Back in 2004, I went digital. I bought a Canon PowerShot A70, which at that time was rated the best value for money under 250 bucks. I cannot find any fault with it so far, my only concern is that the mode change knob should not wear out since I am always flipping from the [P] mode to the video mode
My SLR that I mention below finally gave up the ghost and started to behave in all kinds of odd fashions. And since I was scanning and uploading a lot of my pictures to share with friends and family, digital seemed a much better idea, anyway
For a while, my photgraphic equipment consisted of a Canon 650 that I bought used in UK in a sudden fit of enthusiasm.
Mostly I used to set it on the green rectangle mode.
I used a little Olympus Stylus before that and that one took a beating and was taking pictures nearly 10 years down the line till it finally went bust on a trip that my mother took to Puri.
I once forgot I had it strung around my neck and wandered into the Cave of the Winds at Niagara and it got soaked completely. I opened the back shook out the water, dried it in the men's room hand drier and it was as good as ever
These days I upload all my pictures to ofoto. Here are the links to the various albums
If the site pesters you for a login use the email id "krishna@vaikuntha.com" and the password "radha"
Apr-May 2006The fall colour pictures I took in a place called Ogema in the middle of Wisconsin, which claims the questionable distinction of being the highest spot in that state.
One of the best places to go to find out more about taking good pictures is Kodak's Taking Better Pictures page.
Another site with tips and such like is Robert Slade's.
And Philip Greenspun's site on all matters photographic and otherwise is an excellent place to browse around. Actually the photo part of it is a link from his site. I read somewhere recently that this guy was some kind of child prodigy.
Some thoughts on buying a camera (circa 2004)
No two ways about it, digital is the way to go! The convenience is too good. My gripe used to be that it is not as convenient to see your photos on a monitor but it is easy to burn your pictures on CD and watch them on your TV thru your DVD player.
Plus, even small cameras let you record video with sound which you can burn on the same CD! My DVD player doesn't play back the native avi videos so I use TMPGENC to convert to mpg.
As you will find everywhere, 3.2MP is about all that you need but pretty soon you won't find any 3.2 MP cameras!
As I have said with the SLR comments below, buy a tripod!
Some thoughts on buying cameras. (circa 1998) If you must buy an SLR, buy a tripod. This is more useful than a zoom lens! One of the best features of an SLR is its ability to take pictures in low light, but low light implies longer exposures and a tripod is a must.
I used to have an entry about APS cameras here- that technology is pretty much dead, isn't it?
Buy a compact with a big eyepiece. Especially if you wear glasses.
SLR lens covers vanish more mysteriously than socks in a washing machine. Get one of those cord things.
