Category: Photos

I have wanted a Canon Digital Rebel for a long time. I already have a Canon Rebel and an Olympus digital camera. But the Rebel takes film, and the Olympus is just old. I’ve had it for 3 or 4 years.

Since Julia was born, Sharon and I have been taking photographs like mad. The Olympus was too slow, ate batteries like candy, and only took mediocre pictures. The Rebel took much better pictures, but I paid for every pictures I took. We needed a new camera.

I tried to convince myself that I needed a Digital Rebel. The PMA, a huge photography trade show, was to be held at the end of February. I thought that a successor to the Digital Rebel XT would be announced, and I could get the XT on the cheap. Canon had other ideas, and announced a higher end model. I almost gt the Digital Rebel anyway.

I found the Canon Powershot A700 instead. It was only introduced in February, so I couldn’t find any reviews on it. So I took a chance on it anyway. I’m glad I did.

Pros:

• Totally manual control – 1/2000″ to 15″, f/2.8-8.0, ISO 80-800, and manual focus

• Huge LCD screen

• Movie mode – with sound! It will do 640×480 at 30fps until you fill out the memory card

• Good image sensor

• 6x optical zoom (like 35-210mm)

• Picture burst mode – it will take about 2 pictures a second for a while. I’ve taken 60-70 in a single burst before I stopped.

Cons:

• Still a delay between pressing shutter and taking picture

• 16MB SD card included – give me a break, that’s like 6 pictures at the highest settings

• Autofocus could be better

So there you have it. For $300, you can get your hand on a very nice point and shoot digital camera with full manual control.

[tags]Canon Powershot A700, digital camera, review[/tags]

I knew this day would eventually come. Nikon will be phasing out most of their film camera line. A high end camera and a lower end camera.

I’m a Canon man myself, and I use film, so this announcement doesn’t immediately affect me. But it wouldn’t surprise me to see Canon eventually follow suit and start to phase out their film line as well. I prefer my film camera to my digital, but my digital camera isn’t that good. I like to have the total manual control of my Canon Rebel.

Eventually, I would like to get a digital Canon Rebel, but I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of my film camera. There’s something refreshing to hear the shutter click and the film advance.