The joy of image stabilization, the pain of automation

Still pond, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

At evening, there was so nice weather outside that it gave a reason for another walk. The air was still, and the sun was setting. I have had some trouble in taking photos of this little pond with my old Ixus 400, but with the LX3 there were no problems, just shoot handheld: f/2, ISO 80, 1/30 s.

All in all, I have taken 990 photos with my LX3 in four days (five evenings). I'm getting quite used to the camera, and it doesn't pose any great difficulties any more. Some occasional surprises pop up with autofocus and exposure, but I'm learning to know how the camera behaves.

Speaking of automatic modes, I'm not too keen on the iA mode. It was the biggest obstacle in the beginning in learning to use the camera. I should have just tried out the P, A and S modes instead. The logic of iA probably can be quite useful for beginning photographers, and it can provide some entertaining for more experienced ones, but I wouldn't rely too much on it.