[...] Scooby Doo's Mystery Machine | Travels with Children by minnemom Apr 17, 2009 … This look-alike of the Mystery Machine can sometimes be found driving the roads of Minnesota. [...]

Carm’s last blog post..When it Rains it Pours or I Watched Four Movies Last Weekend

Camera-wise, I probably do use my point-and-shoot most…but I do like taking the SLR out when we really want to concentrate on taking somewhere like at a waterfall. I can fiddle a bit with settings on my Pt-and-shoot, but if I really want to do something like slowing down the speed so I can get those silky water photos, the SLR it is. I like having both (and both of mine are Canons), but when I had to just take one camera on a trip, I compromised on a little Konica-Minolta (which they don’t make any more) -and- the point-and-shoot. Good thing, as this was our first time to Europe, and the display screen on the point-and-shoot camera broke the first day I was there…so I ended up using the Konica-Minolta compact digital the entire time.

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Thanks for the note.

The DSC-HX1 is 9.1M, 20x optical zoom, 3in display, does panoramas, records 1080 HD video, and crazy intelligent motion and detection technologies. The zoom and video are my favorites. Est price is $500.

Here’s the Sony page:
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665789079

http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/default.asp?newsID=3086

My kids have both gotten beyond the stage of diaper bags so I just stash my id, cell, etc in the pocket and it works well for most outings.

But as others have said, I think the most important thing is basic skills (especially awareness of lighting and composition) and honing your “eye” to frame and capture good shots. Seems like you are getting some pretty good pics with your current camera, but something that might be helpful is to borrow a friend’s DSLR or rent one (on-line or local camera shops) and really give it a try. See if you notice a difference, see if you find it too bulky, etc. Borrowing my mom’s camera for several weeks helped me to make my decision.

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Guess which one gets used more… by at least a factor of 10. Often that SLR is just too heavy to lug around, even when we know we want to take photos.

Between the two of us, my husband is the photographer, so I’ll tell you what he would say – technology helps, but if you really want to take better pictures, and investment in a few photography books and the time to read them gives you more bang for the buck.

If you’re interested in going that route, I’d be happy to have him recommend a couple of favorites – just shoot me a piece of email.

Debbie Dubrow’s last blog post..Photo Friday: Arc de Triomphe with Baby

I have bought my small, pocket size camera for the same reason. I have SLR camera but I don’t carry them with me everywhere. So I found that I take more pictures with my smaller camera. However, I do love my SLR for my vacation. I love the pictures that come out from the camera eventhough I’m not at all a great photographer. I do wish to get better lens but it costs almost as much or even much more than the camera itself. So in summary, if you have budget for it and you love taking picture, I think you will really enjoy your new SLR.

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Just FYI, in Minnesota this is considered an oddity. In Santa Cruz, the hippie college town where I used to live this would be just another van. You would see vehicles around town with rainbow swirls or doll heads glued to them. I’ll have to keep my eye out next time I’m up there and capture a picture or two for you.

As for the camera, if you are supplementing a little working camera, and you want to experiment with something more sophisticated AND you have the money to spend it might be a fun thing to have. However, I really enjoy your pictures just as is, and recently I’ve discovered the fun of keeping a camera in my purse. You never know when your going to capture something cool. One day I wrote a blog about food courts the next day I unexpectedly visited an amazing one. Was glad to have a camera to capture some picts, and need to put them in the post.

My friend Tonya does amazing things with an online editing program. That may be a way to spiff up your existing picts for free. I also just bought a newer version of my old camera for about $80 with a Staples coupon. The quality is so much improved! Technology is going so fast soon a little camera may give you som great results.

Bridget Smith’s last blog post..Photo Friday: Carlsbad Flower Fields