A new camera!
I needed a small camera, because I don’t have my Canon A95 anymore.
I still have my Nikon D70S, and it still rules when I want to take serious pictures. It’s a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera, so it handles fast-moving subjects and night photography much better than a small camera can. But it is too big to fit in my pocket (and it doesn’t take videos.) So I decided to get a small digicam to take with me every day. So far, I am happy with my decision…
The other day, I went to Yodobashi Camera, where I buy my electronics, and they had a special sale on cameras. So, I broke down and picked up a Canon Ixy 800IS (That’s the Japanese model name. In the US, it is called the Powershot SD 700IS.) It is still a current model, but not the latest, greatest model in the series (though it compares very favorably to it). The best part is that they had a special sale that ended on Sunday, so I got it at a great price!
The “IS” in the name stands for “image stablization,” which helps prevent blurred pictures from camera shaking. My Canon A95 had a lot of manual options, which allowed me to change aperture, exposure, ISO, etc. But this one has only minimal controls. But the truth is, for this kind of camera, I don’t usually want more than just a quick point-and-shoot camera. If I really want to set up shots and fiddle with a lot of controls, I will use my Nikon.
A camera can’t like this can’t compare with a bigger DSLR, but it is fast and small, and I can take it with me every day. I put up some of the first shots I took from the camera. As you can see, I didn’t edit them at all–they look exactly as I took them. That means that they could use some cropping and adjustments to make them look even better. But they don’t look too bad for an inexpensive, point-and-shoot camera. I also took some videos, and i will put them up later.
If you want to see the first pictures I took with the camera, check out my First shots from my Canon Ixy 800IS” photoset on Flickr.
on Apr 6th, 2007 at 8:57 am
I have actually been thinking of getting a new camera as well. The 700IS was at the top of my list, mostly because of size and form factor. Keep me informed as to how you like it.
on Apr 6th, 2007 at 9:46 am
My initial thought is that it’s a great camera for the price. It’s really small and the movie mode is nice, too (but it eats up memory fast!) Chromatic Aberration (purple fringing) is less of a problem than I expected, and it is pretty sharp. It doesn’t have a lot of preset shooting scenes to choose from, but I personally don’t use them that much.
There is no shortage of cameras in Japan…most of them are made by Japanese companies. I looked at a few others, but I think they have had a lot of time to really perfect this form factor. The bigger powershots (like the 520, I believe), are great if you want more control. And I do miss the swivelling display I had with the A95–I could take some really great high/low shots. But I think this is a good one. I’ll keep you posted and I will put up some more shots as I take them.
Since you already have a small camera, you might also think about a DSLR, like a Nikon D40/D80 or Canon Rebel…