*This post is sponsored by Nuffnang and Panasonic*
Sometimes my life is a little crazy; well actually it is a little crazy all the time! But the other week I was given a great opportunity to capture it all for you.
Thanks to Nuffnang and Panasonic, I was sent the brand spanking new Panasonic Lumix G2 12.1 mega pixel camera. It is half way between a point and shoot and a DSLR. I’ve had the old point and shoot camera here for quite some time and never find I can get the result I wanted, so I switched to a big DSLR. I haven’t had any spare time to really learn how to use this yet, and find I always have to mess around quite a bit. And while those shots are lovely, carrying around a whole camera bag full of equipment does rather cramp my style. The sorts of events I get around to aren’t really the type of things where I want to be schelping around extra bags. So I’ve been trying to figure out the perfect solution for something that would fit into my handbag, but still do a cracking job at capturing my moments no matter what the conditions.
When it comes to taking photos I may have an eye for composition, but I certainly don’t have any technical knowledge. In fact when someone asked me the other day what aperture speed I’d used to capture an image (after seeing it on the LCD camera screen), I blushed and said, “A good one?”. Yep, no technical knowledge whatsoever. I went home and told Mr.SKM this while he had a very good giggle at my expense.
Funnily enough, while we were watching TV the other night, a commercial came on with a guy showing an exhibition of his photography, being asked similar questions and giving similar answers to mine. Mr.SKM and I were both laughing going, “hey that’s you!” The extra funny bit was when at the end of the commercial, we saw it was for the Panasonic Lumix G2 – the exact camera they had just sent me to assist my novice ways! This is the ad here.
Okay, so this new camera arrives looking like a baby SLR, all black, fancy and miniaturised. Of course the first thing I did was to experiment with which handbag was the best fit for it before even taking a shot. But I’m not going to bore you with technical details I don’t understand, instead I’m going to take you with me on my weekend and show you how the Panasonic Lumix G2 captured it along the way.
*(None of these photos have been altered in any way – they are RAW, straight from the camera)*
On Thursday I had a bunch of errands to run including a little ‘research’ at Chapel Street Bazzar. The chaps there were kind enough to let me photograph some of my favourite things as I went along. I hadn’t had the time to experiment much with the camera, so this was a great opportunity to check out how it would handle close ups, things behind glass and to mess around with all the auto artistic photo settings.
Then it was on to a quick cup of tea with Violet Le Beaux before dress fittings for Friday night’s big event.
Come Friday it was time to hit the town for Miss Burlesque Australia. I was privileged to be a part of the judging panel for the Victorian heat, watching the girls get their spangles on.. and off… for the title. Given that it was held in a nightclub it was quite dark, so it was time to see if the Panasonic Lumix G2 could capture the ambience without any flash or me having to worry about ISO stuff. I just set it on auto and shot. Did I mention the camera has an articulated LCD touch screen? This fantastic feature meant I could angle the screen to make sure I could get my friends and myself into those arm length shots! I can just touch the screen to move the focus area and make sure it is all working, even while still in front of the lens.
Saturday morning I was up early for another big day, heading out for a radio interview first up. I had about two seconds to get an outfit shot before heading out the door, so I handed the camera to Mr SKM to snap my favourite new vintage dress.
Of course, I couldn’t photograph myself while I was on air, so again I passed the camera across to the studio assistant and asked her just to press the GO button. Easy peasy!
I raced off from the interview to the shops where I had to pick up food and a very special cake as Saturday was also Miss Three’s big birthday! Time to capture some colour, action and festivities. Because the Panasonic Lumix G2 has Intelligent Auto Mode, which means automatic light, shutter speed, focus blah blah blah.. I only needed to worry about playing with Miss Three and not spending all the time playing with the camera settings. Oh and because it also captures HD movies I didn’t need to go and find my video camera as well. It was all there, at my fingertips, ready for those classic birthday moments.
After all that there was still Sunday to go. I’d been asked to come and perform in a friends Tableau Vivant gallery evening – A Doll House. Time to break out the super huge hair, massive lashes and work it as Dolly Varden! Again, I had little time to take photos and so the twisty LCD touch screen came in handy to snap away and get some shots of the wild hair and makeup creation. I often find that taking photos indoor of an evening can create really harsh shadows and be difficult to light. So I wanted to see how the Panasonic Lumix G2 would handle these conditions under pressure. Once again, I set it to Intelligent Auto Mode and tis is what happened. Not bad hey?
The best thing about all this playing around is that I managed to get all these great pictures while on the run, without extra bags, without lots of messing around and with very little knowledge. (I have to admit I didn’t read the whole manual) So what this means is that I know I can get fantastic results with little effort, but that because the Panasonic Lumix G2 has so much of the functionality of a DSLR too, I can spend the time to play around and learn at my leisure.
So, how would you like one of these all for yourself? You would? Well, thanks to Nuffnang and Panasonic you have the chance to WIN one for yourself!
All you have to do is leave me a comment telling me how the Panasonic Lumix G2 would make you a better photographer! Make sure that your comment is linked to your blog, twitter, email or some other contact method.
Worth $1200.00 RRP this is one Fantastic prize!!
The Panasonic G2 retails for $1299 with a 14-42mm (which is what I was using) or the Twin Lens Kit $1599 with both a 14-42mm & 45-200mm Zoom Lens.
The competition is open to Australian residents only, (sorry guys, I have something else great coming up for my international readers before the end of the month) and there is one camera to give away between the nine blogs hosting the contest.
All the T’s & C’s can be found here.
The Panasonic Lumix G2 would make ma a good photographer with exactly the same reasons as you do!
There’s no other camera besides this that enables one with no photography knowledge/skill to be able to go around snapping such amazing pictures. It’s so easy to use and handy!!
It’s no doubt a privilege for anyone to be able to win such amazing gift!
beautiful photos! I have to ask, as I’ve noticed this in so many of your posts, how do you keep your teeth so WHITE?
[...] Super Kawaii Mama [...]
This fabulous camera would mean the absolute world to me.
Firstly it would help me alot with my course at school as i have photography class and no great camera. ( If only money did grow on trees)
Secondly so i could make my vegan blog even better, i would like my photos from school to also be published on my own blog so they need to be in tip top shape.
They also need to be great so i can have lovely marks for my styling course.
Lots of Love
Lady Bianca
To start with, this camera would make me a better photographer because I would be using a working camera…yes that seems to be the trick. My much loved camera had to retire
Anywhos, I would hope that it has few tricks for a point & snap gal like me to look a pro photographer without even ‘really’ trying, especially since 90% of my photos are at night in ill lit restaurants. It may even allow me to show up my old school wedding photographer FIL what modern technology is capable of!
Argh! Since I moved, all these awesome comps came up and I can’t enter any of them! *boohoo* I am a citizen though
Oh Oh this would be a fantastic prize to win!
My reason i would like to win it is that i am going to China in a month and would love to be able to take a camera that so effortlessly takes amazing photos so that i can “shoot from the hip” so to speak and capture some of the amazingness of such an eclectic and wonderfully rich country: from the gorgeous unfurling of a peony’s petals, to the wide angle shots of the picturesque mountains of Guilin!
This is a fantastic prize indeed!
from Christi
Wow those last few shots especially are amazing great hair!
I’d love to have one of those camera’s to capture some of my outfits and my landscape shots I take for my grandmother to paint!
Sometimes I get so frustrated trying to capture the colours and textures in a photograph because I know she would adore the scene but cannot get out and about for health reasons.
I think that the Panasonic Lumix G2 would make me a better photographer because it is a training camera. I have always been inspired by my father’s photography and would love to photography like him. The intelligent auto function sounds great, and would really help a beginner like me, learn the tips and tricks to amazing photography. This could also be good just to capture new memories with your friends. I’m changing schools at the moment and it would be great to take pictures with my new friends. Maybe even take up the photography class and club. Videos are also something i would like to get into and maybe start shooting HD videos for the youtube community. Overall I love this camera and it would mean the world to own one!
The Panasonic Lumix G2 would not only make me a better photographer due to it’s apparent ease of use (important for those of us without professional photography training!!), but would make me a photographer full stop!
I haven’t owned a camera for quite a few years now, as my last camera (a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1) got accidentally dropped into the ocean in Vancouver when I was travelling. As good as Panasonic cameras are, sadly a fall into salt water doesn’t do anything electronic any favors!!
So I would love to have a camera again, and would love to try something that sounds so user friendly!
Hey I recognize that dress! It came from the vintage shop I work at! Looks great!
xoxo
Solanah
Solanah: Ha ha! What a coincidence! You have some great pieces. I bought a magenta cropped cable knit from there too. <3
hey SKM,
The Panasonic Lumix G2 looks FAB and it would push me to try new and creative things! Ive always had a passion for art, cooking and fashion. I was thinking of creating a alternative japanese fashion blog and this just might be the catalyst I needed – photography to me looks like one big creative potential energy just waiting to be unleashed!
I would love it and care for it and carry it around on every adventure, which would be possible because of the superb lightweight design. I would never miss to capture a moment whether it’s in a low-light restaurant or bright overexposed beach, because the Panasonic Lumix G2 would adjust the light accordingly! I’ve been dissapointed with some of the cameras I’ve had but the features described here sounds like a dream come true to me!
The combination of both optical and in camera image stabilisation means more opportunities to take clear photographs in an incredible range of lighting conditions.
How refreshing! Photos, where not *everything* is in focus. I was useless with an SLR, so I gave it up, and went compact…trouble was, every.darn.thing from close-up to infinity turns out in sharp focus. Nothing stands out! I don’t know how the G2 does it, and nor do I care, I just know I love it!
We are planning to do a big trip in our vintage caravan with the kids….with the G2, I think our trips blog would go from average to stunning!
Because all i can do is point and shoot, and I only ever want to carry around ONE gigantic bag. Also I’ve just gotten used to my mobile which has a touch screen, so I think I’d be up for a camera which has one too… I think….