Project365 - At the Game

Introduction

OK - let's try this again. I have recovered from the shock I had yesterday of discovering the forgotten last pictures of our Mother... I have always wanted to tackle the challenge of taking photos at the hockey games. Unfortunately, the Scotiabank Saddledome has a policy which prohibits "professional-looking" cameras. But not photography in general. If you use your phone's camera or your "point & shoot" camera, that's completely acceptable ! I know, right ? Bizarre...

So I took the "point & shoot" camera to the game, to see what I could capture. It's a Nikon Coolpix L122 - I don't understand the model numbers, but hey - It's a camera.

The Setup

Nothing to write home about... It's a Nikon Coolpix "point & shoot" camera. Everything is fully automated, with the exception of being able to disable the flash. It saves all images as JPEGs, so there's little opportunity for post-processing. It has a digital zoom feature, which allows it to get a little closer to the action, but it is slow to change.

The Photos

There is a significant delay between when I depressed the shutter, and when the photo was captured. I always felt like I was missing the shot - because I was !

I can't say that I am thrilled with the White Balance on this camera. Look how yellow the ice is ! Remember, the Saddledome has bright white phosphorous lighting. This should have been almost blindingly white.

Since the camera runs on a fully automatic setting, I was disappointed at how MUCH blur there was. Set manually, I would've had these at 1/500 of a second or faster. These were all shot at less that 1/80 ! No fast-action shooting here !

Overall, I was remarkably underwhelmed by this camera. Frankly, it makes me appreciate my DSLR a whole lot more. Perhaps that's WHY the Saddledome permits "point & shoot" photography - they know the photos will be Sh!t !

Lessons Learned

In photography, you truly do get what you pay for. Using a cheap "point & shoot" camera will get you mediocre photos. If you want better quality - you need to pay for it. Please note: this is NOT a comparison of Canon vs Nikon - that would be an unfair comparison. Both manufacturers build excellent DSLR cameras, which can produce some stunning images. This is merely an entry-level, consumer grade device. Which, when put in the hands of an advanced novice (me), fell way short of my expectations.