Lumix TS3 waterproof digital camera

At the end of July 2011, my wife, our boy and I decided to have our first family vacation. We decided on the Mont Tremblant resort, in Quebec, as it was close to home and the prices off-season were too good to pass up! As we both love photography, we figured that it would also be a great place to take some pictures. But when I started thinking about our luggage, the boy's luggage and all the other stuff we would lug around, I figured that a smaller, point and shoot type camera might actually be a good idea.

One of the subtypes of this camera made a strong impression with me: the waterproof, shockproof camera. There are only a few models currently available and after looking over the various specifications for these models, we settled on the Panasonic Lumix TS3.

The Lumix TS3 is a 12 megapixel camera, with several features including:

- Waterproof to 12m
- Shockproof to drops up to 2m
- Freezeproof to temperatures down to -10C
- Built-in GPS
- Built-in altimeter
- Built-in compass
- Built-in barometer

It also features a 28mm-128mm lens, as well as the capacity to capture movies in 1080p, at 30fps (it is also capable of capturing up to 60fps in lower resolutions. The camera is simple to use, but a little heavier than most point and shoots, due to the more rugged nature of the camera's body.

We put the camera through its paces on our vacation, taking it pretty much everywhere, and shooting in almost every condition we could think of. From underwater to the top of Mont Tremblant (~800m) in a single day, with temperatures ranging from 15C to a record 42C on one day of our vacation and the camera kept going with no difficulties at all! The only time unexpected issue we noticed was the condensation that formed on the inner glass of the objective, when we left our severely air conditioned room, to an outside temperature of 38C and a ride up to the top of the mountain, within about 15 minutes. As I was shooting, I realised that the scene appeared foggy on the 2.7 inch LCD display and noticed that the bottom portion of the glass cover was fogged up. Leaving the camera's waterproof battery/SD card door open, allowed the humidity to equalize and cleared up the fog.

Reading through the instruction manual, this is something that is discussed and is to be expected in the conditions we experienced.

Here are some samples taken with the TS3:

My beautiful wife!

The great pedestrian village of Mont Tremblant resort

And yours truly, being an idiot underwater!

If you are in the market for a camera you can take with you pretty much everywhere, the Panasonic Lumix TS3 is a model you should consider a serious contender!

Happy birthday to my wife!

Just wanted to take a second to wish my beautiful wife a happy birthday! I'm very happy to be able to share another fantastic year with you, sweetness!

Happy Valentine day to my wife!

I know I've wished you a Happy Valentine's day already, but I thought that you'd appreciate hearing it again:

I love you very much and I am very, very happy that you are my wife! Happy Valentine's day; have a fantastic day, sweetness!

Long term review: Quinny Buzz

When my wife and I learned that she was going to have a baby, like many expecting parents to be, we began to research the topic to no end! We read, checked, compared, tested and prodded literally tons of baby equipment. One thing we settled on pretty early (and thanks to Grandpa!) was the carriage we wanted, the Quinny Buzz. Our model is no longer the Buzz, but the Buzz 3. I've been meaning to take a look at what's been improved from the one we currently use.

After having used this stroller for two years, I can easily find a few improvements that I would like to see implemented by Quinny:

1. Larger diameter front wheel: Although still usable, increasing the diameter of the front wheel assembly would improve stability and directional control.
2. Move the steering pivot point a little further forward: We have found that during use on rougher terrain, the front wheel tends to dig into any depression in the ground, leading the wheels to pivot in that direction, which changes the centre of gravity of the stroller.
3. More positive engagement of rear wheel lock: With extended use, the wheel locking levers feel rather mushy and unresponsive, which makes it difficult to tell if the brake is properly engaged.
4. Larger width of webbing material for belts: The current belts tend to twist, making them both difficult to thread through the plastic lock fittings, and uncomfortable for our boy as well.
5. Better folding lock: In colder climates, like we have here, the plastic of the current design's clip becomes very hard and therefore difficult to press in order to release the folded stroller's frame to extend open. A better mechanism would be a improvement.
6. Make it narrower: The current width of the stroller makes it difficult to get into some smaller car trunks and hard to get into city buses and other transports. Narrower and longer would be a simple solution to this one.

Now don't get me wrong, there are many things we appreciate about this stroller. In the summer months, it is a great city stroller. It moves well, manoeuvres simply, folds fairly easily, all in a pretty lightweight model. We live and learn is the lesson. We now know what to look for in a stroller and we have become used to this one's quirks. But new parents, you might want to shop around and actually run them around the store a bit more than we did!

Happy Canada Day

Just wanted to wish all my fellow Canadians a happy Canada Day!!! Go out and enjoy the festivities, take some pictures, see the sights and stay safe! My wife and I are planning to take our boy to see some of the festivities on Parliament Hill; I will post some pictures of our day later in the evening.

Book review: Geek Dad by Ken Denmead

Today is my second Father's Day and an awesome day it has been. I called my own father in the morning to wish him a happy Father's Day and I was then surprised by my wife and son (well, I admit it, mostly my wife) with a great gift, a book I had looked at on my last trip to Chapter's, Geek Dad.

Geek Dad was the brainchild of Wired editor Chris Anderson and was originally a blog, still in operation today. Click here to view the Geek Dad blog. Eventually, Ken Denmead joined as a contributor and was eventually chosen to take over as editor in chief of the blog, which has become since then, an integral part of Wired.com.

It was during this time that Ken decided to write a book on a rather specific topic related to geeky fathers. The result was Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids. The book encompasses almost 30 projects that fathers and kids will enjoy together while tapping into the infinite possibilities of their imagination.

I've had a chance to read through the book completely and can tell you that I am looking forward to incorporating some of these activities with my boy. He's perhaps a little young at the moment, but now that I've been exposed to some of these projects, I can help to "prepare" the terrain, so to speak.

Some of my favourites so far have included:

- Parenting using Role Playing Games

- See the world from the sky

- And for older kids, a Wi-Fi signal booster for getting connectivity while "in the field"

There are some truly entertaining projects in this book, many of which will lead to hours of thought provoking conversations with your children. If you know a geek father, this is the book to get them. I can tell you with absolute certainty that they'll thank you for it. And so will the kids!

Pick of the week: Design Ideas Depot

A rather special Pick of the week this week. As I mentioned last week, my wife has been working on her first blog and being a very talented amateur graphic designer, photographer and artist, she has a wide choice of things to write about and share with others. Her blog, aptly named Design Ideas Depot revolves around these topics. English is not her first language, so she took her time writing her first post, and I for one, was quite impressed with it. I find that the elegance and grace of her personality show through in her writing style.

Now, I know that you may think that I am a little biased, and I do admit to being my wife's greatest fan! But in defense of that, I am an intensely critical person, and I struggle to find anything wrong with her work. It's just not that easy; most people who view her photography are astounded by its beauty and quality.

I am keeping an eye on what she'll write about next, and I believe you'll feel the same way after reading her too.

It's Canada Day

Today is Canada's 142nd Canada Day, which commemorates the day that Canada became a nation. The holiday is usually observed on July 1 (and a little known fact is that if the date falls on a Sunday, Canada Day is observed the following day).

On July 1, 1867, the British North America Act united the British colonies of Upper Canada, Lower Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia into "one dominion under the name of Canada." These four colonies became Canada's first four provinces; Lower Canada was renamed Quebec, and Upper Canada was renamed Ontario.

This year, my wife, son and I are staying home. I think our boy is a little too young for the festivities and might be a little scared of the fireworks this evening. But I think next year will be a great time to introduce him to our national day.

So, to all Canadians, here and abroad, I wish you a happy Canada Day!