Camera review!

Soooo a few months ago I bought a new camera as a birthday gift to myself. I haven't used it too much (for the few photos I take for this blog and the baking blog, I usually just grab our smaller point-and-shoot), but we took it to Atlanta on our babymoon.

The one consistent drawback I read about this camera proved true for me, too. The complete user's manual doesn't come with the camera. It's available to download, but it is lengthy, and if you need to print it out, you're looking at killing quite the forest. Before our trip to Atlanta, I was going through the PDF'd manual, trying to find sections that I thought would be most useful and easiest to master in a short period of time. I printed out a few sections and practiced using the different settings the morning before our trip. I was no expert, but I was at least becoming more familiar with the camera's options.

One of the coolest options I found was an "Aquarium" mode. Score! I used that one a lot. I checked around some of the other options, read about how to use the video mode and made sure I had our point-and-shoot just in case I was a total failure with the new camera.

Detailed starfish photo at the aquarium. I love the way the water looks in this image.

But the camera took amazing photos. I love it. It *is* bulkier, I treat it like it is made of eggshells and I often felt like I wasn't taking sophisticated-enough photos with it, but given the fact that I had it for a few days before our trip and we were busy prepping the condo for new carpet, I didn't want to get too fancy and not be able to enjoy our trip because I was worried about mastering manual settings. I am very glad now that I didn't go with a dSLR, because I can't imagine how I'd feel not using a camera like that to its full potential, and this one has amazing options and gives me fantastic results. This camera is much better than our little point-and-shoot and has enough features to make me feel like optimistically overwhelmed at the possibilities yet adequate and capable of being a better photographer.

I played with some of the options as the carpet guys were working, but there is only so much detail you can extract from photos of a lens cap or a camera box when you're playing around. I think when I have a newborn subject to photograph I'll be able to make better use of some of the features, like blink detection, image stabilizer and color accents, and the settings that don't involve aquariums, like sunset, fireworks and portrait.

I think I used the nighttime setting for this photo. I love the colors.

The image quality is great, and I love the LCD display. I really like the pop-up flash, too, as it is easy to turn on and off and doesn't feel flimsy, which was a concern I had with some other cameras I considered.

We sat two sections up and quite a ways over from homeplate during a Braves/Reds game, but the zoom feature is amazing.

The video feature is also very cool, and I'm looking forward to using that function when Elle gets here. It is amazingly easy to use, and the plus of taking video from my digital camera is that is so much more convenient to upload than when I take video with my actual video camera. The video below looks like poor quality because compressing it was the only way I could get Blogger to upload it this year, but when I open it on my Mac and have it in full screen mode, it looks crystal clear and made me feel like I was back in that huge exhibit at the aquarium.

I'm in love.

I've had a good digital camera since 2005. It's a Kodak and has served me quite well, but it started to struggle about a year and a half ago, and I started using the camera I bought for Tim in the summer of 2008 more and more. My camera was still a good camera, but the charge didn't last as long, it was temperamental and it was loud. A few months ago, it started shutting off as soon as I turned it on. At that point, I knew I had to come to terms with the fact that it was likely on its last legs.

So I decided to start saving for a new, nicer camera. And because I'm wayyyyy excited about this (and because I seem to enjoy sharing my research prowess), I'm sharing it with you all on the blog :) I put aside a bit of money from every paycheck and started doing some preliminary research a few months ago. I figured I'd make the purchase around my birthday, using the money I'd saved plus any money I received as birthday gifts, and it would give me some time to play around with and learn about the camera before the baby arrives.

As my birthday came and went, I started to really focus on the research part. I was torn between getting another higher-end point and shoot or upgrading to a dSLR. I asked around on thebump.com, because part of this upgrade is, after all, to be able to take better photos of the baby when she arrives.

And I got mixed responses. Given the budget I wanted to stay in and because I'm not sure how much time I am currently willing to devote to learning advanced photography but still want a camera with some options that will take quality pictures, it appeared I had several choices, but two were mentioned frequently, and I considered seriously: The Canon Rebel, a reasonably priced dSLR with good reviews, or a "tricked out point and shoot," like the Canon PowerShot SX20.

A few other point and shoots were mentioned, but as I read reviews on them, the SX20 kept getting superior ratings. So I focused on that one.

I weighed my options. The Rebel would be a great camera and give me a lot of different options ... but I would also need to purchase additional (and sometimes expensive) lenses to make it worth the investment. Otherwise, it would essentially be used as an expensive point and shoot. The SX20 has capabilities for HD video, has a large LCD screen, less shutter lag than other point and shoots, high resolution and - as one reviewer said - is perfect for a "fairly capable amateur who wants to be able to play around with settings and do some macro photos."

I ended up going with the SX20. I even got it on the last day of a sale, so I saved $30, got a free memory card and free two-day shipping. I think it will be the perfect camera for what I want right now, and if I decide that I want more manual setting options in the future, I can look in to getting a dSLR then. I just couldn't see myself jumping right in to learning a more advanced camera right now and shelling out extra money over the next few years for the lenses, so I think this camera is a good bridge between what I've had and what I could go to next. It's a bit bigger than the usual point and shoots - it's built more like a dSLR - but we *do* still have Tim's point and shoot (also a Canon) for times when we just want to throw a camera in a pocket and go.

Photo taken with BlackBerry because I couldn't contain my excitement or take time to get our other camera when I opened the box :)

Needless to say, when I got the box today I was a tad overjoyed. We're taking a trip soon and I'm looking forward to playing with it. I'll keep you all posted on its performance and share photos taken with my newest love on the blog!