While I still love to get out and take pictures, I just hadn’t been doing it much lately. Between work, other hobbies and a waning passion for shooting professional level photos I made the decision that it was time for all the Nikon gear to go.

Getting back to a simpler camera that I could still dial-in for great shots yet travel comfortably with, and be able to use with off camera speedlights was the goal. The Canon G10 fit the bill and with most of my Nikon gear on the way out I picked up a Canon G10 from BestBuy today.

I am so impressed with the image quality, fit and finish, menus, and overall design and user experience. Tomorrow night I am going to take my new G10 out to my nieces softball game to see how it performs in an area that typically makes a DSLR shine.

Getting back to what made me fall in love with making pictures is already feeling refreshing, I cannot wait to start pushing more content to Flickr and just having fun with a camera again.

Below is one of the first images out of my G10. A photo of a Nikon lens I just put up for sale.

Scoble has a good post up at Fast Company outlining some netbook buying tips. I liked his three picks for the road warrior, business minded, and the bargain hunter. Hit the read link for the full write-up.

1. Best for road warriors

Samsung NC10 ($469). Solid battery life (about seven hours), a good keyboard, clear and bright screen, great performance, and, yes, it’s available in other colors.

2. Best for business

HP 2140 ($449). Thanks to its integrated graphics chip, the 2140 handles video better than most in its class. If you work for a large enterprise, you may have a support contract with HP, which offers some peace of mind if you have trouble with the machine.

3. Best for deal hunters

Acer Aspire One ($350). Acer continues to redefine what a lower-priced netbook can be. The latest Aspire One, released in February, has a 160-GB hard drive, a fast processor, Windows XP Home (rather than Linux, which can’t run Office), and a 10.1-inch screen.

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