Monday March 24, 2008

Gas: Friday 3/21 gas dropped to 3.049 in GR, still there today. Gas in Bemidji on Sunday was anywhere from 3.069 to 3.179.

Got to see Phillip on Sunday, got a few more photos of him.

Which brings up digital cameras. My 5 yr old Vivitar died the day Phillip was born, so this last weekend I went shopping for a replacement. I carry the camera almost everywhere and take quite a few photos with it, and so I had a very specific list of requirements for a new camera:

1. Must have Viewfinder. While the display screens on the new cameras are very nice, it is still quite difficult to see them in direct sunlight.
2. Must have rechargeable battery. The old Vivitar went thru AA batteries almost as quick as I could shove them in. I was lucky if I could get 30 photos before the batteries went dead. And, it didn't turn of automatically, so if, for instance, I left it attached to the PC while downloading photos and forgot to turn it off it would be dead in an hour. Easily.
3. Since I have Palms and PPC's and other devices that use the mini-USB interface both to connect to the PC and for charging, the camera must also use the mini-USB interface for charging and downloading. Since I have several devices that use this interface, I have chargers and cables scattered around the house, in my cars, and at work. I have been slowly replacing devices with other interfaces with newer ones that use the mini-USB interface, I want to continue that process.
4. I want both digital and optical zoom capabilites.
5. Must have good flash and some control over exposure settings.
6. Must use SD cards of at least 4GB capacity.
7. Ease of use: I don't insist that a 5 year old can use it, but that the basics should be discoverable with a few moments exploration for a person of normal intelligence, and the manuals should be clearly written in English. Not Chinglese.
8. Less than $200, prefer less than $150.

I started with the cameras that were available locally at Target and WalMart. The list of 20 different cameras available between the two stores was quickly narrowed to 4 that I wanted a closer look at by searching the Internet for specs and reviews. I selected the Canon Powershot SD1000. Used it over the weekend. Returned it this afternoon to the store.

This is a wonderful camera. I took photos with it that I had tried to take with the Vivitar and they came out far better than they had any right to. For an amateur, this is a great camera. I paid $190 including tax for the camera, which was a little on the high end of my range, but it is a wonderful camera.

I hated to do it, but it failed one of my major criteria: the mini-USB interface. Yes, it used mini-USB to connect to the PC, but to charge the Lithium Ion battery you must remove the battery from the camera and put it in a separate charger that plugs into a wall outlet. You cannot use the camera while the battery is in the charger unless you buy a second $60 battery!

So, I returned it. I'm bummed, but eventually I'll find a camera that meets all the criteria. Eventually. This was so close, and it really exceeded all my other criteria and far exceeded my expectations. Except for the charger. But, I'm stubborn.