Which turned out ot be alright, as that gave me time to figure out some of the features of the camera by Reading the f*ckin' Manual, what they were and how to get to them. And with camera in-hand, able to compare to The Girl’s feature-to-feature, and get an idea of what I’m paying for, really. First on the list for me?

IS. That’s Image Stabilization, if you didn’t know. My camera has a feature built-in that works to steady hand shake by spinning the optics and bending the light slightly, making pictures come out in better focus. Nice. This is a good feature, and compared to hers, taking the same picture, while hers will show the shaky image icon, mine won’t. This is good. This is worthwhile. Next on the list?

Auto-ISO Shift. This feature allows you to keep the ISO – that’s the equivalent of the film’s light sensitivity – as low as possible, and the camera will still be able to “shift” that to a higher ISO if and only if it deems it necessary to combat a too-slow shutter speed that might result in blurry images. It’s a nice feature, but honestly hers has it to an extent as well. With The Girl’s, it doesn’t automatically shift it, it warns you and then you can press a button to switch between the two modes – regular and ISO-shifted – as you see fit for the situation. Mine can do that do, but it can also be selected to just do it without having to press a button. Nice, because trying to hold the shutter button halfway down whilst reaching for another button can be a real challenge, one that results in failure often. Not so nice, because now even if you wanted to keep the ISO low for a no-noise photo, the camera’s going to basically decide that that’s not a good idea. I’m torn on this one. I mean, yeah I have the option to work it like hers anyhow, but her buttons are easier to press if I was interested, and I’m not sure that I really want to use it in auto mode, you know? This one’s debatable. Next on the list?

Wide-Angle Lens. I can get more into the picture frame from the same distance. This is sweet, right? Yes, it can be, but just how much extra goes into the frame? Well it depends on the distance of your subjects, but if it’s a crowd of people at about 10 feet, let’s say an extra two peeps on each side. Nice, but the drawback is that it cuts into the next feature’s usefulness…

Almost a full 1-point better zoom. Yes, it zooms in further than The Girl’s, but since it is starting from wider anyhow, it’s not quite all it is advertised as. Still though, it’s a wider range overall, and that’s a good thing. Next on the list?

8 Megapixels. Yeah, hers is a lowly 7.1 Megapixels, so mine’s a clear choice here. Well kinda. Honestly, both still capture more pixels than my old DSLR used to, which is sorta a sad statement, and really shows how long I held onto that thing.

But the price of admission is a good $100 more. Is it worth it? I’m not sure yet. And that could be a problem. I mean, if I am going to return it, sooner is better. But it’ll take time to really get an idea of whether I’d want to pay that price of admission for the collection of niceties that it provides me. What do you think? Honestly, I’m leaning towards keeping it since I already have it, and it is better in the ways decribed. I mean, it’s not like there’s anything missing. Save for the extra $100 in my wallet, right?

Peace.

Tags: Photography