Digital Camera Fiend - A Camera Review

I love my Canon SD850 Powershot. I bought it in Sept. 2007 and have continually been impressed with its quality, ease of use, and manual options. Not too shabby for a non-DSLR camera.

I had actually bought the camera to replace an older Powershot. The lens on the old camera had become stuck in an extended position, and with the warranty already expired it wasn’t worth paying to have it fixed.

So I went out and bought the Powershot 850. Everything was great until a month ago…literally days before my 1 year warranty was set to expire. Just like my older Powershot, the lens became stuck in an extended position. I tried taking the battery out, re-starting the camera several times, but the lens wouldn’t budge and I kept getting a lens error message.

My question is, are Canon Powershots prone to these kind of lens problems? If so, I might seriously rethink my next camera purchase. I’ve always been loyal to Canon for my point-and-shoot needs, but durability is important.

I don’t want to have to buy a $300 camera every year.
It seems odd that this same thing would happen to both of my cameras. Luckily in this case I sent the camera back to the manufacturer and it was fixed within a couple weeks as good as new.

Kind of frustrating though, that they can’t build them more sturdy. They are wonderful cameras.

Morning Web, originally uploaded by aremac.

Taken with Nikon D50 SLR digital camera, “Morning Web” is rich with detail. Note the lower right corner in particular–the sparkle and detail of the web is the strong point in the photo.

The fresh youthfulness of the morning sunrise contrasts nicely with the suggestion of age and antiquity in the web.

I don’t know about you, but I have a lot of people to do holiday shopping for. Since I’m a Digital Camera Fiend, I love to get people photo related presents.

With all the price points out there on tech gadgets and camera gear, it can be a bit daunting. But things have gotten a lot easier for bargain shoppers or those who don’t like to brave the malls.

There are a plethora of comparison shopping sites that help shoppers find where the best deals are. I call these sites, “Santa’s Little Helpers” because believe me they save a lot of time and hassle.

My new favorite helper is TechBargains.com. They’ll fill you in on all the bargain news and exclusive deals. Browse their product reviews and comparisons and get email newsletters so you won’t miss any savings opportunities.

I was on there earlier today and there’s a whole section on dell coupons. Just punch in the coupon code when you go to buy and save hundreds of dollars on laptop and desktop computer purchases.

They have sections on digital camera reviews, cheap camcorders, bargain GPS devices and more. I found digital camera specials from Circuit City, Staples and Best Buy.

It’s going to be a Merry Christmas for a lot of people I know with a little assistance from Santa’s favorite helper.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Superprinter!

After investing $1.4 billion over the last five years, HP has come out with the Photosmart 8250 printer. With 3,900 ink jets, this printer shoots out brilliant photos in just 14 seconds (for a 4″x6″ print). It’s supposedly the fastest photo printer in the world. It beat a top Canon printer by 30 seconds when printing an 8 1/2 x 11 photo when NY Times technology writer David Pogue put it to an informal test.
Other cool features: you don’t need a computer–put your memory card right into the printer and flip through your photos on a 2 1/2 inch screen on the printer. The 8250 also has the ability to read bar codes on the back of photo paper which tell the printer what size paper is being used and also if the paper is correctly loaded. This bar code paper, however, could start to fade in just one year compared to other photo paper which lasts more than a century.

The printer retails for as cheap as $80.

If you spend a lot of time in front of a computer at work, chances are you get to do a lot of web browsing. But after awhile visiting the same old sites gets kind of boring. That’s when, for some reason, I became hooked on celebrity gossip.

It started off innocently enough with a few visits to Gawker. Some of their posts mentioned PerezHilton.com, and so I started reading his gossip. That lead to X17, the paparazzi photo agency.

Now there is a new site, celebritygossip.com, that aggregates all of this celeb news in one spot. There are tabs to look up your favorite celebrity, and an entire index of celebrity photos. Visitors can vote on their favorite news and leave comments too.

Best of all, new posts are added quite frequently throughout the day, so there’s plenty of fresh content to read….er….if celeb gossip and photos are your thing, of course.

Just don’t let the boss see.  This post is sponsored.

Most juries find it hard to dispute photographic evidence-and criminals know that. Not every Mom & Pop shop can afford fancy equipment and camera surveillance, but for just a fraction of the price you can get a fake security camera.

I saw this on a site called TV Products 4 Less.  To the average customer, it looks like the real deal. It won’t seal any convictions in court, but a fake security camera is a strong deterrent.

Other security devices offered on this website: Driveway Alarms, Security bars from Honeywell, and wireless home security alarm. This is a sponsored post.

Visa came out with a new gimmick last week that should be of interest to budding photographers or those with a creative flair. It’s called PAYjr Visa Buxx, a pre-paid card for teens which is meant to help them learn how to manage money.

The cool part is that users can design their own card by uploading photos. There’s also a contest where users can vote for their favorite design — the winner will receive a new Apple MacBook. You could also be paid royalties if your design is chosen and used by other card holders.

Hopefully most teens won’t go for the prom photo card like the one above. We all know how fickle teen romance can be. This is a sponsored post.

Some friends of mine just got back from Portland, Oregon and had this to report: the Pacific Northwest is a trove of photograph opportunities. There’s nature, and urban life. Mountains, and an ocean. Green forests, and brick buildings.

I have never been north of San Francisco, personally, but Seattle and Portland are on my short list of American cities to visit. Everyone knows it rains a lot, and although the rain can be a challenge for a photographer, it also creates some unique shots.

Think rose buds with pregnant droplets of rain, under soft sunlight peeking through gray clouds.

Portland is the sister city to Suzhou, China and as a result it has a phenomenal Chinese Garden built by master craftsmen from China. No camera tripods are allowed in the garden, and professional photographers must get permission before shooting, but for the amateur, it’s ripe for natural flower photos.

My friends spent the better part of a day there and came back with some lovely shots.

They said that Portland is a small big city, where the people are friendly, it’s easy to get around, and your stay is relatively inexpensive (compared to cities like San Francisco, or LA).

If anyone is thinking of going, I would suggest looking for Portland Hotels on Sidestep.com, a travel search engine which searches more than 150 travel websites for the best deals. You can read reviews and view pictures before booking your hotel. Sidestep also has city overviews, giving helpful suggestions for restaurants, nightlife, shopping, day trips and more.

Since my last post was a photographic tribute to India, I’d like to take this time to encourage every photographer in need of some inspiration to book a trip to this amazing country of contrasts and colors. What follows is a helpful lodging suggestion for anyone planning to make that trip.

Traveling to developing nations like India poses challenges the average jet setter to Europe might not be ready for. Until recently there was no well organized and inclusive hotel web site for visitors to study before making their trip.

That’s why, despite some minor faults, inasra.com is a goldmine of information for the tourist planning an Indian vacation. The site listed dozens of Indian cities often found on the tourist circuit. Simply click on the city of your choice and scroll through listed properties, which range from decadent palaces priced at hundreds of dollars a night, to simple abodes that cost less than a trip to McDonalds.

You can book Indian hotels online at this site, a positive convenience factor.

The site has some work to do: hotel descriptions can be sparse, and the web design is lacking imagination. It might also be more appealing if small thumbnail pictures were present before clicking through on each property.

But it’s really the first comprehensive hotel website of its type that I’ve seen for India.

As someone who has traveled throughout India, sometimes it’s best to skip the Lonely Planet lodging recommendations, which will be packed and often over booked. This website gives the traveler another tool at their disposal, and one that I believe is sure to come in handy. This is a sponsored post.

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The site also has a helpful explanation of different satellite TV terms and commonly held mis-perceptions. You can compare deals from DIRECTV and DISH Network. This comparison site could help you get the TV package you want at a price you can afford. Give it a try. This is a sponsored post.