A Canon for Brahms

Or Package #5. (Somehow, I like the title I went with.)

In either case, this was the contents of the much anticipated box that arrived yesterday: a biography on Brahms that I started reading at least 10 years ago, but stopped when the owner of the book suddenly departed for parts unknown. Oh, and a new camera. It’s a Canon SX110IS.

I so love Amazon and their expert ability at being a one-stop shop for most of my vices. All they need to do is start stocking lots of scrapbooking stuff and then I’ll be completely sunk.

Yeah, I know. My original digital camera is not yet two years old. And I could probably have used the money for something a little wiser, but I have to tell you that playing with it has been fun already in just the first whole day! In some ways, it’s like “old home week” because many of the features and functions are the same as on my Canon A630. It’s just about the same size as my other camera, too. (It’s thinner, but just a hair longer and requires only TWO AA batteries as opposed to four in the A630.)

There are some differences, too, that are requiring a little getting used to. On my old camera, the LCD can rotate 360 degrees. Not only does this change how you adjust the position of the camera, you can close the screen against the camera. The bigger, 3-inch screen on my new camera is exposed – always –and it’s tough to not fingerprint it to death. You wouldn’t think that .5 inch would make that much difference, but the images are so much easier to see on the new camera! (When I don’t have a big old thumbprint mid-screen.)

My old camera also has a grip along the right side, fashioned from the compartment for the four batteries and the memory card. Being thinner, the new camera doesn’t have this feature. It has more of a half-hearted grip.

One of the biggest changes though is quite a positive one. The old camera has a 4x optical zoom. The new one? Try 10x. That’s right – TENx! Pretty heady stuff.

I tried to take some shots from the bus last night, sans flash, and they actually didn’t come out too badly. This was my favorite because of the building reflection in the car that was two lanes over. The zoom worked pretty well to a point. The other plus in the new camera is image stabilization. Trying to shoot without a flash through the window of a moving bus, especially as unsteady as I can be sometimes, would have been blur city. That was not the case here.

This was while the sun was beginning to set and it created a whole lot of shadows. Even so, without me doing anything to this photo (except shrinking the file size to post it) images are crisp and bright.

And, while I’m not sure why, the macro function (for extreme close-ups) like this is infinitely easier to use. Maybe because the lens takes up two-thirds of the face of the camera? And since I'm getting so up close, I guess I do need to clean the lint off there, huh?

So, those of you who were wishing for a post with interior dollhouse photos … you just might get your wish! That’s just one of the things I’m anxious to give a try.

I’m like a kid in a candy store. Expect to see more photos, too, because now, I no longer have to wish I had a camera. Because it’s pretty likely that I will have one on hand as I plan to carry the new one.