New Camera and Sakura Con Trip

I've been meaning to get a new camera for a while. I wasn't really looking for a DSLR, but the opportunity came up to get one. Of course, the reason I'm getting one is because I am going to Sakura-Con 2012 in Seattle in a week's time (April 6-8, 2012).

I took these photos with the old point and shoot Canon Powershot. Which I thought would be sufficient for my trip, but I somehow got myself a press pass for Sakura-Con and suddenly I felt naked just using a point and shoot for a camera.

This camera is bought used from a friend in the BJD Meet Group. It's a Lumix DMC-G2, or just G2 for short. It's definitely a step up from what I was using. The photos look great but there's only one lens for it at the moment.

The LCD is a touch screen, but you can just use the controls on the side. It helps too that the display screen is rotatable. I tend to be taller than most cosplayers so I tend to get an upper angle of them instead.

The one thing I miss about the old point and shoot is the macro focus. This camera does macro as well, but only up to 30cm. For now I'll experiment with this and if I really need a super close-up macro shot then I'll just dust off the point and shoot.

Currently I have no idea about the settings and just use the Auto mode for everything. It works, but I would like to know how to properly use it one day. I'll have to download a new manual since my friend's manual is all in Japanese.

And now to show off some of the camera's capabilities:

Super cute Helen! All these photos were taken from when we visited an injured friend who was stuck at home for weeks and weeks. The set can be seen on Flickr, but I realize only the photo looks great. My framing still sucks.

Kamen Rider MEIKO! Using Faiz's belt. Finally get a chance to show this off. The lighting in the room wasn't that great, so my point and shoot would suffer horribly trying to take this photo.

That's so Raven!

So one of the reasons (or perhaps the main reason) I'm going to Sakura-Con is that Obitsu, the company that created the bodies for Helen and Raven, is coming. Not just the company, but the head honcho, Obitsu Saburo-san! When I applied for a press pass I just randomly filled in the "interview request" field, not knowing the chances of my pass being approved. Now that it has been approved, I started panicking, "will I really be able to interview him??" Something I'll have to think about some more after I finish this post. Of course there will be other guests at Sakura-Con, but right now I can't help but be excited with just Obitsu because of my experience with them last year at Anime Expo.