Panasonic TZ70 Review.

I’ve been on the lookout for a small but mighty camera to not replace my DSLR totally but as something I can carry with me conveniently all the time. After months of thinking about it, researching different cameras, numerous trips to Currys and Jessops to fondle a few different cameras I finally settled on the panasonic TZ70. 

I had written a list of things I wanted from a compact:

Small and lightweight

Good manual options

A bloody good zoom

Copes well in low lighting

The capacity to shoot in raw

Something that covers all bases in regards to types of photography I would be doing.

So with this list in mind the TZ70 checked them all. I must admit I've had this camera going on nearly a year and I am in love! 

I take it with me on day trips, holidays, and use it at home too to capture my crazy dogs and I have used it for some of my blog photos. 

The first thing I noticed is how flipping easy this camera is to use. Obviously if you shoot in auto mode its as easy as turning the dial to auto and off you go, but it is super easy to set in manual too. I had narrowed my search down to this camera and a Canon but I just couldn't get on with setting the Canon in manual. I am a Nikon DSLR user so maybe this is why but I am so glad I got the TZ70! Even on auto the photos are super impressive. 

This model has a 12.1 megapixel high sensitivity MOS sensor, which enables better shots in low light, and it really does deliver. I recently used my TZ70 to get some snaps from the Strictly Live Tour, I was literally sat back row and I was really impressed with the shots I got in low light and with fast moving subjects. The pictures aren't perfect and I never expected them to be, to get good shots from that distance you'd need some bloody good equipment, but for a compact I was extremely impressed.

Now I’ve just touched on this, but the zoom on this camera is mind boggling! It has a 30x optical zoom and handles really well in stabilising a shot against unstable hands at full zoom. To show you how impressive this zoom is here is a wide angle shot, can you see the wind turbines way out in the sea there? With full zoom, here they are!

I needed a camera that could shoot in raw so when it came to editing and correcting boo boos I had greater options post production. I must admit I haven’t given my raw shots taken on this camera the full shebang on photoshop or lightroom because I suck at editing! But as I get better I will have more of a play.

One other thing I didn't think about at the time which I am now super grateful for is the live viewfinder you can fall back on if you cant see the screen in bright lights. Quite a few times Ive had to just shoot and hope for the best that I capture everything I wanted in the shot but now you can use the viewfinder! Genius!

I also absolutely love the way this camera looks, it has a slight vintage look about it and I like to be carrying round something that I like the look of, vein I know, but a sexy camera makes me excited to carry it around with me everywhere and get that shot!

The only downside I have found is it has a fairly short battery life. I shoot in raw most of the time so this will add to that but I have had to buy another battery to carry with me because when I get carried away snapping on a day out I easily drain the battery. Not the end of the world as I always carry a spare everything with my DSLR so an extra battery is nothing!

Overall this is a smashing little camera. I can’t think of any negatives besides the short battery life that I have come across. I am only an amateur photographer and I am confident that an experienced photographer will find more problems with it than I have but for what I use it for and for the price (£299, although I got mine with a cash back offer) I don’t think many people can go wrong choosing this camera. For a total novice it will improve their picture quality, and for an amateur enthusiast it will give you enough to play around with without limiting you in your capabilities. 

Happy snapping!

Vikky

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Makeup vs bare face: a look at our relationship with makeup.

Lets talk make up. Rather the lack of. A naked face, bare face, whatever you want to call it. I am allergic to a lot of make up, and when I do wear make up for an interview, parties, days out I always suffer with eczema that takes me months to clear up. For this reason, most of the time I wear my naked face with pride.

But recently I've been feeling a little inadequate, less of a woman, less professional because I dare to leave the house with no make up on. People don't know that I am allergic to makeup, but I am still judged. How is this acceptable? I was refused a job a year ago purely because the person hiring me expected me to have a full face of makeup on at interview, and I didn't. I wasn't professional enough! Wtf! Forgetting the reason I wasn't wearing makeup this struck a cord with me, women are expected to wear makeup no matter what. 

As I get more active in discovering new blogs and youtube channels I realise blogosphere is full of make up tutorials and product reviews, I am guilty of this myself, but this post is no means a bash at the beautiful people who write about this stuff, I mean I read and watch it for a reason! I love seeing people expressing their creativity with make up and sharing that with us all. I love that they are passionate about wearing make up and exploring new looks and creating art. I totally appreciate why beauty bloggers do this. But in reading more posts and seeing all the different looks and products out there I made myself feel ashamed because I can’t wear all these lovely things. Its difficult when people in the spotlight are routinely covering up a freckle, dark circles, a spot, a skin condition, to not think that it must be right to cover these things up, and that its shameful to have them on show. Its like being brainwashed that make up is the norm and to rock a bare face is sacrilege. But why should I feel this way? I've been bare faced 99% of my life and never let it get to me. I'm still figuring this out. 

There seems to be so much pressure out there at the moment that its expected that us girlies should have make up on. When did this become acceptable?! Because am I alone in thinking this is ludicrous?! Teens these days have enough pressure on them, and I hate to think that make up is now such a part of life that kids will get bullied for not slapping a face on before they go to school or college or go out with their friends, its wrong! But its not just teens, I am 28 and I have had my confidence knocked because I leave my house with a bare face most of the time.

I’m not trying to create some big movement here where I'm telling people to ditch the make up and go bare faced! Far from it! What I am trying to say is its ok to not wear make up. Its also ok to wear make up. Whats not ok is thinking you have to wear make up, feeling pressured into wearing make up, equally feeling pressured not to wear make up. It is disgusting that people think that a bare faced woman is unprofessional and the misconception that a bare face means you don't take care of yourself is utter bullshit and this needs to stop! Us ladies need to make sure we support each other no matter what our make up choices may be and stand together to help every woman feel confident in their own skin.

Here is my totally naked face! Love it, loathe it, I don't care!

Thanks for reading!

Vikky

Feb Favourites.

Feb Faves!

I haven't done a faves post since November!! I didn't really have much to rave about in December and January but February has been a month full of goodies and swishy stuff!

Theres a lot in here so get comfy and lets get the show on the road!

My biggest fave, quite literally, is I got a new bed frame for my birthday! I turned 28 on the 11th and my parents knew how excited I was about finishing my bedroom makeover that they surprised me with my awesome new bed frame. I love love love it and finally my bedroom is finished and looking fine!

I have had a lot going on in the family recently, I’m not going to go into it in detail because its not my place but I lost a family member at christmas and nearly lost another this month from cancer. Macmillan have been an amazing support system. Their website is packed full of everything you need and their email service which I used to have some questions answered was faultless. A bit of a weird favourite but I really don't think I’d be coping so well without them so they need a shout out. 

Avene skincare has been a godsend this month. With the allergy season beginning I am already suffering both sneezy wise and skin wise! Avene really soothes my skin and helps to control the flare ups I am having on my face, I am using a mix of products from their Tolerance range and sensitive range, including their micellar water.

I have discovered tea without milk this month and literally have no idea why I’ve been butchering tea in the past by adding milk! Its so much nicer without! I don’t very often drink hot drinks but I have been having a cup of black tea almost every day this month. Yummy yum yum!

I’ve been reading a book this month, shocker because I’ve never finished a book in my life! Relationship selling is a book that from the outside looks like it will improve the skills of sales people, but its so much more than that. I have never, and will never work in sales but I’ve read this book and come away with so much enthusiasm and motivation to get my shit together and do all the things I’ve been meaning to do! It can also help you to learn new skills generally no matter what career you work in so make sure you get a copy from Amazon!

Netflix has had some great shows and films on recently, and I've spent most of my tv time on Netflix over Sky and have binge watched The Fresh Prince of Bel Air! Such a great show, I watched it growing up and to watch it all again as an adult was brilliant seeing things I missed and didn't quite understand when I was a lot younger! Will Smith is such am amazing actor, but I suspect a lot of what went into Fresh Prince was his effervescent personality! And I didn't realise how much I missed seeing the Carlton dance! If you haven't seen it, see it! Now!

I’m a huge fan of anything David Attenborough and there has been so many of his shows on Netflix at the moment I’m in heaven! My fave being Blue Planet, I nearly popped with excitement when the BBC announced Blue Planet 2!!

I absolutely love a good action film. Probably my top film genre alongside Disney! Netflix currently has both Olympus and London Has Fallen and I'm not kidding you in the space of a month I've probably watched each film at least twice! I don’t know how but they make such a farfetched plot of one man against hundreds of baddies seem like it could actually happen! When I’ve finished watching one of these films it makes me want to go out and single handedly defend the world from scumbags!

An unlikely love of mine this month was the programme Tales from the coast with Robson Green. I probably wouldn't know who this guy was if it wasn't for my Dad. We would watch his Extreme Fishing programmes on a Sunday and I have grown to find him hilarious and a little crazy yet throughly enjoyable to watch on tv. I love how stunning the British coast is and I’ve realised from watching this programme how little of it I have seen and I have decided a few road trips around the country are in order! 

And last but not least… Creme eggs. Need I say more!

Thanks for reading!

Vikky.