Monday, September 1, 2014

Into the Sunset

I finally broke own and bought a new camera, a Cannon S110.  It's not what I wanted to buy, but those pesky financial details got in the way again.  I am having a love/hate relationship with it so far.  It takes great photos in low-light and indoor light, but not so great photos in bright light.  The exact opposite of my last two cameras.  It's loaded down with a bunch of gadgetry like GPS, WiFi and a touch screen that seems totally redundant as it only does the same things that the buttons do.  It makes it nearly impossible to hold the camera without hitting the screen and changing something inadvertently while also making it difficult to change the setting when you actually want to.

I've definitely come to believe that you can take good pictures with just about any camera.  I took some of my most favorite portrait photos of Ramsey a couple weeks ago with my old, broken, scratched, dirty camera that is literally held together with duct tape and can no longer change its focus.  However, I do think this new camera, which is just the "updated" version of my old one has traded some photo quality for useless (to me) gadgets.  I guess that's only to be expected when you buy a the cheap camera.

I've been messing around with it during the day all week and nearly packed it up and sent it back a dozen times.  The colors seem all wrong, everything seems too sharp, but fuzzy at the same time, but then I have a night off from work and evening comes, the light dims and suddenly, I'm not so sure.....



  






Just in case I do send it back, does anybody have any suggestions about a not-too-expensive camera that will fit in my pocket, take great shots day and night and be easy to use?  Oh, and it would be nice if it could cook dinner too.

*sigh* Maybe I am asking for too much.

13 comments:

  1. We have/had an old Sony Cybershot that I liked really well. It's now in Texas with another friend and she's still using it. Not sure if they still make that camera, but I'm with you. I'd rather have better quality than bells and whistles. One thing you can check is your white balance setting. I frequently like the color better outside when it's set to "cloudy".

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  2. Those are pretty interesting pics, but if the camera isn't versatile you might want to send it back.

    Call these guys: http://www.adorama.com. Tell them what you're looking for and your budget (I'd be a little flexible here ) and I'll bet they'll know what will work best.

    Nice topknot shot!!

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  3. Love that second shot of donkey ears! These days, even the lowliest camera offers pretty good quality, I think. I just have a basic Kodak camera with a zoom that I got at Walmart a few years ago. The zoom has gone a little wonky on it, and sometimes I think I should upgrade, but I can't face that sharp learning curve of tinkering with all the gadgets and buttons on a new camera. If you find one that makes dinner, though, I'll definitely give it a try! Sheri

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  4. Not bad though but I can relate - I hate the new P&S I bought in the spring - the quality sucks for the most part so I'll likely be figuring out something else in the future.

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  5. Oh, I hear you about the camera. My favorite was my film camera. It also had the problem of overexposure that could wash out flash pictures. I purchased a new digital camera after a hinge broke on my old one. The new one has too many bells and whistles but was on sale!!! Just put "SUCKER" on my forehead.

    I like those flattened donkey ears. When my cat does that with her ears she is thoroughly unhappy ;-)

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  6. photo number 6 is definitely a keeper, sweet Emma chuffing.

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  7. Those donkey ears were sweet to photograph but the exposures you have in your pictures are similar to a waterproof camera I bought last year for kayaking. It is a Fuji Finepix XP50 (just so you don't put it on your list) and it underexposes or overexposes. It gave me a few dramatic photos by accident but generally has just too much contrast. I kept it because it does the job I bought it to do on the water so I don't risk the older Nikon Coolpix that I love. I bought my Mom a mid-price-range Sony point and shoot that has easy functions for her being a non-tech Mom. And it takes good pictures. Your photos always have such beautiful light, exposure and color saturation. Can you test the new camera in the woods in the same conditions as recent pictures before you send it back?

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  8. An American in TokyoSeptember 3, 2014 at 4:22 AM

    I have a Canon too and I think they are great for wide shots, but not so great for portraits and macro. You might want to look into another company. Can you borrow a friend's camera and try it out and see if you like it? I found that's a really good way to try things out on a camera you are not familiar with. I'm not sure about returning policies and the like, sorry.

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  9. I have 2 Panasonics I love them soooo much, they take fabulous pictures and you've got the option to stick with auto mode, many of the scene modes or if you're feeling brave you can change to the semi manual modes...I keep my pocket sized one in my purse always and then have the super zoom one for shots I want to enlarge! My pocket model is the Z15 I think.

    You're right the evening ear silhouette shots are beautiful! Nothing beats donkey ears.....maybe donkey bums ;)

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  10. I went to the cheapest place in town and bought a cheap plastic camera and it has survived. I never download any of the stuff that comes with the camera, if you are meaning a disc that came with it?
    Anyway DP Review gave mixed reviews on it.
    I really like my cheap Sanyo and would replace it with a SonyCybershot I'm thinking. I need a camera that can go in the cargo pants pocket and allows me to make adjustments for different situations, and quick menus, like sunset, landscape, and macro.
    Hope you find what you want!

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  11. Aww, those donkey faces are too cute! Sorry you are having bad luck with your camera. My dh chose mine for a bd present and I hate it. It doesn't focus right and gives me fits with anything that is up close or too far. It's a Sony a57. My old Canon shoots better pics, but it doesn't have anti-shake. Sigh. I guess all of them have quibbles.

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  12. I have what I call my happy snap camera. Hubby is the keen photographer and has fancy, expensive cameras but I like mine for ease of use and have taken some great pics, if not to his standard. :) Mine is a Fujifilm Finepix S5500. We bought my mum the newer version of same, the S4500, and she has taken some very nice pics too without any fiddling with settings, just on auto. Mine has a very good zoom, and also a short video capacity, both of which I love.

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