Spousal mandate: I'm getting a new pocket camera for Christmas :)

[zourtney]

Eve wanted to get me a new pocket camera for Christmas. My 4 year old Canon Powershot Elph has seen a lot of good use, but ultimately it is showing the same signs of age as my first Elph (lens gearing wear and incredibly dusty on the lens/CCD).

So, I'm getting a new camera! I've resolved that it must be "dustproof" rated. That has been the (slow, but undeniable) death of my previous cameras.

The available options are sadly few. I've narrowed it down to Olympus Tough, Panasonic Lumix, or Sony TX5. I will update with links and more later...

[Nick]

Don't forget the new Pentax w90! 5x zoom, 720p video and a macro ability that makes my Olympus's look rather pathetic.




And the Canon PowerShot D10 Its a little bulky, but has a better lens for it. Actual optical image stabilization, rather then the "crank the crap out of the ISO" image stabilization!

[zourtney]

Indeed, those were on my list of possibili---wait what? You're sitting there saying "Sony? Sony??". Because you already looked at the picture, I know. And yes, I know, I had like 5 years solid of seething hatred for all things Sony after my super-expensive laptop bit the dust in under two years. Well, I'm going to try out their camera. Now, back to the original thing....

...And actually the Panasonic Lumix was a formidable contender but, after trying one out in the store, I couldn't stand its shutter button. It sounds petty, and perhaps it is capable of doing so, but I could not get it to take consecutive pictures without getting completely off the shutter button. It was more annoying than it sounds like it should be.

Anyway, I just ordered a camera and it was none of the aforementioned products, nor an Olympus Tough. I ordered a Sony DSC-TX5. It touts all the requisite water and dustproof attributes, is very small, and has a nice sliding lens cover (Panasonic bewildered everyone by leaving this off their camera). I played with a similar model in Best Buy. Macro mode was very nice. It also did very well in the low(ish) light setting of the store.



It has a resistive touchscreen on the back. I'm not a touchscreen lover, per so, but the model in the store was actually very easy to use. Fun, almost. It has a cool "sweeping panoramic" mode that is awesome and you will have to try it. It'll be here in a week or two.

On a vaguely related note, I carried my current Canon pocket-cam in my back jeans pocket today. It was a lot more comfortable than in my front pocket. Maybe I have a new pocket-cam-pocket.

[zourtney]

My new camera came! I have not dunked it in any puddles yet, but I have gotten a chance to play with it a little bit. The touch screen will take some getting used to, but seems to function well. It's strange to deviate from my history of Canons. I'll have to use it for a few days (or weeks) before I have any stronger opinions. But it's just a pocket camera. And it seems to do well at that.



Here's a few (unalterted) sample pictures. Nothing spectacular here, but how could I post about a camera without pictures?? The first is without flash, the second is (obviously) with flash. Both are undoubtedly feline.


Perhaps we can go hiking or something again. Give it a real test!

[Nick]

Pics look good. Could be a nice camera. I think I would like to compare how it does against mine. We should have a shoot off!

[zourtney]

Shoot-off! Sounds like a good idea. A nature visit seems in order. I'm busy this weekend (might have time Sunday afternoon), but we should definitely do something. Maybe the next weekend?

I need to get acquainted with the controls. Lots of reviews praised its low-light pictures; I hope I agree. I probably take half (or more) of my snapshots indoors.

Developing...as they say.