TheOldBear

You may want to scroll down to the Photo and Camera Discussion forum, and also see a travel camera buyer's guide over at DP Review

I would look at either a 'tough' camera or a 'travel zoom' compact as the next step - not a complex slr or other interchangeable lens camera purchased on the way to the cruise.

Have you ever been in an "unobstructed balcony cabin" on deck 8? I have, and the view was very much obstructed by cranes and the canisters (life rafts?) for use by crew member in the event of emergency. I spent considerable hours while sitting on my balcony, staring at the view in front of me, thinking about how evacuation would work for crew members, but I digress...the view from my balcony was like the view from a cargo vessel. But that was only looking straight ahead, to look to one side, the view of the ocean was obscured by the Big Oranges, and to look at the other direction, there is no view other than that of the ship structure. Look straight down, and all you see is Deck 7 where the lights never go off... you can neither see nor hear the sea.

 

Underwatr, if you have a different experience of having an unobstructed balcony cabin on Deck 8 on QM2, please share your experience. Thanks -S.

My last cruise we had cabin 8005 - three doors from the Library, starboard side. You could see lifeboats when standing on the balcony, but not from inside the room. [This was an 'upgrade' from our usual deck 4 location near the 'C' stairs]

You may want to take a look over at DP Review's Compact Cameras for Enthusiasts page. All of these are fixed lens cameras, some with fixed focal length lenses.

I'm fond of my Panasonic/Leica FZ-50 and LX7 cameras. While they notionally have low resolution sensors by todays standards the lenses are very nice.

I will likely get some sort of interchangeable lens camera, but I am undecided between MFT, Fuji X, or Canon SLR [i have two Canon film SLR bodies and a few lenses, but not a major investment]

I have the FZ-50, and have been reading about the 200

For depth of field, the camera has a small sensor so it will inherently have a deeper depth of field than a larger sensor camera with the same aperture and angle of view.

My camera has an older, slower version of the 'venus' graphic chip, and images get much noisier when setting for higher sensitivity. Hopefully the 200 is somewhat better, despite the slightly smaller sensor size. I have been able to get acceptable available light shots, greatly aided by image stabilization [which of course does not help when the subject is moving]. You could shoot with the iso set for a reasonable shutter speed, capturing in 'RAW' mode - then recover the shadow detail later on the computer. This requires both advanced planning and practice with the software. I also have an Olympus FL-36 external flash [cheaper then the Panasonic labeled version] and an off camera connecting cord for times when you need to bring your own light.

I did this voyage in 2012. It's a nice short break if time and money won't allow a longer one. Passengers are mostly American so there are no culture clashes and the menus take the preferences into account. It's also a popular voyage and Cunard doesn't have to resort to deep price cuts to fill the ship. <snippage />

I just got an email from Cunard offering some modest discounts [balcony for $1698] with 'free gratuities'.

Thank you all very much for your help :)

You have helped put my mind at ease about the cabin. I won't be in the cabin that much like most other than for sleeping.

 

Once the prices get released I will try and get a cabin around the middle of the ship if I can. I will post for suggestions on the celebrity board that you suggested.

 

I will go back to reading the thread about what you wished you knew before your first cruise. Such a helpful thread. I will make sure I fly into Florida from the UK the day before for sure.

 

Yes Atlantis I think do a lot of there own entertainment when they charter the ships. From what I have read the cruise staff as well as the alantis staff are all lovely.

 

Thanks again for your help!

My brother and his husband just finished up this year's edition of the cruise - they had a wonderful time. Atlantis tends to charter the entire ship, and the activities and atmosphere will be quite lively.

Panasonic makes quite a variety of cameras. All of them [with practice] will take good pictures.

I'm quite fond of my FZ-50 and LX7 cameras, both with nice Leica designed lenses.

But what matters most for staying fit on QM2 is the distance between your cabin and your restaurant.

Did you forget room service ;)

I had a small knife [my backup sailing knife; about 1 and quarter inch blade] sent to the naughty room because the blade locked.

I had no trouble with a swiss army knife - longer blade, but non locking [carried mostly for the corkscrew ;) ]

I believe that Samsung has a series of Android based cameras - some with interchangeable lenses. All of them seem to have built in WiFi.

Reading this thread I was going to ask about LR when I read the last two posts. Any other comparisons between Elements and LR? Also, how about the RAW editor between the two. I have Elements 9 and saw the $49 price on Elements 12 but am considering LR instead.

The two programs do different, complementary functions.

Lightroom is primally an organizer or 'digital asset manager'.

Photoshop [Elements] is a pixel by pixel photo editor [layers, masks, cloning, healing….]

A program like Lightroom [i use Apple's Aperture] helps in organizing and finding images [assign all sorts of metadata describing the when, who, where and why of each photo]. Lightroom can do raw to image file conversion, and allow you to create, adjust and export multiple versions of each imported picture, without altering the original file [non-destructiive workflow].

When that is not sufficient [e.g. remove the tree growing out of someones head] LR can do a 'round trip' to an external editor - like Photoshop. After editing, the edited image is linked to the original [This is called 'stacked' in Aperture] and either the original or the edited picture can be used as a 'master' to export new versions.

If you have a Mac, you already have a photo organizer [iPhoto].

I am sure you know, but for those who are interested: The Gorch Fock is the German Marine's training ship whose sails amount to about 2.000 m2 ... :p

And a sister ship of the former Horst Wessel - now known as the US Coast Guard Cutter Eagle.

Aperture, like iPhoto, relies on OSX's system level raw file support.

LR and Photoshop rely on Adobe Camera Raw for their raw file support. Adobe has been faster than Apple in supporting some raw formats [like for Fuji 'xtrans' sensors]

Let me explain more.

 

I like iPhoto. I have Aperture but honestly I like iPhoto more.

 

I organize my photos very well.

 

I would like to be able to do more to the photos.

 

Examples include taking out portions of them. I know I can do this with the other two but the quality is so so. I would like to be able to make color adjustments and adjust items such as contrast to just portions of the photos. I would like to add in items from multiple photos.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

I did try the free trial of Lightroom 5.0 as recommended by c230k but it didn't really address these items.

 

Keith

What you are looking for seems to be a photo editor that can be used with iPhoto, to do the edits that iPhoto currently cannot do on its own.

Photoshop Elements and Pixelmator are available in the OSX App store. [The boxed version of PSE also includes 'Bridge' as a primitive file manager].

In use, you select 'edit in external editor', make your changes and simply save the edited picture. iPhoto stores the edited picture alongside the unaltered original picture. This is what makes the process 'nondestructive' - you can always start from the original image and try different editing steps or techniques.

If you open your iPhoto library in Aperture, you can brush on some adjustments [like color correction] in selected areas and Aperture does not create a new picture - it just stores your adjustments in its database

Don't want to start a flame war [plenty of them over on dpreview], but PM seems both less capable and more expensive than Aperture.

[And for that matter, without knowing the original poster's needs, I would hesitate to recommend software at this time. iPhoto is a decent organizer/asset manager and sets the minimum standard fairly high]

I was hoping I would get more input on this.

 

Keith

It would help if you mentioned what features / capabilities you would like to have.

iPhoto is a fairly powerful organizer, supporting a 'non destructive' editing workflow. It currently only supports basic image adjustments [but these are useful for the majority of editing tasks].

If this is not sufficient, an external editor can be configured for use with iPhoto, with iPhoto handling the organization and the editor handing layer based or pixel level edits.

If you need better organization, the pro level 'Digital Asset Managers' like Aperture offer extended photo organization features - and also offer more sophisticated versions of iPhoto's adjustments. Adding either an external editor or plugins further extend the editing actions available.

You may want to look over at dpreview.com - they have forum sections for 'Mac Talk' and 'digital darkroom' topics.

You may want/need a pixel level editor that can be used as an 'external editor' in iPhoto. Some suggestions here are either Pixelmator or Adobe Photoshop Elements. [both in the OSX App store]. The free GIMP software may also be used as an external editor.

If you have lots and lots of photos [over 10,000] you may want to look at the iPhoto Library Manager [ http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ ] as an aid to organizing your libraries.

You may want to look at a pro level photo organizer, with the obvious choice Apple's Aperture. The current versions of iPhoto and Aperture share the same library / database information and can open each other's libraries.

Looks like there may be some satellite problems

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/10/06/1533200/satellite-glitch-leaves-northern-canada-in-the-internet-dark

I always wondered why we don't just say front, back, left, and right for ships. We do for road vehicles and bikes. Sometimes people slip up and say front or back anyway, even though they know the nautical lexicon, out of habit.

Another curiosity: Why is left called port if we don't always get off that side of the ship? Why is right called starboard if there is no board with a star on it?

<useless trivia>

Starboard was derived from the 'steer board' side [the steering oar of a ship designed without a conventional rudder [good Scrabble rudder related words are 'pintle' and 'gudgeon' :) ]]

The other side of the ship was originally 'larboard' [i guess this was because it rhymed]. Some time ago, it was noticed that the two words sounded identical in a noisy environment [like during a battle], so the word 'port' was introduced.

A possible derivation was from the red color of the port running light [pour a glass of port, hold it up to the light and what color is it?]

In naval usage [don't know about civilian usage] engine orders are port and starboard, rudder orders are left and right - "starboard engine back one third, left full rudder"

</useless trivia>

I'm going on my first cruise in a month as a solo traveler - VERY excited about the trip. I just read through the entire thread (!) and have a bunch of questions:

 

1. What do you use highlighters for? I saw someone mention using them to circle things, but can't you just use a pen or make a list in a notebook? Am I missing something?

They're for marking events of interest in the daily schedule - If you're not traveling solo each person could have a different color.

2. When people are talking about baggage vs carryon, can your carryon be a small rollerboard (like a carryon for a plane)? I never check bags when I travel and would prefer to keep all of my things with me.

A carryon is anything that you can schlep unassisted. If everything you want to bring fits - that simplifies things.

3. Is there anything different about a cruise ship room than a typical hotel room, other than size? I stay in hotels 3-4 nights/week for business, so I'm pretty used to how to pack and not duplicate what they will provide for me, but all this about duct tape and binder clips and highlighters and extra hairdryers is making me wonder if this is going to be very different than my usual travels...

Well, first of all the room is going somewhere.

Most of the suggestions seem going a trifle overboard - but they work for the poster [e.g. Duct tape is good for quick repairs to luggage]

4. My cruise line (Celebrity) says that that the earliest I can book my flight home is 12pm. Is that true? I am heading back to work for a half day so if it's possible to take an earlier flight, I'd love to do that. I have security clearance at the airport thanks to my job, so it only takes me 5 mins or so to go through, and I typically don't arrive more than 35 minutes before takeoff for domestic flights.

You may want to check if they have a early self departure, for folks willing to depart unassisted.

5. Everyone keeps saying to bring tons of money. I'm looking at the cruise as a quick long weekend getaway and am NOT looking to spend a ton of money, as I'm not really considering it a big vacation. I just want to relax, read, work out, and eat whatever food is provided at the buffet. Probably won't be drinking much and I definitely don't intend to shop. Is the cost really going to be that much more than just the price of the cruise? I was picking a cruise just as an alternative to booking an all inclusive resort, but was planning to just use it as a traveling hotel...

Just factor the 'auto tip' or 'suggested daily service' amount into you expenses. On Cunard, that's $11 a day. For our shore excursions, we're just planning on getting off and walking around.

6. Is water onboard not potable? I keep reading to bring as much water as you can carry... is that just if you are fussy about your bottled water?

The wanter the ship makes [distills, de-mineralizes, filters..] is purer H20 than the bottled water.

7. I'm in my mid-20s and would love to meet some people around my age... any suggestions on how to do that? I'm pretty friendly/sociable :)

The same way you would do that anywhere - just talking with folks is a major recreation.

VERY excited - thank you all for the great advice so far!