Here's a Story . . .

About a camera. It was a gift. We loved it. It helped us capture many memories of our early days of marriage. Of our children's births and the cuteness that ensued. It was our first digital camera. It has led a long, full life, but is getting tired and slowing down. The time has come for it to retire.

I have been wanting to replace our camera for about a year now. I was planning on leaving the choice of our next camera up to Ian, but alas. He has little time for researching cameras at the moment and I decided it was time. We had to choose. It's so hard to choose a camera. You read reviews. You check prices. You change your mind. Anyway, this week I bought a new camera. First I bought the Olympus X-42. It was 12mp and 5x optical zoom (which were the criteria Ian was looking at). Even better it was on sale at Office Max for $69.99! What a steal, right?

So I went and snatched that thing up (along with it's fitting memory card). I opened it in the car and took it with us into Davin's first dentist appointment. I missed the shot of him crying while getting his teeth cleaned, but managed a couple pictures of him playing and watching a movie. I tested out the video feature. Later that night I went to plug the memory card into the card reader, but it didn't fit! Lame. I connected the camera to the computer via the cable. It was such a disappointment. Only a very few of the photos were clear. The color was kind of washed out. And the video was tiny. I knew I was going to have to start over.

After spending some time researching after the kids went to bed, I decided I liked the Canon Powershot A1100 IS the best for the price. I headed out Wednesday morning to make the switch. The Canon was also on sale, but was $129.99. The perks of the Canon are that it takes AA batteries, so one less charger, it has much better video than the Olympus, it's memory card fits in my card reader, and it's controls are not flimsy feeling. So far I'm happy with it.
What was the catalyst to wanting a new camera NOW? Well, we have an upcoming trip to California next week and I really wanted to have a camera that works and isn't a 4x4 inch cube that can only take 5 pictures before the battery needs charging. I do still want to get a case for the new camera so I don't scratch it's beautiful screen, but other than that we are good to go.

So without further ado . . . here are the pictures from the new camera(s)!

At the dentist. Taken with the Olympus.
Playing at home and Arctic Circle. Taken with the Canon.