Month: September 2005

A610 – Not broken

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If you were following my thread at dpreview, you’ll know I don’t hate my camera anymore. I wouldn’t exactly say I jumped the gun, but I should have given myself more time to get used to it. You’d think I learn by now as I almost always hate the new camera I buy at first. Weird, I know.

Anyway, I’m still not completely happy with the vignetting, but it isn’t the end of the world. Also, I actually read the user manual (shocker!) and it alleviated my fears when I noticed that the LCD screen was flickering under florescent lighting at my office. The troubleshooting portion of the manual addresses this and says it is normal.

So I’ve decided to keep the camera and play with it more. It really has a ton of great features for the low price ($299). I remember paying $600 for my first digital, the Nikon Coolpix 885. Times have certainly changed. I think Nikon made a big mistake with their P&S cameras as they are priced the same as Canon’s, yet lack any manual features at all. They give you Auto and Scene and that’s it. Not a good idea if you’re trying to stay ahead of the competition. Does Nikon think people are too stupid to want creative control over their photographs? I can see how some people want to easily take photos without trying, but couldn’t Nikon have made some P&S cameras with manual modes? It seems weird to have done away with all of them unless you buy a higher-end camera that isn’t pocketable. Kinda silly, if you ask me.

A610 – Broken???

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My new camera came today and I’m very disappointed because I think it may be broken. Actually, I hope it’s broken, because the alternative is that Canon cannot make a decent P&S camera (and I say this after looking at my older model Nikon P&S cameras which didn’t have this problem).

Anyway, the issues is that there is much more vignetting with this camera that I have ever seen before. In fact, I can’t say I ever recall seeing this before. I started a thread at dpreview.com to see whether it’s the camera or me. I can’t decide whether I’m expecting too much from it, or if my camera is a dud. I’d hate to think this is what Canon considers quality, but I’m not sure since the 20D is in such a higher class than a point-and-shoot so the two really cannot be compared.

Right now I’m trying to decide whether I should try exchanging it for another one. To think I was so excited this morning, and now I’m starting to get angry that I spent $300 on this thing. I feel very blah about the whole experience, and if it wasn’t for a 10% restocking fee, I’d probably just return it and wash my hands of the whole thing for now. :p

I scream – update

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In case there was any doubt whether Edy’s ice cream delivery notice works, I got an e-mail from them this morning stating they delivered Espresso Chip to my local Super Target yesterday. When I went to Target after work, I didn’t see any, so Joe pulled aside an employee who checked in back and sure enough, they had it! Apparently no one had gotten around to stocking the shelf with it yet. You gotta love the internet!

Lazy Sunday

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This weekend turned out to be a lazy one thanks to the weather. This morning we got up early for a trip to Walmart and did some grocery shopping.

We got Burnout Revenge for the PS2 so I spent over an hour playing that. I love how you can crash into regular traffic without getting taken down now. There’s a new challenge too where the whole point is to see how much damage you can accumulate in traffic and you gain time on the clock for every vehicle you hit. Once the clock reaches zero, it’s over. I got a Gold medal the first time playing it because Burnout is MY game, baby. ;)

We went to Target in the afternoon for a few things since I had a taste for a Mint Mocha Frappachino (there’s a Starbucks inside). All I’ve consumed today is that tall frap and a few tortilla chips with cheese. But now I’m going to have some lasagna with garlic bread. Mmmm.

Oh and my camera shipped today which hopefully means I’ll have it before next weekend! I can’t wait.

DM Concert

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Tickets went on sale this morning for the November Depeche Mode concert in Chicago. I came *this close* to buying tickets; I had my credit card info entered and everything, but changed my mind at the last minute. It wasn’t just about the money ($50 a ticket for the crap seats, $75 a ticket for the good seats, plus a $9 “convenience” charge per ticket, plus a $4.50 processing charge), and it wasn’t just about the fact that I hate the acoustics at the Allstate Arena. It was those two things combined plus how I didn’t enjoy the concert in ’98 as much as I was expecting, and that the concert this year is on a weeknight.

Joe pointed out how I did the same thing the last time Depeche Mode came to Chicago. I guess I’m just not that into concerts. Now, if it had been The Cure, I would have gotten the $75 tickets without hesitation, but I guess they are the only band I’d bother going to see. Nine Inch Nails plays October 7th and I passed on those tickets too.