JoC2024

much like others here, I would suggest looking at Panasonic Lumix cameras. I have two now as I am slowly realising my back and knees can no longer handle dragging along 2x dSLRs and associated lenses on cruises and/or overseas holidays. my DMC LX-100 has been a constant travel companion since 2015 and as I like to take manual control of camera settings, this little gem allows me to do that (or just put it into full auto on those extra lazy days). it has a nice wide aperture for those low light situations which gives it another tick, especially when visiting museums etc that do not like you to use a flash. by the way, the flash is a separate unit, quite small but can't remember if it was an optional extra. the lens also allows the fitting of filters. there is now a version 2 on the market. the other camera is a DC TZ90. slightly smaller than the LX-100, but with a much bigger zoom which is the major reason for its purchase. manual controls are a bit more fiddley as it doesn't have the dials that the LX-100 has, so control is via camera menus using the rear touchscreen. this one has a built-in flash. the touchscreen also moves. both cameras take the same battery and both can take 4K video. (recommend putting a bit of tape over the microphone as wind noise is easily picked up. the only realistic downside to these type of cameras (not just Panasonics, but all camera systems that the lens moves (zooms) in and out of the camera body, is if they get wet, you should avoid turning them off (I actually recommend turning off 'sleep mode' as an extra safety precaution), as the action of the lens moving back into the body may cause camera faults - expensive camera faults. this did happen to me, but I managed to save the camera by powering down, removing the battery and allowing the camera to air dry. along the same lines, over time, this constant in/out of the lens, will cause dust to find its way onto the camera sensor, which will put 'dust bunnies' on your photos. while this sensor dust is an easy self fix with a dSLR body, with a point and shoot camera, the fix is another expensive trip to a repair centre. the LX-100 has them, but I can manage that via Lightroom or Photoshop. sample photos of both cameras can be seen here (each photo gives camera details, there are also a few phone photos - a Samsung A70). cheers| Winter Get-a-Way (joc.id.au)

always good to see a timelapse or two. this is a short one: this one is the departure part as we left Rangiroa: and the final one is on the Princendam as it arrived at Geiranger, with a few photos at the end: cheers

it can be seen Roy. thanks for posting. seems Google had an issue with many webpages/sites due to security and that https thing was part of it, especially if the page didn't have it (and in some cases even if it did). we did a similar cruise back in 2017 also on the Zaandam, from east to west without the Antarctica bit. I do up webpages on our family homepage of our overseas trips, and if the link works, it can be seen here - https://www.joc.id.au/joc2017odyssey.htm must admit to a bit of chuckle with your taxi experience in BA and the traffic jam, however our experience was more friendly with the help of local currency and Google Translate... the cabbie and myself had a very informative conversation during our ride back to our hotel. all the best, cheers

all are favourites in their own way, with our last cruise being on the final cruise of the Princendam, a real favourite (all the photos have been converted to video and uploaded to YouTube, so I can't show them here). ...if I can only pick three (of our (only) seven), these would be them: - our first cruise in 2008 on the Oosterdam, 7 day Seattle to Alaska (Hubbard Glacier and Sitka photos) - our 2012 14 day Sydney to Sydney via NZ, again on the Oosterdam (the sunset departure from Sydney was spectacular as well as the Bay of Islands photos) - lastly, our 2018 14 day French Polynesian Voyage on the Maasdam (Maasdam panorama at Uturoa, Raiatea and Taiohae, Nuku Hiva photos)

sometimes I take a photo and it looks terrible, but there is something there that 'could' make it work with a bit of a quick visit to Photoshop/Lightroom might just fix. the aircraft photo looked pretty sharp and in focus, just wildly overexposed. the lake photo was one of those opportunity shots, where I was there, it was cold, dull and I was late for breakfast. the final image has kind of evolved over a number of years as I learnt more about photo editing. both in camera .jpgs could have been in-camera deletions (fortunately I do not do in-camera deletions) and also fortunately, I also shoot in RAW. while I still shoot RAW +jpg (even when shooting sports), I've learnt a little bit since these were taken (2008/9) and most editing in post would now be restricted to bringing down the highlights/bumping up the shadows a touch and maybe levelling the horizon as I tend to twist the frame slightly down to the right these days. cheers