Testing The Latest Camera

Have I told you the saga of the cameras?

Gerry showed up one day and placed a brand new Kodak Z740 on the desk in front of me. "You needed a new camera", he said with a grin.

I was overjoyed! Our friends Ron & Melvin arrived from Ottawa that day.  I took photos of them, of Gerry, of the streetcar we took to dinner, of the lady grilling corn in Little India… who turned and scowled at me because I was shining a bright green light like a laser beam into her eyes.

"Hmmmm… damn, how do you turn that off?" I thought. So I started playing with the camera. I searched the manual. I searched the internet. I called the store where Gerry bought the camera. I called Kodak. All to no avail. There is no way to the turn that bl**ping light off.

Back the camera went to the store.

It’s replacement, a used Nikon 5700, was a great deal at Henry’s Outlet store! High quality lens. Decent response time but I could compromise that for the price. Infinitely programmable through a challenging user interface but I could compromise ease of use for the price. Macro wasn’t great but I could compromise for the price. I get to sing the song "I got a Nikon camera, I like to take photographs, oh mama, don’t take my kodachrome away…"

Lots to learn… lots… so much in fact it was hard to do more than just point and shoot. So much to learn that I was frustrated every time I picked up the camera. I read the manual cover to cover, twice. I posted questions on flickr.com. I tried to like it. I tried to learn enough to use it. I tried not to be depressed every time I picked it up. I failed. No more singing.

Back it went.

To be replaced with a Fuji s5200 which I can honestly say fit my needs perfectly. Okay so it’s too big for my pocket… it’s smaller than the Nikon.  Bigger than the Kodak but better and more control.  Less control and less quality than the Nikon but faster and smaller . A bit more expensive yet again, but the response time and usability got me over that right quick. The lens column is protected by a tube, so the lens doesn’t have to contract every time you turn the camera off, the mechanisms are protected, and the lens cap will stay on even if the camera is on.

I couldn’t wait to get it home to figure out how to get to the "1cm telemacro" capabilities… HEY! Wait a second… the internet specs said this thing had a "Telemacro of 1cm" in addition to the 10cm macro, but I can’t find it in the manual or figure out how to turn it on – what the hell?!??!?!? 

C. Little — Photo courtesy of LexnGer

Imagine, the internet lied.  10cm is the best this will do.

Sigh. But it does great in low light… even in a movie theatre… shhhhh I was just testing the camera.

Okay… what next?