A camera at last

I have been looking for a camera that’s just right for the longest time. I knew I wanted more features than a point and shoot offered but I would not be willing to lug around a gigantic SLR (my old LX-3 was big enough as it is).

The Panasonic Lumix GF1? Too big.

The Olympus E-PL1? Too heavy.

The Pentax Q? So cute! I almost bought it, but the reviews were crap.

The Sony NEX-5? It was love at first sight, but it was so expensive!

For the longest time, I was obsessing over the Nikon J1. I came across it last December in Hong Kong, and it was the CUTEST THING EVERRRRR. It was all pink, from the Furoshiki-style wrapping pouch, the lens cap, the lenses, EVERYTHING. However, it was selling for almost P35,000 and the reviews were crappy.

image source

Look. how. CUUUUUUTE! Kawaii-ne!!!!

During my recent work trip, I really wanted to buy a camera. I was thinking of coming home with this one at last (if the price was right), but photographer and dad-to-be (congratulations!) Pat was incredulous that I’d be willing to forgo quality for cuteness. He was exasperated, to say the least. LOL.

When I started camera hunting, I did come across the J1, but it was still too pricey for the specs.

So, I ended up with this:

It’s the Sony NEX C3. I think the model’s a year old, but even the first models of the NEX line were totally compact.

I love the shade of pink, and the fact that the kit being offered had two lenses already—a zoom and a wide-angle fixed pancake lens.

Zoom lens

Pancake - notice how I was easily sweet talked into getting a protective filter. I didn’t care so much about the protection so much as it was the same shade of pink as the camera!

The best part? I got it for more than 50% off the normal price here.

The catch? The camera menu is completely in Japanese. But it’s OK, it wasn’t really a problem for me because I was able to learn some basic hiragana/katakana (though the menu has a lot of kanji, of course—something I’ve yet to learn) and am hoping to study Japanese. Also, I read the English manual and downloaded it to my phone so I could refer to it anytime. I just made sure to know where the “Delete All” option is and to avoid it. LOL.

I love it! I love how easy it is to use. I really want a macro lens though!

I also love that I finally have a camera that has bokeh—that’s all I ever really wanted in a camera: bokeh! ^^

I haven’t had time to use it in different situations, my shots are mostly of my furbabies. Then again, my cameras usually only end up capturing dogs. Mine or someone else’s.

Sample images: