I head out, take a half-dozen pictures. Crunch-crunch-crunch-beep. Hummmm? Lets try turning it off, see if that helps. Crunch-crunch-crunch-beep-BEEP! Lens still out. Camera off. Cautious shake: rattle rattle.
Oh? Oh. DAMNIT!
Lens actuator is teh fuxxored - no zoom, no focus. Basically, unless I can repair it myself, the camera is dead weight.
So, I need a new camera. Here is my official CFP (call for proposals) specs. This is a wishlist obviously, but the more points you can satisfy, the better.
- Under $500 US. Preferably far under.
- At least 2.4 MPixel. Preferably 3. Even 4 if it's cheap. 6 may be overkill, but of course more is always better.
- At least 3x optical zoom.
- Modes: timed ("bulb") exposure, timer shots, basic white-balance and light-type filtering. Flash control. Night shots.
- Medium size (but smaller is better). Does not need to fit in my pocket, but it should be small enough to ride comfortably on my hip.
- Should fit standard tripods.
- Uses SD for storage, and includes a USB interface to the camera to access it.
- Stores images as JPEGs. No bullshit internal formats I'll have to use their proprietary crappy software to convert.
- Removable rechargable battery with good capacity, and something that'll hold it's charge over a decent length of time (NiMH or Li+??)
- Focusing should be perfect - if I see anything even a little blurry at my focal length, it's not good enough. A macro mode (special close-up focusing) is always nice, but not critical.
- Marginal speckling in low-light. I should be able to take an indoor shot with a flash and not have to worry about despeckling my image.
So, if you have some good ideas, post a comment. MS people - if you know of an internal EPP for your suggested camera, mention it exists, but please don't post details about the EPP offer in the comment.
Back to furniture assembly.
3 comments:
I haven't been camera shopping lately, but here's an extremely good and thorough review web site that I used to refer to all the time: http://www.imaging-resource.com/
All reviews include sample photos taken, which are typically of the same object/scene so that you can compare across cameras. They also try to identify as many features as possible.
For a quick list of what's good out there at the moment, I trust Dave's Picks List: http://www.imaging-resource.com/WB/WB.HTM
Update: MS social list has several threads on this. Another good review site is apparently www.dpreview.com.
The consensus of one poster was the Canon PowerShot SD450, which does indeed seem to meet my expectations (and we get a massive discount on it at MS).
Sony Cybershot DSC-W1. Meets all your needs. We've taken tons of comparison shots, so I'll let the pictures do the talking. Only caveat: it's cute, classy but not guyly. Not for the macho at heart. Otherwise, hands down the bestest camera I've had (out of the two I've had, but no less).
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