digital camera

[cellio]

My ancient and venerable digital camera has been somewhat unreliable in a way that's not worth repairing, given that it's ancient and venerable. (I often tend to hang on to hardware past the point when I really should just upgrade anyway. Exhibit A: my HP LaserJet 5L, which has mostly served me well for more than a decade.) But hey, digital-camera technology has certainly gotten better, and low-end photographers like me don't need all the expensive bells and whistles. So today I set out to improve my photographic situation before Pennsic.

Oh, Cannon PowerShot A530, I think we are going to have a long and pleasant relationship. I don't know what half your advanced functions even mean yet, but I will enjoy finding out. The camera is a good size for my hand, has controls that are tight enough not to be mushy without being difficult, and seems to take good pictures. (The real test of that involves a different operator, I suspect.)

It comes with software that I'm ignoring for now; my computer has a built-in card reader and that works just fine.

Conversation with the sales guy while discussing features I wanted:
Me: I wouldn't object to re-using my current memory cards.
Him: What do you have?
Me: Compact flash.
Him: Almost no one uses that any more.
Me: Bummer.
Him: A gig of SD (what everyone uses now) costs $25; do you care?

I'm pretty sure my current 128MB card cost rather more than that. :-) (And on the other hand, given how cheap memory is, you'd think that as a gesture of goodwill, the camera would come with more than a 16MB card. I didn't bother to peel off its plastic.)

Comments

[cellio]

I've had a couple problems with my printer recently and have wondered whether it's time to replace it, but so far I've been stubborn. :-) (It lost half its on-board memory a few months ago, which meant I couldn't print full pages of Hebrew any more. Instead of spending $150-200 for a new printer I spent $20 for an auxiliary memory card. There's a principle that you don't put money into stuff that old, but I did.)

I'm told that HP eventually decided that the vertical paper tray was a bad idea because it catches dust that can then gum up the works. I hadn't considered that; maybe I should improvise a cover for when the printer isn't in use. Either that or apply compressed air every now and then.