What's up with this winter? I love it. I'm a huge fan of snow, mainly because I don't have to shovel a driveway, or drive 20 miles to work in raging storms. I do, on the other hand, get the benefits of repeated snow days. You can just tell I'm a highly motivated learner, can't you? Of course, this is probably just a precursor, an indicator of dramatic weather patterns to come due to global warming, and when the Earth collapses in upon itself, I probably won't be smiling the way I am right now, but the hell with it - that's at least a few years away, right?
I love electronics, and I love toys, and I recently scratched my consumer itch by getting a very nice digital camera - a Canon PowerShot 950 IS.
This thing is a real treat. My Dad used to be a professional photographer back in the '80s, and when digital cameras first started to become popular, he was in heaven; great photographs with no film or development time. I know there are purists out there who view photography as more of an art form, and enjoy the darkroom process and the various tricks you can use with real film that can be difficult to replicate digitally, but man, the quality of pictures you can get for such a small time investment is just astounding.
For anyone looking to buy a digital camera in the near future, I've learned a few things about the process. Whenever I buy a relatively expensive piece of technology, I really try and do my research. This is usually a long, painful process of viewing multiple reviews, browsing online forums, asking questions, and repeating the process as many times as necessary until I feel confident in my purchase. I think I looked at about twenty different cameras over a two week period before settling on this one.
If you're new to photography and want a good first camera, get a "point-and-shoot." These usually range between $150-$400, are small and easy to carry, and technology is now at the point where you can get some really beautiful photographs out of these little powerhouses. In our society, everybody loves numbers, and conventional wisdom is that bigger = better. This isn't necessarily the case with megapixels. One megapixel equals one million pixels, or dots of resolution on your photograph. Most cameras, even the cheap ones, sport at least 5 megapixels, and some, like the one I purchased, go as high as 12. This is important to a degree, but you only really need more than five or six if you're going to be making large prints or zooming in and cropping parts of your photos where that extra resolution is needed. I purchased my camera not because of its high megapixels, but because of several other factors.
One of the most important things to consider is how cameras handle colors. In my quest to find the perfect camera, I learned that the general consensus is that Sony cameras, while having their strong points, have a difficult time producing rich colors that truly reflect the image you're shooting. Canon cameras have an excellent reputation in this department, and it'd be hard to go wrong with most of their PowerShot line. Of course, as always, do your own research. Power up and shooting speed are also something to consider. You probably want to avoid cameras that take four seconds to power up after you hit the button because you'll run the risk of missing a once-in-a-lifetime shot. Also, some cameras take longer than others to cycle between shots, especially when using a flash. Part of this has to do with the speed of your memory card, but I'll touch on that later.
Other considerations, while less important, should be looked at. Most cameras sport at least a 2.5" LCD screen, which is really all you need, but some come in sizes of 3" which are just plain pretty. Usually to get an LCD in that size you'll have to sacrifice the optical viewfinder, though, which may be a problem for some. These days the optical viewfinder doesn't tend to be all that necessary for most, but it's always nice to have in a pinch if you need to stand way back from what you're shooting, or sun glare makes the LCD impossible to see clearly. I'd also recommend a camera with an internal lithium-ion rechargeable battery as opposed to AA batteries as they're smaller, less of a hassle to carry around, and come with their own recharger. It'd also be worth your time to find out what the control scheme is like, how many bells and whistles there are, manual settings, ease of navigation, etc. While most point-and-shoot cameras don't come with a lot of manual settings, you should at least be able to change basic light settings in various increments. At this point this is a pretty standardized feature though, and will probably only be discussed in reviews if it's omitted.
Image Stabilization is a really nice feature that most of the newer cameras have started to adopt. I couldn't tell you the technical mechanics of how it works, but basically the lens has a special component that reduces blur by compensating for shaky hands. If you drink as much coffee as I do, this is a feature you'll probably want. You also might want to look at how much "noise" or grain the camera produces at higher ISO speeds (every review will touch on this and explain what I mean here far better than I could). Finally, you'll want a large, fast memory card - at least 2GB, and probably 4GB to be on the safe side, especially if you're using a high megapixel camera that uses a lot of disk space per shot. I highly recommend the SanDisk Extreme III SDHC card (if your camera can support it) - it's incredibly fast, which will increase your transfer speed from camera to hard drive, and decrease your time between shots. This card will run you about $60 online, and is worth every penny.
One last note: After you do all your research and find your dream camera, buy it online! NEVER buy from a retail store like Best Buy or Circuit City. You'll save at least $50 (sometimes more than $100) ordering your camera online. To put this in perspective, my $60 SD card costs $130 at Circuit City. Whew - that ran a little longer than expected. If you're in the market for a camera, I hope this helped. Send me some pics!
I love electronics, and I love toys, and I recently scratched my consumer itch by getting a very nice digital camera - a Canon PowerShot 950 IS.
This thing is a real treat. My Dad used to be a professional photographer back in the '80s, and when digital cameras first started to become popular, he was in heaven; great photographs with no film or development time. I know there are purists out there who view photography as more of an art form, and enjoy the darkroom process and the various tricks you can use with real film that can be difficult to replicate digitally, but man, the quality of pictures you can get for such a small time investment is just astounding.For anyone looking to buy a digital camera in the near future, I've learned a few things about the process. Whenever I buy a relatively expensive piece of technology, I really try and do my research. This is usually a long, painful process of viewing multiple reviews, browsing online forums, asking questions, and repeating the process as many times as necessary until I feel confident in my purchase. I think I looked at about twenty different cameras over a two week period before settling on this one.
If you're new to photography and want a good first camera, get a "point-and-shoot." These usually range between $150-$400, are small and easy to carry, and technology is now at the point where you can get some really beautiful photographs out of these little powerhouses. In our society, everybody loves numbers, and conventional wisdom is that bigger = better. This isn't necessarily the case with megapixels. One megapixel equals one million pixels, or dots of resolution on your photograph. Most cameras, even the cheap ones, sport at least 5 megapixels, and some, like the one I purchased, go as high as 12. This is important to a degree, but you only really need more than five or six if you're going to be making large prints or zooming in and cropping parts of your photos where that extra resolution is needed. I purchased my camera not because of its high megapixels, but because of several other factors.
One of the most important things to consider is how cameras handle colors. In my quest to find the perfect camera, I learned that the general consensus is that Sony cameras, while having their strong points, have a difficult time producing rich colors that truly reflect the image you're shooting. Canon cameras have an excellent reputation in this department, and it'd be hard to go wrong with most of their PowerShot line. Of course, as always, do your own research. Power up and shooting speed are also something to consider. You probably want to avoid cameras that take four seconds to power up after you hit the button because you'll run the risk of missing a once-in-a-lifetime shot. Also, some cameras take longer than others to cycle between shots, especially when using a flash. Part of this has to do with the speed of your memory card, but I'll touch on that later.
Other considerations, while less important, should be looked at. Most cameras sport at least a 2.5" LCD screen, which is really all you need, but some come in sizes of 3" which are just plain pretty. Usually to get an LCD in that size you'll have to sacrifice the optical viewfinder, though, which may be a problem for some. These days the optical viewfinder doesn't tend to be all that necessary for most, but it's always nice to have in a pinch if you need to stand way back from what you're shooting, or sun glare makes the LCD impossible to see clearly. I'd also recommend a camera with an internal lithium-ion rechargeable battery as opposed to AA batteries as they're smaller, less of a hassle to carry around, and come with their own recharger. It'd also be worth your time to find out what the control scheme is like, how many bells and whistles there are, manual settings, ease of navigation, etc. While most point-and-shoot cameras don't come with a lot of manual settings, you should at least be able to change basic light settings in various increments. At this point this is a pretty standardized feature though, and will probably only be discussed in reviews if it's omitted.
Image Stabilization is a really nice feature that most of the newer cameras have started to adopt. I couldn't tell you the technical mechanics of how it works, but basically the lens has a special component that reduces blur by compensating for shaky hands. If you drink as much coffee as I do, this is a feature you'll probably want. You also might want to look at how much "noise" or grain the camera produces at higher ISO speeds (every review will touch on this and explain what I mean here far better than I could). Finally, you'll want a large, fast memory card - at least 2GB, and probably 4GB to be on the safe side, especially if you're using a high megapixel camera that uses a lot of disk space per shot. I highly recommend the SanDisk Extreme III SDHC card (if your camera can support it) - it's incredibly fast, which will increase your transfer speed from camera to hard drive, and decrease your time between shots. This card will run you about $60 online, and is worth every penny.
One last note: After you do all your research and find your dream camera, buy it online! NEVER buy from a retail store like Best Buy or Circuit City. You'll save at least $50 (sometimes more than $100) ordering your camera online. To put this in perspective, my $60 SD card costs $130 at Circuit City. Whew - that ran a little longer than expected. If you're in the market for a camera, I hope this helped. Send me some pics!
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