Thursday, May 29, 2008

I'm Gonna Get A New Cameraaaaa!!

Cameras. Ahhhh how I have been abused by such a device. Amazing isn't it? That such a beautiful piece of technology is capable of dealing out such torture. Tsk, tsk.

Well, I can't really get upset at Mama for all the pictures she has taken over the years, because I can honestly say I enjoy looking at them. And, I myself enjoy taking pictures.

My first real camera, a digital, I got when I was 10. It was my second year at Cal Farley's and the only year they ever had this competition (which is a darn shame). It was a poetry competition and the winner recieved $300. Guess who won?

Baha. Me.

And I knew just what I wanted, so when I went to Omi & Opa's not too much later, I went in search of a camera! I ended up with a Canon Powershot A85. What a handy little bugger it is! It was very possibly the most versatile camera of it's time. You could just turn it on with it on "Auto" mode and just go to clickin pictures. It was great, and then it also had modes like Nighttime, Sports, Manual, Aperture, etc. It was a beginners, and an advanced amateur's camera. Not only this but it also has the option of adding a longer zoom lense onto it, which I never did. And now the poor thing is 4 years old (which is pretty decent in camera years, especially for the amount of times I, er, well, um, dropped it) and it's not worth it to buy a lense. My point is- this is a dandy little camera. It's small and takes excellent pictures.

But... it's starting to go out. -cries- The buttons won't really work- the zoom out gets stuck, and the little toggle buttons you have to push half a dozen times. Sometimes they work, sometimes not, and the flash doesn't always work and woe is me! But, that's alright. It's about time I moved up in the camera world anyway, right? Right.

So Tuesday Mama and I went to town, as always. (Last time though- piano is out for the summer!) I didn't think about it until we were out of WalMart and in Sams. But I did look at Sams, and found two that interested me. Then we stopped by Target and OfficeMax and found two more. Well, that was enought to get me started, and I just jumped on the handy dandy Internet and... I...

Well. I became swamped with so many cameras, conflicting opinions, and lengthy reviews that since Tuesday evening I have just been stuck in a little camera fog, I tell you.

I considered a Sony H7, Sony H9, the Canon Powershot SX100, Kodak Z712 & Z812, several Olympic E-series, the list goes on and on. Each and every time I would eliminate one for various reasons.

The confusing thing is... the conflicting opinions part. Yeah, everybody uses a camera for different things, that is why there are so many cameras; so there is one for everybody. But if a camera isn't right for one person, they bash it. And it's confusing. Which is why I really don't like to read the "User Reviews". Instead I read the expert reviews on places like popphoto.com, digitalcamerareview.com, imaging-resource.com, again, the list goes on and on. I bet I read 75 reviews, easy. It's really really awful. That camera world, I tell you, it's a dog-eat-dog place now.

So I finally narrowed it down to two cameras. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 and the Canon Powershot S5 IS. Two very nice cameras within my price range.

That's another thing. It is possible to get a camera with tons of nice stuff, just not down there below $300. So you have to compromise things, and weigh out the pros and cons. This is where I was stuck.

The Panasonic has an 18x zoom (I was shooting for atleast a 12x), wider angle lense (28 mm rather than 36 mm), and this cool little joystick thingy. =D

The Canon (which I was leaning towards because I love my own Canon so much) had a swivel/foldout/twist LCD (which I really liked), and Canons are known for their quality.

I found several forum threads relating to a debate between these two, and seemingly they are very similar, except for those points I mentioned. They both have 2.5 inch LCDs, image stabilization, face detection, 8 megapixel. So it came down to image quality. I had a hard time finding out which was better.

I finally found out that the Canons are known for their picture quality, but the S5 had a downfall here. The image noise was more, where there was less in the Panasonic, and the Panasonic had overall better colors and image quality.

So there we are. After 7 or 8 hours of research, over 70 reviews, 3 major headaches, about 10 cameras later, we have decided on the Lumix.

Then there was another terrible decision to face. Color. Silver... or black? Silver... or black? Black... or silver?

Hey! I have to live with this camera for quite a while, gimme a break!

I finally decided with black and got on Amazon and ordered the dang thing. It will be shipped tomorrow and should be here mid-late next week.

I is so happy. =D

So the camera search is over! Whew! And this post is way too long. But just for the heck of it, here is a link to a review on my current Canon Powershot A85:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/A85/A85A.HTM

And here are only a couple that I read on the Panasonic Lumix:

http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/default.asp?newsID=3162&review=panasonic+lumix+dmc-fz18
http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-FZ18-Digital-Camera-Review-16104.htm

I've bored you enough. Adios!

5 comments:

Sara said...

Woo!!! We'll be expecting pictures whenever it gets here!

Ranch Wife said...

THANK goodness you FINALLY made a selection!! I've heard enough about cameras to last a long time, although I must admit,you've done your research. I think I created a monster. Just don't forget to fork over your paycheck when it gets here. Grin!

Anonymous said...

You should of picked silver. Its harder to keep clean so you wouldn't get so bored.

I know, " Bailey, your advice is not needed." ( To get the real effect say it in a calm, I'm going to be very patient voice)

My mom said that by the way

Bailey

Ranch Kiddo said...

Sara: oohhhh believe me you will get PLENTY of pictures! =D I cannot wait til it gets here, I am just beside myself.

Mama: hey! atleast I do my research, right? you should be glad I went so in depth instead of choosing a cam at random. and you know that I ALWAYS pay you back, gosh. =P

Bailey: LOL!! hey I always welcome advice! -narrows eyes at Mama- haha... yeah see my Canon is silver and I like the looks of it so I thought about getting it, but just like you said. black is easier to keep clean and the scratches don't show as badly.

not that I'm... careless.... or anything

Anonymous said...

Well if your not careless how does it get scratched. Just joking :)

Bailey