A Tale of Four [Actually Five] Cameras.

Not quite "A Tale of Two Cities," but it's all I've got. [Or, "Why I'm through with buying Kodak cameras."]

So, my first digital camera, bought about 3 years ago now, was a Kodak Easyshare C300. [Below, Left.] Sturdy, dependable little camera. Still works too [which turned out to be a really good thing.] Tough, durable, built like a brick [about the same size and weight, too]. But a great starting out digital camera. Happy to have it.

So, about a year and a half ago, when I wanted to buy Sandy a camera as a gift, I picked up the next higher up model, the Kodak Easyshare C330 [Below, Middle.] Worked great. For about a month. When the latch on the battery compartment broke. Now, fairly useless, unless you wanna duct tape some batteries in it. And you do not.

Strike One.

So when it was time for me to upgrade, particularly since I wanted a video function with sound, I went back to Kodak, figuring every company is entitled to a "one-of" error. And I picked up the Kodak M753 [Below, Right.] Great camera, great styling, all the features I wanted and then some. Took it on our China trip and it worked awesome. Great camera. For 5 months. And then I noticed the battery was only holding a charge for about a day and a half, even when I wasn't using it. And then it was a day. And then only for a couple hours. So I picked up a new battery. No change. And then the camera wouldn't even recharge at all, regardless of the battery or connection configuration. It's now a fancy looking paperweight.

Strike Two.

Though in hindsight, my Dad bought me a Kodak Instant Camera [Kodamatic] back in High School. About 2 months later, Polaroid filed a lawsuit against Kodak for patent infringement, resulting in the discontinuation of the model I had, and all available film for it.

So, that actually makes it Strike One, and then the previous Strike One is Strike Two, and Strike Two is now Strike Three. So that means, Kodak, you are out.

So having grown tired at attempted brand loyalty, and having tired of bugging nice folks back in the US to ship [or bring] me electronics [thanks Cindi, Mom and Dad Snider] I went over to the local Best Denki electronics store and picked up [with Sandy's capable assistance] a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W35 [Below.]

Upsides - better picture quality than even my most recent Kodak, and, you know, it fu%'&ing works. Which is kind of important. [The two pics above show the diff in pic quality from the C300 and the Cyber-shot. Taken only a minute or so apart. Same location/lighting... even I was surprised by the difference. Ain't technology grand?]

Downsides - Japanese menus, that can't be changed to English. Unlike the versions in the States, whose menus are in English, but can be changed to Japanese [and Spanish, and Chinese, and, and, and...] Which kind of sucks, since my Japanese still blows. You know Japan, I know you remain a 99% homogeneous nation, but would it kill you to even have to the option to realize you've got some gaijin who spend money in your country? And the only other downside I've found is that you can't zoom in while videoing, though you can zoom in and out before starting recording. Small price to pay for an actual working camera.

So, here's a few goofball pics taken with the new camera, playing around and getting used to it.

Clearly, I'm turning Japanese, and doing that damn peace sign in every picture. God help me.

Sandy, chomping down on a weird grapefruit hybrid. [Sweetie?]

Yeah, those are [mostly] mine. You'd think I'd be better educated, wouldn't you?

That snow pic below was from the new cam too.