Camera Quest

I have been researching relentlessly and have found the camera that I would like:

(Looks almost exactly like my old camera!) I was a little taken by the snazzy compact cameras because of how light they are, and that you can take them anywhere with you in your pocket or small purse. I was focusing on them at them first. But after researching the best compact cameras in my price range (and even some above), I was very disappointed with the quality of the photos, and they were also missing much of what I wanted in a camera.

My broken camera is a Canon Powershot A75 with 3.2 megapixels and a 3X digital zoom which I rarely used because the photo quality was not that great. I think the only time I used it was at football practices! How funny. Once, I used it when we were at a UT football practice with Vince Young in his final year with the Longhorns - one of the many wonderful perks of being a Cub Scout. It was a bright afternoon, so even though they were grainy, we got some pretty good shots of him smiling and enjoying himself on the field. We also used it to take shots this last summer of the Cowboys training camp in San Antonio. It was an indoor stadium, so the shots were not as good.

I have really loved taking pictures with it. I was able to use it right out of the box without reading the instructions. The manual is still in the box, untouched! Few things bothered me about the camera, but one was the weight. If you don't use rechargeable batteries, it's even heavier. My diaper bag is already so heavy, and carrying the camera, too, made it more of a back breaker! This newer one is probably not going to be any lighter.

Another was the shutter lag time. You can't just keep shooting like you can with a 35mm, but the trade off is worth it most of the time because you get to see instantly whether or not you got a good shot, and you can keep trying and shooting without worrying about wasting precious film. But we did miss out on a lot of great candid shots. Sometimes you get a lot of posed shots because you have to ask your subject, "Do that again!"

Also, it was quite annoying that you could only take 3 minutes of video at a time. So at Christmas and birthdays, our videos were just snippets. But it was pretty good quality video if we had good lighting.

And finally, I ended up with many great shots that were fuzzy and blurry because my hand is not that steady.

So I am very excited to have found the Canon Powershot A570 IS. The "IS" stands for image stabilization, so that takes care of that last little annoyance. Four years ago we paid about $300 for our camera, and this 7.1 mp (more than double!) runs $179. But I just found it on sale at Best Buy for $149 - pretty good deal I think. Payday isn't until Friday though, and I still have to crank the numbers to see if we can afford it. If not, I am pretty sure I can find it on sale again somewhere. This is a really good camera, better than our previous one at half the price.

Even though it is not compact, I like that it uses AA batteries because I already have the rechargeable, so I don't have to buy an extra battery or mess with making sure I have charged batteries. A wonderful quality in a camera for a busy mom who has more important things to worry about. All of the compacts have their own proprietary rechargeable batteries. I have gotten caught without having any charged batteries before, and it is great to have the option of popping in batteries, even if you have to stop by the store. They don't last as long as rechargeable ones, but this feature really comes in handy.

Also, this one has the ability to take continuous video until your card fills up. Another annoyance resolved! (Best Buy also has 1GB SDHC cards on sale for $30).

I won't know about how I feel about the shutter lag time until I'm taking pictures with it, but I'm thinking it can only be better since everything else has been upgraded so much. I've read all the specs on it, and I really don't understand it because it all depends on the lighting, whether you're using the flash, if your subjects are in motion, and probably even more.

Another plus is that I have been using Canons for years now. Why not stick with what works and what you know? My 35mm before we went digital was a Powershot; it still works very well. It even looks a little like these do. After I replace my camera, I plan on giving it to my mom so she won't have to keep buying disposable cameras. I wanted to give it to her for Christmas before mine broke. I think she will like the quality of the pictures much better than the disposables.

The camera also got great reviews, especially this one:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_a570-review/. I think this is the same place I did most of my research the last time I bought a camera. For its price range, this is an excellent camera. I was especially impressed by the night picture:

None of the compact cameras, even the ones quite more expensive, could compare in this shot.

I never thought of this function before, but it also has "white balance" which is something you can turn on when in certain light situations so you get a more truer white rather than a brownish or greenish white. Maybe now I will actually tinker around with this. Check this:


My old camera did have a lot of problems with red-eye, and I know when I finally have the time, I can go in and fix that with software if I can ever figure that out, or even with my handy dandy red-eye pen if I am scrapping a particular photo print, which is what I did with my 35mm photos. They've added a new feature where you can actually press a button to fix the red-eye in play-back mode. The reviewer was peeved that they didn't just make it so it automatically does this, but I am pretty impressed that you can do it at all. It will save me a lot of time this way!

It still has the face detection. I noticed the green squares before when I would focus the shots, but never really cared what they were for. I just knew if red squares came up, then it was having difficulty focusing on anything. But it has a bright flash, so most of the time, I got a good shot anyway. the bright flash can be annoying sometimes when you want to take a close up, because you ended up with a big bright white figure rather than a face. But overall, I have really loved this camera these past years, and I am excited to be getting a better version.

It even has a viewfinder for those situations where it's too bright to see the LCD. Since I'm usually trying to get the babies to look up at me making silly faces and voices so I can get their lovely smiles, I have developed a talent of knowing just where to hold the camera even without using the LCD or viewfinder. Sometimes I mess it up, but I have gotten some really great pictures this way, nothing like you can get when you are hiding behind a camera. You get lots of blank faces that way because they are wondering where you went!

Now, the next step up from this camera, the Powershot A720) is an even better camera that takes an even more impressive night shot (although the buildings seem to be quite bit more lit up this evening; that could be making a difference):

But it costs twice as much on sale - way out of my price range. I just can't wait long enough to save up for this one. I am having to stretch for this one already, but I would rather wait for it than settle for something less. I could buy a $39 camera that is the same quality (3.2mp) as mine now if I have to and then give it to Dallas when I'm able to get this one. Hey, there's even one a step up from that one (A650 IS) that has 12.1mp; it must take some awesome pictures, but it's crazy out of my price range, even if I want to save up, and even if I had a job, too! However, this one is perfect for us. I think I would recommend it to anyone with kids who loves to take family photos, especially candid shots (I think the image stabilization is going to blow me away). Pictures are my most precious possessions, other than the actual subjects of my photographic obsession. Except I do not own them. I am blessed to be able to share memorable moments with them that I love to document with pictures. And even if I don't get any pictures, I will always have the memories.

Patience, Carrie, patience...

UPDATE: Got it! It takes great pictures. I like the image stabilization. Only negative for me - lag time between shots taken with the flash. I believe it is because it only has 2 batteries as opposed to my previous model's 4 (which had less lag time). In their quest to make the camera lighter, they sacrificed time, which to me is more desirable over weight. When you have little ones, you miss out on a lot in those 3 seconds, especially if you are having them pose. But overall, it is a really good camera for the price. The research paid off! You can see for yourself in the quality of photos you see after this date...