One of the things that Ling was a little sad about during our Singapore Botanic Gardens flowers shoot a few Sundays ago was that she didn’t have her own camera to take pictures with. We’ve had several compact digicams now of course, but they all haven’t fared so well.
So over the last week or so I went about doing my usual research to buy her a new compact camera. Ling had just a few requirements: a) It can fit into her handbag; b) It can take nice macro shots.
Those are pretty general requirements so I tacked on a few more: c) It includes optical (not digital or image) stabilization; d) Something that Ling can learn photography with, i.e. support for PASM modes. e) Costs under $300. The latter came about largely due to our experience with our last compact: the Casio Exilim Z700 cost more than $500 but lasted just 18 months and about 4500 shots taken before its sensor gave up its ghost.
Personally if I had no requirements and no budgetary limit, I would have gone for something like the Fuji FinePix S100FS, the Panasonic FZ18, or maybe even the Canon G9 to complement the D300. But none of those cameras are quite so compact at all. All three also are loads more expensive than $300, and the utility I’d be getting would be more novelty than actual usage. And I’d sooner start saving that money for a lens like this one (just joking, dear! :) )
But seriously, after studying the options with my usual spreadsheets, I identified two possibilities which met all the requirements; the Canon A590, or Panasonic Lumix LZ8, and just for fun, emailed Ling the two choices in a sort of ‘blind’ test. You know, like the Coke vs Pepsi test. The Coke has better optics but is bulkier, while the Pepsi has marginally poorer glass but is somewhat sleekier but still fatter than the old Casio. Funnily, she chose Coke first, then changed her mind to Pepsi. Women! :)
In any case, I ordered Ling’s choice on Friday from the American online retailer B & H Photo Video, took a day to finish the credit card verification process, shipped on Saturday, and on Monday evening the unit arrived by UPS Worldwide Express while we were watching the American women basketball team royally pwn the Chinese team at the Olympics. Even with the extravagant shipping option, the camera cost well under $300 and is still cheaper than if I’d bought it in Singapore.
The LZ8 sure has a laundry list of features: wide + standard aspect images, optical stabilization, facial detection, PASM (!!!), and good-enough macro. It looks, works and feels pretty OK for its sale price though yeah the tiny sensor these compact cameras can never match what a full or even cropped sensor DSLR can produce. But still, Ling seems happy with her new toy and second birthday prezzie, so that leaves me with just one more present for next month till her birthday.:)
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