I keep my photos on Flickr. You can get to my gallery by clicking here.

I like to take photos. I use two different cameras these days, the Canon 20D digital SLR and the Canon IXUS 860 IS. The two cameras are totally different, there is never a question over which to use and both are used similar amounts.

Here is the SLR. I bought it in October 2004 and remarkably for a bit of high tech gadgetry it is still the awesome camera now, five years later as it was then. I don’t know why I’m surprised at that but just looking around, five years plus seems like a long time these days. I almost exclusively use the Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC Macro lens. It’s wide enough, usually long enough, fast enough, the macro function is good and it didn’t break the bank. The camera’s not small though, nor is the sort of thing you want to take on a long hike. Sometimes the wallet sized IXUS is just perfect.

I think everyone with an SLR wishes, at some point, it was smaller, lighter or more discrete. The IXUS is all of those things. It fits in a back pocket, can be taken anywhere. The quality is also remarkably good considering its size and weight. The only real weakness is low light, any time the ISO needs lifting from 80 or 100 the noise can be a problem. On the plus side it does have image stabilisation which certainly helps, as long as you can get the subjects to remain similarly stabilised! I wouldn’t want to have to choose, I’d miss the quality and flexibility if I give up the SLR but giving up the IXUS would result in a lot of missed photos altogether.

Here are a few shots I like: