TZ3:

http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/PanasonicTZ3/images/TZ3k_main_450.jpg

DSLR's were tempting me, but i would never use it and end up getting a compact anyway! charging the battery now, cant wait to try it out :)

[aztec daz]

nice mate, heard good things about this little camera! How much did you pay if you dont mind me asking?

[Gazza_DJ]

errm, total was £180, as i did take 3 years accidental / new for old replacement and that. got it from work so they made it cheap ;)

i have a 1GB miniSD + adaptor for it atm, but i might just order a new card online, a higher speed 2GB card most likely!

[aztec daz]

good mate! get snapping away and upload some pics. Im going out tonight to try some long time exposure stuff with the car lights etc, so hopefully have some pics to upload 2moro

[Gazza_DJ]

what camera you got mate?

[aztec daz]

canon 400d only had it about 10 days, took some decent pics so far in my opinion, see the other thread in the photography section "glencoe...."
so many features and settings, im just getting the hang of some of them. Huge difference to any camera ive had before

[Gazza_DJ]

nice. I have had a play with one at work when it wasnt busy, theres so many features!

[miss_aprilia]

i need to use my camera more mines a comapct little samsung that was about what yours cost but no accident damnge or ought taken out got it from boots in the sale before my hols last year its only 5 mega pixel but it takes top pic i really should use it more!

[Gazza_DJ]

http://xs125.xs.to/xs125/08136/p1000028hires836.jpg

i took that with it, obviously it has had some photoshop treatment (black backround, which was basically a black backround layer, and then using the extract tool to extract my head, and neatened it up with the lasso and eraser, and then used one of the layer blending modes. and the desaturation and recolouring of eyes) but i think the quality of the photos are really good, well worth the monies :)

[aztec daz]

that picture looks really good mate, I would like to do something like that! how did you get the eyes soo blue? did you select them and change the colour balance?

[Gazza_DJ]

My eyes are very blue anyway, but the whole face has been darkened slightly by the layer blending mode (the name of it escapes me, as i literally made a black layer and scrolled through the blending modes and found that one) so it makes the blue look a lot deeper. i basically duplicated the layer, desaturated it, and used the eraser / lasso to delete the iris from the desaturated layer, allowing the blue to come through again.

[Keith Fusco]

That picture quality's pretty good for a compact camera!

[Gazza_DJ]

indeed, i was well impressed!

I can also do the long exposure shots with it as well - it has a 'starry sky' mode, and you can set the exposure time to 15s, 30s or 60s. i dont have a tripod at the moment though, so i cant really give it a go!

[Ace]

sweet nice pic...take some more..i might buy this cam too
this the one?
http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0603386964.120704965 1@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccehadedjieiilhcflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=034051&category_oid=-33706

[Gazza_DJ]

thats the one, you can get it cheaper from online stores only:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134638
http://www.purelygadgets.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=4567&wysiwyg=10

I got it from currys though because of staff discount, and so i could get the 3 years accidental cover / 21day repair or replacement.

I'll take some more when i pick up a Stienmetz grille on thursday ;)

[Ace]

yeh i can get it a 10% discount from currys too

[Gazza_DJ]

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e370/gazza_dj/800x600cat.jpg

hi-res: http://xs226.xs.to/xs226/08142/hirescat315.jpg

the exposure is a bit too high, as his fur is whited out a little, other than that i like this picture :D

[Ace]

sweet ill defo get that cam soooon!

[aztec daz]

yeah good pic mate!

[Gazza_DJ]

thanks :)

We are getting the Canon 450D in at work soon (12MP DSLR), cant wait to have a play with it when it comes in, the image quality is going to be simply fantastic!

[aztec daz]

ive had a shot, theres not a great difference to the 400d, only if printing larger than normal, still fantastic tho