I was so impressed with Cathy Moon's avatar pictures, the detail, the lighting, the lifelikeness that i asked her what camera she had. I think it was a Canon A-85 or similar. They are older models so i looked on eBay and found they are still going for up to $200 used, a testament to their qualities. So, i ended up getting basically a current version of the same model, the Canon A-620. It has since been superseded by a newer version which seems to be the same but with more megapixels. The one i got is 7.1 MP and was $249 before shipping from an online seller, Vann's in Montana, very fast delivery, unconditional guarantee, lowest price i could find on the web.
I also looked at and compared the Elfs because small size is important to to me and they are smaller. I looked at the reviews on the Digital Camera Resource Page and some other review sites (you can easily find with google) and decided that after weighing pros and cons, the A-620 was what i needed. The shot delay, start up, flash charging and such are all quite fast, anyway, way faster than any camera i've had before, and that was extremely important to me because i had been frustrated losing good shots of Zack while my other camera was trying to start up or to focus. And the shot quality is terrific, that was an area where at least in the reviews, the larger cameras like the A-620 were rated higher than the smaller ones such as the SDs. Of course, to a non professional like me, i probably would not have been able to tell the difference, but that was one of the things that decided it for me as it was my love of Cathy's photos that inspired my search. As it turns out, i can always fit the camera in my front or back jeans pocket, even though it's not easy like the elfs which i think have the most wonderful design for compactness.
The third criterion for me in choosing a camera that the A-620 excelled on compared to most other digital cameras was how long you can shoot on a battery charge. It allowed for several hundred photos, twice as many as average.
And another plus for me was that it can also use regular AA batteries so if i run out of juice in the two sets i could carry with me of the rechargeables, i can stop into any store and buy 4 AAs and shoot another 400 or 500 photos. I was hesitant about the 4 batteries making the camera heavier than a single lithium or two AAs, but as it turns out, the camera doesn't feel heavy to me at all and seems small and compact. So i've been very happy with it. I just had a three day visit with the most photogenic of dogs, my daughter's Belle, and i took lots of photos which i will try to post in the next few days to show some examples. The camera has some manual options and many automatic options. I especially like a programmable option where you can put your favorite settings in and always have them available at the twist of the dial.
Whatever you get, congratulations! Getting a new camera is so fun. And YOU, Linda, of all people, should not be without one for long, because you have some beautifully photogenic dogs around as well.
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