So maybe 11 PM isn't the best time for painting your toenails.

[ase]

Tomorrow I'm doing the restaurant week thing and going to Poste with Perky K. I am wearing a skirt and strappy black sandals, so someone better appreciate the non-denim lengths I've gone to. (Things I love about my job #57: "well, you're cleaning your workspace with bleach solution" dress code! This leaves me with very little motivation to upgrade my clothes.)

Pursuant to shirts, this weekend I walked into Macy's looking for a camisole-type thingie and walked out with... a blue v-neck t-shirt. Yes, I know: you are all shocked by this break from tradition.

Also, shopping appeal: I'm breaking down and buying a digital camera. I'm soliciting opinions. HOWEVER, comma, I am on a budget. I'm looking in the $200 - $250 range, with an absolute limit of three hundred fifty dollars ($350) for the camera and basic accessories (second battery, larger memory card, etc). I really would like a digital SLR, but it's not happening this year. CNET has a real crush on the Canon Powershot series; does anyone else have nice or nasty things to say as I reach for the sales papers? I want instant gratification at high resolution, but I'll settle for decent warmup and shot-to-shot time, good picture quality, 7+ mpix, and an optical viewfinder.

Comments

[sraun]

gryphons_lair was having a discussion on inexpensive point-and-shoots recently. I pointed out this (http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK) resource for Canon Powershots there - it's a 'boot from card, don't touch the firmware' set of extensions for the Powershot that adds a lot of capability.

As for me - I've got a Casio Exilim that I've been very happy with for almost two years now. I've never emptied the battery - even when I've let it run down before using it. I'd agree with the recommendation of getting the more memory card and waiting on the battery.

[adamek.livejournal.com]

I second the CHDK resource. It adds a lot of poweruser features to lower end Powershot cameras.

I'm shopping for a new camera right now myself. The battery for my Canon Powershot S200 won't hold much of charge anymore and list price for a replacement battery is about $80. With the recalls and exploding laptop battery issues, I'm not sure I want to go for a cut-rate lithium ion battery right now, so I'm weighting my camera search towards camera's that can use AA batteries. Not as many shots on a single charge, but much cheaper backup batteries.

I'm leaning towards a used or new PowerShot S3IS (and will download CHDK immediately). I'm also tempted by the Pentax K100D, but that's probably because my Dad has several old Pentax lenses that he doesn't use anymore.

[ase.livejournal.com]

The CHDK stuff looks awesome. Have you used it in the past?

I've had AA cameras in the past; they eat batteries so badly rechargeable batteries are practically mandatory. At least, as much as I was using mine.

[trolleypup.livejournal.com]

Yeah...disposable AAs? Maybe a dozen or two shots. My Coolpix 3100 normally uses rechargeable AAs, I carry a CRV3 Lithium as my backup.

DSLRs use far less battery than point and shoot digitals...I think I've only gotten into the second battery after about 400-500 shots, over a long weekend.

[ase.livejournal.com]

That's awesome to know. My last camera - a Kodak C875 - got two backup battery sets Just In Case. It took reasonable quantities of pictures, especially without flash, but I dreaded ever relying on the flash capacitor recharging quickly.

[sraun]

Re: CHDK - I have a Casio Exilim, so it doesn't work for me. I have highly techie friends who think it's wonderful.

My Exilim has a rechargeable LiON that holds a huge charge compared to the draw per picture. But I can understand wanting rechargeables if you're using AA's! I remember going through AA's for something in the past.

[charlie-ego.livejournal.com]

Oh good gosh. This CHDK thing looks totally awesome.

I have a G7 which I love desperately (except for its inability to RAW which it looks like CHDK can fix), but which is outside the budget. When I was looking at cameras I thought very hard about getting a Powershot A5xx (which is basically the lower-budget version of the G series) and honestly if I only had ~250 to spend that's what I'd do (amazon says A580 goes for $260) - but it takes AA's, which you say below you don't like so much.

[ase.livejournal.com]

I have evidently misspoken badly - I dislike vanilla AA's, but rechargeables rock my world.

I'm screaming at myself to stay in my budget, but I'm also thinking about what nonessential money I've spent money on this year (five days in Boston, one super-expensive dinner, eating out 2 - 5 times a month) and there's a small devil pointing out that really, how many costs do I have? But even if I get a dSLR, having a small point-and-shoot for occasions when the full rig is problematic makes some sense.

[charlie-ego.livejournal.com]

No, you did not misspeak; it looks like I have huge problems with reading comprehension. doh!

Speaking of my comprehension problems, I wrote thinking "camera that is as manual as possible to get over that hump before gettting a dSLR."

If the question is instead dSLR + PS, = get one of the canon powershot SD series (preferably one of the recent ones with image stabilization). They are relatively cheap, tiny, fit everywhere where you wouldn't want to take an SLR, take great pics, and we've been really happy with ours. And it looks like this CHSK thing even lets you do some manual stuff with it.

[ase.livejournal.com]

Speaking of my comprehension problems, I wrote thinking "camera that is as manual as possible to get over that hump before gettting a dSLR."

I was super-vague because, hey, can't everyone on the internet read my mind? Basically, I'm pretty sure I'm transiting toward a dSLR (hey, I have a photography icon), but the budget this year doesn't include $500 of non-critical electronics. Slating in a March 2009 splurge looks a lot less damaging. (Michelle Singletary would be so proud of my budgeting attempts.) I've handled a few Powershots, so now I need to poke at the competition and decide which I like more. Anyone who provides me with a viewfinder gets some points: my last camera (Kodak C875) didn't have one, and trying to shoot in bright sun, and thinking about the battery drain, drove me nuts.

[charlie-ego.livejournal.com]

Yeah, sorry, yet again I wasn't clear. My G7 (and, I assume the A5xx's even though I've never bought one) we got so I wouldn't go stir-crazy before being able to afford a nice dSLR (2 years and counting... probably this winter, as my sister is getting married in the spring) - the G7 has a nice viewfinder (which I never use bc I love the live histogram so very very much), but I really bought it for all the super-nice manual controls (and live histogram, did I mention?), the lack of which would drive me nuts, I think (I was graduating from learning (badly) to use Dave's old film SLR).

But if you are going to be transitioning pretty quickly, something like the SD is nice for getting convenient shots after you get the dSLR as well. (And it has a small viewfinder... but it does have one!)

Why yes, I am a Canon groupie! Though my IR-converted Coolpix has been really good to me, so I shoudn't leave Nikon out either.

[ase.livejournal.com]

BTW, this Maui image (http://epod.usra.edu/archive/epodviewer.php3?oid=436704) came up on my f-list lately and made me think of your main icon. Cool, huh?

[charlie-ego.livejournal.com]

oh, yeah. I love this stuff. I should post more of the pics I take with that camera...

[ase.livejournal.com]

Yes, you should. :-) Do you have a flickr account?

[charlie-ego.livejournal.com]

yes, though I haven't updated it in forever! - sent you email.