[shuttertalk]

Interesting article by Yahoo / Smartmoney - a list of 10 things not to buy in 2010, which includes DVDs, CDs, gas guzzling cards and energy inefficient appliances. I was surprised to see a couple there too though, like compact digital cameras and external hard drives.

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/art...uy-in-2010

Their reasoning for the first is that the price differential between decent compacts and DSLRs are so narrow these days that it's better to step up to better image quality. This sort of makes sense but I still think compacts still rule in the portability and travel department though.

With external hard drives, they are encouraging the use of cloud based backup services rather than traditional external hard drives, which I think is a smart move, when at a fraction of the cost you get an off-site backup (although the initial backup and also restore process can be quite lengthy).

[Toad]

I'm with you on the compact camera thing. I am in the market for one now. I want a camera that I can take with me a lot more than I do my Nikon - but I have no intention of giving up my DSLR. If you can only have one - the DSLR makes more sense, but a compact with decent image quality makes a lot of sense too.

[EnglishBob]

I have been looking for something I can drop in a jacket pocket, with at least 8mp and preferably at least 180mm equivalent zoom. I'd also prefer CF or XD memory... any suggestions?

Doesn't matter if it's an older model either.

[matthew]

I can see a bit of what they're thinking with the HDD advice; while they admit it's more expensive, it saves having to explain to your mother-in-law what a hard drive failure means. I can't see me uploading the multiple gigabytes of images, video, and/or audio that I can generate in a productive morning, though.

This part made me laugh:

But during the past several years, another type of digital camera has been slowly rising in popularity: the single-lens reflex (SLR) camera... Although bulkier, these cameras produce pictures that more accurately represent what's in their viewfinders than those that use older technology.

Since the first 35mm film SLR dates from 1952, I'm not really sure that compact digital cameras are the older technology. Sure, the early-`90's era digital cameras weren't SLRs, but they weren't exactly compact, either.

[shuttertalk]

Hey Craig, maybe one of the Pannies might fit the bill... also maybe this one?

[EnglishBob]

It just might

[Don Schaeffer]

i have most of my important stuff on web sites but I back up mywhole hard drive on an external drive.

[Pavel]

1) P&S - recommend wholeheartedly Canon G11 for all of you serious photographers wishing to travel light and still retain much of the capability of your DSLR + kit lens. RAW (CR2 supported by DXO software), optical viewfinder (small but usable - remember to check composition on close-ups on the LCD), 28mm equiv. (great) to 140 mm (plenty sufficient, unless you are a birdwatcher), pocketable (if you have largish pockets - this is a relatively big PS) and you must have deep pockets too (costs as much as intro DSLR with a kit lens), small sensor, but low noise to ISO 400 and still very good at ISO 800 with some noise-reducing software (DXO or NIK for me). Fast lens and stabilised - noise is not an issue for most outdoor shooters. Articulated LCD and very close focusing lend themselves to using the camera as an ultrawide ( 1" from the ground and a few inches from the foreground object) - my favorite use of this camera. Most controls are big enough, but the control on the back is awkward and I wopuld love to see a video of somebody trying to operate the back control with gloves on. Bought for my wife ( yes, really ) she likes it. Highly recommended for serious photographer traveling light.

2) Cloud backup for serios photographers??? According to the advertizing on Mozy (I beleive), expect to be able to upload 4 GB/day. So, if you have 1 TB of photos, expect to upload continually for 250 days (!!!). You are right Jules, it is a bit slow. Now if you edit/rearrange/add files, expect to upload permanently (!!!) Cloud uploads are good for people with small amount of data which rarely change.

3) Please help: advise on backup software. Switched to Windows 7.
Here is what I am looking for:

1) Fast backup of large amounts of data
2) Reliable - no crashes, no hogging memory, info when file can not be backed up properly, check of the file backup
3) Display in a simple way which files are backed up.
4) simple selection of files to backup by type (.PSD, .NEF, .DXO etc) and by directory
5) Automatic backup (preferable whenever changes were made and the computer is not in use, but scheduled backups are also OK)
6)works with Windows 7
7)Not too expensive

[shuttertalk]

WIth cloud backup, the initial upload is definitely going to hurt - not sure with regards to the speeds. When I was tinkering around a while back I did my own backup to my web host and it took a few weeks. With online services though, one good thing is that they usually only sync changed blocks / files so subsequent backups after the initial ones are much faster.

My current backup strategy uses a combination of tools:
- Apple time machine on my main computer to backup the internal hard drive to an external hard drive
- I use SugarSync to sync my documents to the cloud (I really like this because you can access your files online even if the computer is off, and you can backup multiple computers with 1 account)
- My sugarsync account is way too small for my media though, so I back all my photos and videos up manually using rsync / scripts to another portable hard drive

I don't have an offsite backup for my media so I'm considering buying another portable hard drive and storing that at my parents' place, and rotate that every couple of weeks.

Pavel, if you're just backing up documents then I'd totally recommend either SugarSync or Dropbox for cloud based backup.

[NT73]

Panasonic Lumix FZ & TZ series take good photo's.
Drawback is no eyeviewfinder, and this is really unforgiveable. Try taking a shot in bright sunlight on a beach without one.

G10 etc are not pocket cameras. Sorry DP, but if you have deep pockets then take a Rebel.

[Pavel]

Jules, I should have mentioned - I have about 1 TB of data - not prepared to wait 250 days for initial backup (and that assumes nothing changes over the course of 250 days!

NT - sensible advice - could use intro Nikon - relatively light and could share my lenses - but it is much bigger than G11. I would have never gotten my wife to take photos with it. She is shy about using DSLR and not prepared to cary it either. There are situations where I would prefer to carry G11. But like I said, there are reasons pros and cons and I can see why many would make your choice.

[Bloo Dog]

I am all for the G11. I travel a lot, and i do a lot of street photography. Canon's G11 is the way to go if you want high quality and portability. Wait until May or so after the price drops. I shoot with a 10D (at six mgp, it's still a great camera) and a 50D. There are times when I just want a small, high quality camera that will allow me some manual control.

The G11 is a pocket camera if you wear more than a shirt and pants. Even when hung from the neck, it is a LOT less obtrusive than a DSLR with a 17-70 zoom.