New Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 Camera

Panasonic have just brought out their newest cameras in their Superzoom Lumix FZ series, with the awesome looking Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 Camera.

I know there are many people out there that may say that I am crazy and that I should not even be considering buying another compact superzoom camera, rather I should get a digital SLR. Yes, I know that the SLR takes better quality photos... but can they also take full HD quality video, and how much do they cost and then there is the added expense of buying a even half decent telephoto lens. Add to this the size difference making a SLR a pain in th but to carry around, I think that for my purposes, a super zoom camera is the way to go.

I think the choice is between the FZ100 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ45 (FZ40), which has also just been announced and is actually the real sucessor to the FZ38 (FZ35), but is a little cheaper than the FZ100.

If you are interested, I have done a bunch of research on it, which you can read on the photo section on my Safari Guide website:

• Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 Review
• Panasonic Lumix FZ45 / FZ40 digital superzoom Camera
• Best Superzoom Cameras 2010

Zimbabwe Photography 2010

I have been away in Zimbabwe for a while:

I am very lucky in that every year I go home to Zimbabwe, I usually spend most of the time in the Zambezi valley and mostly on Lake Kariba, where apart from the excellent fishing, I can spend loads of time on my hobby: wildlife photography.

Kariba for me has it all:
Wonderful scenery including some of the best sunrises and sunsets you could ever hope to photograph.
Plenty of mammals and is especially good for elephant photography.
Birds - This is where Kariba really excels, there is a huge variety of mostly water birds, but if you go a little walk, many land species as well.

If you want to see a few of the photos I took on the trip, take a look at my photos of my Zimbabwe trip 2010

The View from my Office

When I first came to the UK and used to work in London, I had an in-house joke with some friends where we would email each other photos of the 'views from our office', just to prove how dull our jobs were!

Now, I am lucky enough to be able to work from home and whilst it does have many benefits, there are also many distractions, especially if you are like me and enjoy wildlife photography.

On a few of the sunny days this spring and summer, I have often taken my laptop along with my camera, to do a little work outside.

I have seen plenty of birds, including the usual common UK birds and have also managed to spot two of the three woodpeckers that you get in the UK, the Green woodpecker and the lesser spotted woodpecker.

As well as the birds, I have seen plenty of butterflies, a Grass Snake (Natrix natrix) who lives in my compost heap, the occasional sighting of a pair of Monkjack Deer and a young fox who has taken to stealing my shoes and planting them in my vegetable garden!

Whilst I still miss all the wildlife from back home, I am really enjoying the wonderful nature that has taken to visiting my urban garden here in the UK this summer.

LIFE Photo Archive Online

Some of the worlds most incredible photos, many of which have never previously been published are now available on line thanks to Google image search and Life magazine.

At the moment there are said to be only about 20% of the estimated 10 million photos online, but it is their aim to have them all up on the web for all to see.

So far one of my favourites is this fantastic photo of a lion sleeping on the rocks, you can find it as well as all the other photographs on the life photo archive. To find this lion image search for "lion sleeping."

More on this story from Google can be found on the official Google Blog