April First

Ah, yes. The day when millions of people with no sense of humor/proportion attempt to be funny. Especially online.

Sorry, I've already had to wade through dozens of insipid, obvious "jokes" before reaching LJ today. I will admit, a few of my regular sites had something amusing, and a couple were actually good, but I wish so many people weren't "joiners."

New Camera!

Okay, I use the major part of my Federal income tax refund to order a Sony Alpha 700 kit from B&H Photo. It arrived this morning, and I've already put it through the ringer.

12.2 Megapixel resolution CMOS chip. Slots for Memory Stick Duo or Compact Flash. (No, you can't use both at once.) Lots of bells and whistles, yet if you aren't trying anything fancy it's as quick and easy as a point and shoot.

I bought an Alpha 100 a little over a year ago, and still like it. However, this model has more resolution and does some things the 100 didn't do or didn't do well. It should also have much better low light performance.

My Minolta Maxxum and Alpha 100 lenses and flashes work with the new camera, since the Alpha is based on a Maxxum design. I've already confirmed that the lens and flash I prefer to use most of the time work with it. The images look quite good. I've already changed the settings I want to change. I'll give it a more thorough test later, but for now it appears to be a winner.