Sometimes, we get gifts for someone then can’t wait for Christmas to come so they can open it. That happens to Lorna and I every year. This year, I planned ahead and got a gift I could give early with no problems. I got Lorna this queen sized fleece blanket. Sure, I get to sleep under it too, but she loves such things the most. The best part is it is so warm we got to take the heavy comforter off the bed.
And today I got my gift early. A Canon Powershot S2 IS. We ordered it together and paid to have it shipped super fast. When Lorna came home, we took the box to our fave pizza joint (Blue Mountain Pizza) and played with the camera there.
click for larger (but sane) image
I really love it because it has a bunch of features. Lorna loves it because it is still easy to use. It is considered a SLR, meaning when I choose to look through the viewfinder (vs the LCD screen) I see what the lens sees (vs straight ahead like the single-use cameras). The lens is not interchangeable like I thought but I can add other lenses on top of this one. Same thing, in a way.
click for larger (but still sane) image
I got home and played with the camera some more and then it told me the memory card was full! Only NINE images! After reading some in the manual, I found out the image compression was set way high. Meaning the resulting images were 2592×1944 pixels and capable of being printed at larger than 8.5×11″. I set it to about half that.
I have an earlier model of the Canon Powershot and the photos I get are amazing! Have fun.
That’s the same camera I have. I love it; it’s perfect for me. I forgot that the card that comes with it is tiny. We got two extra memory cards for mine that hold (I think) 2Gb each. I keep the camera set to large size and super-fine images and snap away. My photos are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/elarasophia/ — I’ve got examples of black and white, super-macro, the firework mode and the auto-exposure bracketing feature.
I’m in love with this camera! I have been a photographer for a long time but gave it up when my vision got to be too unpredictable to rely on for manually focused images. When the problem settled down, my camera decided to go all wonky so I set it aside. Then digital cameras came about and I wanted to wait to get one with exchangeable lenses. Ha. But this one is just as good.
The S3 just came out so the price of the S2 dropped. I decided to not wait to see if it dropped further, afraid they would become impossible to find.
The problem I am having so far with really detailed shots (such as birds) is that my hands shake. I have two tripods so I’m going to get them out and try again later.
I may get a flickr account just so I can show off. 😀