Digital Camera: Canon Powershot S3 IS
When my digital camera broke last weekend, I decided to invest in a new one. Summer time is a keen time for me to take pictures with my fathers flowers and our home here, and I didn’t want to miss out on any if at all possible.
My previous model was a FujiFilm 3800 digital camera that I had bought from my good friend Stacey (whose father just died yesterday, bless her heart), because I prefer to support my friends and my Grove before looking to purchase through other means. It served me very well for about 2 or 3 years, allowing me to take pictures like this, this, and these.
When searching for a new camera, I found one for sale on Overstock.com for $115 that was a lesser model, but looked exactly the same as the one I have now. The Fuji Finepix S3100. I was tempted to buy it because the price was cheap, and I could reuse my current equipment (memory cards mainly). I imagine I could still get decent pictures with it, but I really wanted to try something better. This was going to be an investment that would need to last me for several years, afterall.
Then I ran across the Canon Powershot S3 IS, which was approximately in the range of what I as willing to spend. This camera goes for $499, but on Overstock (and I even checked on ebay) runs for about $380, saving me over $100. There were some cheaper ones for sale on Ebay that stated they were “brand new” and “never opened!” but I liked having the guarantee with Overstock.
I just started playing with it today, but am limited to the 16mb memory card that comes with it. I may lower the resolution to see if I can fit more than 6 pictures onto it, but two 1 gig memory cards are already on their way none the less (also found very cheap for only $5/each). So far I am very happy with it, and am learning all the new gadgets and gizmos that this one has that the other did not. Though I am very simple with my photos, and don’t expect I will need to use much more than the basics.
Some of the differences I’ve noticed so far, is that the Fuji camera maxed out at 1280/960 resolution. Some pictures I took today with the Canon were at 2816×2112 resolution, and I’ve no clue if it can go higher, I haven’t done the research. But that’s more than plenty for me.
The Canon has a rotating LCD monitor that twists and turns in all kinds of directions, whereas the Fuji had an LCD camera embedded on the back of the camera. The Canon allows me to attach memos and sounds to pictures, where as the Fuji did not have any sounds or editing at all.
One of the crazy little additions the Canon also seems to have, is the ability to customize the operating sounds, one of the choices being nature sounds. So every time I take a picture, I hear a dog barking. When I view pictures, birds chirp. And I forget what makes a wolf howl, but all in all it is an amusing feature.
I did feel the “spending guilt” for buying this camera, since I’ve been so focused on being frugal lately. But what it comes down to, is the fact that I do work really hard to save money, and I am still keeping track of my expenses and looking for places I can reduce bills and such. It’s important to be smart with your money, and it’s important to save your money. But it’s also important to enjoy your money.
My first picture with the Canon, and also a look at what I’ll be doing later today (oh yes).
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