Tuesday, May 18, 2010

On the brink of death.

We left the Reserve a little before 2 PM and headed toward the city of Lancaster. Near the freeway entrance is a shopping center where we found a Mexican Market that has an eatery inside, and we had our late lunch there. After we had our meal, we did a little bit of shopping. Then before we headed out the door, my husband went back to the food area to buy some chicharon. They have big ones, some over a foot in length. They are sold by the pound.

On the drive back home I was sad. My first digital, now 6 years old, is about to go kaput. My husband said it's about time I buy a new and better one; a dslr—digital single-lens reflex. I don't need a dslr camera. A simple camera would be enough for me. I am not aiming to be a professional photographer.


Canon PowerShot S50
My first digital camera, on the brink of death. :-(

I bought my first camera when I was in high school. I don't remember what happened to it. My second one, a hand-me-down from my father; a Kodak. Another Kodak hand-me-down, was my third. Then a Petri, was my fourth. It lasted me a long time, until it stopped working. I don't know where it is now, probably in the dump somewhere. I replaced it with a Nikon, which this time I bought. It is the most sophisticated camera I ever have. It has a zoom lens of 70 to 200. Finding this camera too cumbersome to carry around, I bought a point-and-shoot—a Nikon Lite, my last film camera.

A couple of the pictures I posted on my last publication below, was taken by my husband with his ancient digital camera. His first and only camera. If I'm not mistaken he bought it over a decade ago; and cost him an arm and...perhaps a leg. He's so proud of it. It uses 3 1/2” floppy discs; and downloads the pictures in a pc with a 3 1/2” floppy drive. It does take good pictures.

Sony Digital Mavica MVC-FD91
My husband's ancient digital camera.

Now before heading straight home from Lancaster, we stopped at Sam's Club to do a little grocery shopping. I went directly to their camera department to see what they have. I readily picked up a Canon PowerShot SX20IS, the least expensive of the lot; asked a few questions from the sales associate then went on with our shopping.

That night I browsed the internet to see more cameras, and their prices. My heart was dead set on the SX20IS. I like the features and 95% of the reviews were good. The price is almost the same as my first digital, a Canon PowerShot S50. Digital cameras nowadays are less expensive than the first ones, as the prices get more competitive.

Two days later I went to Best Buy to see again for myself the camera; to handle it and see all the features. I like it very much.

The next morning I worked on my camera. Blew whatever dust got stuck in it, then gingerly pushed the cover to close it. I put the battery in then slid open the cover, and the lens came out. Alleluia! It's working! It's working! I took some shots to test it and yes...yes, it's working.


The Canon PowerShot SX20IS.

But, I'm still thinking of that one above, the Canon PowerShot SX20IS. Where is my piggy bank?


12 comments:

Vk-mahalkaayo said...

heheheheheh

where is my piggy bank..............that what i asked, too.........

thanks for greetings for kim............i saw my piggy now.....thru kim.....lol

naku, ang chicharon,.,,foot in length?.....ang laki-long?
really......paano ito ginagawa nila ano?
nakita ko yon pieces lang,.,,,,


mexican foods, i like it very much......lalo na kung anghang.

kaput...........is english?
it´s german word,too....only the spelling double TT.......

thnks for the visit........

have a nice day!

Nance said...

I don't know much about camera but looks like that PowerShot SX20IS is a beaut! Hey, if it makes you happy, buy it my friend, it's only money, we can't bring it with us! lol

Ebie said...

Geez, Mari, nangingilabot ako sa title post mo. akala ko kung ano.

I am now blogging from my new home.

Ebie.

Inday said...

Oh Mari, I do dream of owning one good and high quality camera one day. We don't have to aim to be a professional photographer to own one. The better the camera, the better the pictures. It is very cheap where you are compared to our prices here. So seize every moment you can.

Thanks for the well wishes and the visit. It looks that my comment can get through yours as it won't in some.

Joy said...

Dilemmas! Just follow your heart, right? The right camera will come along.

Thanks for visiting Norwich Daily Photo and leaving your comment. Enjoy a great weekend. It's ice cream time!

Dennis Villegas said...

Matagal ka na pala mahilig sa photography, Mari. But I think your husband is right that you need a dslr, kahit pa hindi mo plano maging professional photographer. Konti lang naman difference ng digicam sa low-end na dslr. Yun nga lang ang advantage ng digital compact ay pwede mo madala kahit saan ;)
But indeed, that Powershot camera is a beauty!

Photo Cache said...

cameras do have a shorter life span than we wanted to. i have a canon too a point and shoot and used it mostly for 3-4 years now and i love it. most of my pics were taken from that.

we bought a bigger one finepix that i was supposed to use but i gave it to hubby because it's too bulky to be lugging around.

go buy it and post a review here.

ev said...

very nice cam Mari!..hope you continue to share your adventure there through captured moments from your great camera.

i wish i could buy one too. am also not good in photography but i love to take pictures..well, i guess there's a difference to doing things by heart too.:)

GingGoy said...

it's like a history of photography in the last 10 years or so ;P

there's a diskette there, modern back in those days hehe

dodong flores 도동 플로오리스 said...

Hi, Ms. Mari. You should get now a new camera before your old camera fails. You should get a camera you are most comfortable with as well as you can use daily. An entry-level dSLR must be a good choice but sometimes you would also need the convenience of a point-and-shoot camera. I am a dSLR user but since I started cycling to every places I would want to go, I just stick to my cellphone camera as my point-and-shoot camera. My dSLR is left in the closet getting lesser and lesser attention from me. A dSLR has that wow factor but one that you can't bring along everyday once you decide to just travel lightly.
Good luck and follow what your heart desires...

Oh, by the way, we used to own that "diskette camera" way back when I was in the travel agency. It has a limited resolution of VGA (640x480) only. I didn't have digital camera then so I preferred to use my most trusted film SLR camera instead of that "diskette camera." Is your husband's camera also of VGA kind?

docgelo said...

LOL at 'where is my piggy bank"

--i also wanted to save and buy a dslr! one fellow blogger told me that a camera, whatever the unit/type/brand, is only a tool; what's important is how you use it.

Mari said...

Thanks to all for the visit and comments.

Vicki,
Oo, piggy bank. LOL Mag-ipon para pambili ng camera. Yeah, kaput is English taken from German. Minsan kunan ko ng litrato ang chicharon nila.

Nance,
Yeah, it's only money...but I don't have it. I'll take the camera with me when I go and take pics of the Pearly Gate and St. Peter. ;-D

Ebie,
Ikaw naman...

Bonnie,
My little p-&-s camera was a reliable one, until the cover got stuck. That's the drawback.

Joy,
I wish one of these days the camera will come knocking at my door. :-D

Dennis,
A dslr is good for taking pictures on field trips, while a p-&-s is great to take along just in case something comes up that you don't want to miss. The SX20IS is truly a beauty.

Photo Cache,
You took good pictures with your p-&-s.
Let's see...my piggy bank isn't full yet. ;-D Yeah, I'll post a review when I get it. Don't know when that is.

Ev,
I'd be happy to share all the pictures.

Tutubi,
The ancient digi-cam still take good pictures. Will be posting some taken by it soon.

Dodong,
My hubby's cam is an XGA 1024 x 760 with MPEG movie.
You're right about having a p-&-s. It's very handy to take any where. The bigger one or dslr will be good for field trips.
Thanks for the input.

docgelo,
You're right about the tool. I see some people taking pictures the wrong way...ie, facing the sun. Unless, of course, one wants to take a pic of the sun with camera filter.
I'll get a bigger piggy bank. ;-D