New Camera
I bought a new digital camera today. It rather caught me off-guard because it really hadn't been on my radar to buy a new camera this year as I was very happy with the camera I had.
The idea probably first started to develop when I started to integrate my laptop into my school program. I haven't really used photography much at school in the last year or so because it was just too much trouble to cart my camera to and fro each day and it was time-consuming to download photos and prepare slideshows at home and transferring them to school. Having the laptop at school, though, made me realize that I can do all my school photography stuff in the classroom which made it more appealing to me again. It also planted the idea in my mind that it would be nice to have an inexpensive camera in my classroom that would just always stay there and wouldn't have to be lugged back and forth and would make school photography more spontaneous and might even make it useful within the curriculum. Low-end digital cameras are cheap now- I knew I could get one for $100-$150.
But then something ironic happened when I started to look at low-end cameras. I discovered cameras even as low as $130 were FAR more advanced now than the current Canon PowerShot that I bought three years ago- more megapixels, better zoom lens, etc. So slowly I began to realize that it might be best to use my present digital camera as a classroom camera and for a few hundred dollars I could get a personal camera with some more bells and whistles than I presently have. I wasn't prepared to put out a lot of money for a personal camera right now, but I was still struck that for about half the price I paid for the Canon PowerShot three years ago I could now get a much more advanced digital camera. Scary how the technology evolves like that.
So yesterday in the travel section of the Toronto Star I was reading about low-end "super zoom cameras" that were 7 megapixels (my present camera is at 4), 12x optical zoom (mine is 3x), image stabilizer, faster shutter speed, higher ISO mode, etc. and all for the surprising price of $300. I was hesitant, because, of course, I always figured when I upgraded my camera I would spend -more- than I spent last time around, not a few hundred less- it was hard to get my head around the idea. I was torn between, again, going with a $100 camera for the classroom or going the few hundred dollars more for a camera considerably better than my present one, even though I wasn't intending to buy a new personal camera. Also, I was well-aware that this is the most impulsively I've ever bought a piece of technology in recent years :O.
Logic finally won out and I bought a Kodak EasyShare Z712 IS on sale for $289. For the casual and frugal photographic hobbyist in me it seems to be a worthy choice. It has a much better zoom lens than my other camera, something I've really felt lacking. The shutter speed is faster. The lighting sensitivity is better. It takes crisp clear photos and videos, which I may use with the editing equipment on my computer to experiment with hiking, convention or school videos. It can take bursts of up to 30 shots at a time to capture action. It does other stuff I haven't figured out yet. It's clearly a step up from the camera I presently have even though it's so reasonably priced. Hmmm...
Can you tell I'm still trying to talk myself into believing that it was a good purchase to make? :) Once I'm a bit more familiar with it, though, and once I start using the other camera in the classroom more, I'm sure I'll be glad to have bought it.
The idea probably first started to develop when I started to integrate my laptop into my school program. I haven't really used photography much at school in the last year or so because it was just too much trouble to cart my camera to and fro each day and it was time-consuming to download photos and prepare slideshows at home and transferring them to school. Having the laptop at school, though, made me realize that I can do all my school photography stuff in the classroom which made it more appealing to me again. It also planted the idea in my mind that it would be nice to have an inexpensive camera in my classroom that would just always stay there and wouldn't have to be lugged back and forth and would make school photography more spontaneous and might even make it useful within the curriculum. Low-end digital cameras are cheap now- I knew I could get one for $100-$150.
But then something ironic happened when I started to look at low-end cameras. I discovered cameras even as low as $130 were FAR more advanced now than the current Canon PowerShot that I bought three years ago- more megapixels, better zoom lens, etc. So slowly I began to realize that it might be best to use my present digital camera as a classroom camera and for a few hundred dollars I could get a personal camera with some more bells and whistles than I presently have. I wasn't prepared to put out a lot of money for a personal camera right now, but I was still struck that for about half the price I paid for the Canon PowerShot three years ago I could now get a much more advanced digital camera. Scary how the technology evolves like that.
So yesterday in the travel section of the Toronto Star I was reading about low-end "super zoom cameras" that were 7 megapixels (my present camera is at 4), 12x optical zoom (mine is 3x), image stabilizer, faster shutter speed, higher ISO mode, etc. and all for the surprising price of $300. I was hesitant, because, of course, I always figured when I upgraded my camera I would spend -more- than I spent last time around, not a few hundred less- it was hard to get my head around the idea. I was torn between, again, going with a $100 camera for the classroom or going the few hundred dollars more for a camera considerably better than my present one, even though I wasn't intending to buy a new personal camera. Also, I was well-aware that this is the most impulsively I've ever bought a piece of technology in recent years :O.
Logic finally won out and I bought a Kodak EasyShare Z712 IS on sale for $289. For the casual and frugal photographic hobbyist in me it seems to be a worthy choice. It has a much better zoom lens than my other camera, something I've really felt lacking. The shutter speed is faster. The lighting sensitivity is better. It takes crisp clear photos and videos, which I may use with the editing equipment on my computer to experiment with hiking, convention or school videos. It can take bursts of up to 30 shots at a time to capture action. It does other stuff I haven't figured out yet. It's clearly a step up from the camera I presently have even though it's so reasonably priced. Hmmm...
Can you tell I'm still trying to talk myself into believing that it was a good purchase to make? :) Once I'm a bit more familiar with it, though, and once I start using the other camera in the classroom more, I'm sure I'll be glad to have bought it.