First light

A couple of new arrivals in Dorset today – a cardiologist from Turin, Italy (the local cooking moves up another notch), and a replacement camera for the venerable HX9V.  I’d wanted to reward myself using a bit of my Cambridge teaching fee, and had been studying the alternatives for a month with a friend, well versed in photography (and also Italian).  John Lewis had a fabulous sale on the unit I wanted over Easter, so the Click and Collect was done.

The a5100 is an interchangeable-lens camera, shy of being a full mirrorless DSLR. It has a lot of opportunities for manual control that my old point-and-shoot lacked, and much better lenses and processing. 

The improvement is obvious: old on the left, new on the right.

     

So far, I like the way it picks up the effects of mist and light in the distance, the sharp detail, and the warm vivid colours.  It will take a lot of time studying the manual and completing my course to really use it well, but I’m looking forward to upgrading my game.