One of the things I’d forgotten I was going to write was about cameras. I have recently not bought a camera. This surprises me, since I really really really really want a digital camera. Also, you’d think, what with the whole ‘geek’ thing, that I’d have had one for years already. Oddly, no. Why?
Compact cameras suck, basically. Years ago, I bought one of the original Canon Ixus models. It’s absolutely beautiful, and apart from the fact that APS as a concept was a distinctly bad idea, it’s about as good as non-zoom compacts get. And guess what? I’ve practically never used it, since it’s only any good for taking snapshots, and I very rarely want to do that. I’ll still, very occasionally, shove it in my pocket when I’m going somewhere, but that’s about it.
I’d use a digital compact more, of course, but… no, I’m going to wait a little while longer. Because the chances are, my next mobile phone will be just about good enough for snapshot use. By the one after that, I wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing ‘Sony Ericsson Nikon’ units: it’s one of the few bits of digital convergence that actually makes sense.
Besides, what I really want is a digital SLR. And I’ve just spent that money on furniture.
look no further than the Leica Digilux 2, not an SLR as such, but by god it’s good, have a look
okay so hyperlinks don’t work in the comment box, have a look:
http://www.leica-camera.com/digitalekameras/digilux2/index_e.html
oh, they do, without all the guff, must get my head round this stuff
That costs $ 1800, you can get an SLR (or two) for that price. The manual adjustment rings on the lens are a stroke of genius, though. Much better than the +/- adjustments found on most digital cameras.
You could also consider cameras like the Fuji Finepix S5000 (and competitors like the Minolta Dimage Z1), which have reasonably good lenses (with up to 10x optical zoom), and the option for manual aperture/shutter setting. With prices of E 300-500 they’re a nice middle ground between compact and SLR.