Heheh. You should see the other 99% of my photos. Those would clarify my comments to an extent that would make me want to hide from the world forever.
He, he. Maybe the secret to being a "good photographer" is knowing which pictures not to show anyone?
[ Controls... ]
Also, how about the camera controls? Some say they are somewhat counter-intuitive.
But yeah, some controls are in strange places for someone (like me) who has only used M-series bodies before.
It wouldn't surprise me if the controls were similar to the ones on my PZ-20 - which sometimes make me feel that they were designed primarily to be modern or high-tech (in the 80s) rather that functional, but they're not *that* bad, really.
I guess I'll have to have another look. Although I'll get even more tempted then, of course...
And how about the visibility of the viewfinder (Aperture/Exposure time) display? On my PZ-20, it's hard to read in bright light.
I find this visibility excellent. Often I find myself wielding a 600 mm lens (the old kind, actually 600 mm long) at the sky to capture some %^&* fast-flying falcon or something, and despite the fact that I mostly see bright sky in the viewfinder, all settings are clearly visible.
Good.
... and I don't take pictures like that. In fact, a dislike for
wedding/christening/children-learning-to-walk/holiday/take-a-picture-or-you-may-forget-it
type pictures kept me away from photography for years. But I digress...
Sometimes they're fun though. A couple of weeks ago I shot this "household" picture of one of my girlfriend's cats. He had just brought in a mouse he killed in her garden, and was flinging the lifeless little mouse through the air. I just shot away (with the internal flash in operation, actually), and this is one shot that amuses me somehow, although from a technical point of view it's pretty much crapissimo (nasty shadows, cat facing away from the camera): http://uk.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/the_dude_in_the_suit/detail?.dir=/9f0f&.dnm=8e99.jpg
I guess it has a certain "live" feel to it that makes it interesting. And at least it's not another one of the sickeningly "cute" cat shot.
Apart from that, you are absolutely right, of course. Actually, I guess it's not snapshots or holiday photos as such I have anything against; I just object to the notion that you must always have a camera ready for a snapshot when something special is going on, because if you experience something and don't take a picture of it, it somehow doesn't count. And I also think that a lot of people return form their holiday with a lot of photos, but without really having *seen* anything, if you know what I mean.
Damn, I was hoping to find someone who really hated this camera,
There must be a Minolta forum somewhere ;-).
He, he. Good point. Or I maybe I'll just ask the people in the shop. With any luck, they are Canon or Nikon buffs and therefore think Pentaxes are crap (but I guess they won't tell me that unless they believe I might purchase something else instead.)
- T
