Bad News About My New Canon IXUS 145

Simply put, the flash on the Canon IXUS 145 stinks. It's much too weak. My old Canon A620 had a much, much better flash. I had been hoping that the much stronger zoom of the Canon IXUS 145 was accompanied by a suitable flash, but it isn't. Even pictures of a couple of meters out at night in a well-lit place look dark. And trying to lighten them isn't effective at all.

The Jerusalem "Big Blue" Lions at Kraft Stadium thanking their fans, taken with Canon IXUS 145

The Jerusalem "Big Blue" Lions at Kraft Stadium thanking their fans, taken with Canon A620

If I had been aware of that problem, I never would have bought the camera.

Morning Beauty, Different Camera, Different Feel

Over the years I've taken lots of these morning pictures while waiting for a ride or bus. This week was the first time I shot with my new Canon IXUS 145, and the view looks very different.

My new camera had double the pixels and double the zoom potential the old one (Canon 620) has. The foreground seems darker and more intense while the distance looks dreamier, more like an Impressionist painting.

Here are a couple of other pictures taken in the same general direction, from the same spot in the morning from a  year or so ago.

Playing with my new Canon IXUS 145

Last week I celebrated the birth of my latest grandchild by getting myself a new camera to replace my disintegrating dinosaur the Canon 620. After checking out a few options I found myself in Photo Schwartz right in the center of Jerusalem.

I had been there the night before and this time made the decision and bought a bright red Canon IXUS 145. And then the fun began.

I used it to take last week's 52frames "silhouette" shot.

Aren't the color details amazing? My dirty window in the background actually looks like art.

I discovered that unlike the Canon 620 it remembers instructions, such as cancelling the flash. If I turn the flash off it doesn't go back on automatically the next time I turn on my camera.

The 8x optical zoom is powerful.

My night shooting wasn't as successful.

I had to lighten the photo.

I'm still trying to adjust to being without a viewfinder and the tiny size and weight of the camera. But this is just the beginning. More to come.

Nice Ice and...

I'll start with the "and..."

The family gets a mazaltov on the birth of a baby girl to my youngest and his wife. But since the kids don't like me to blog about them, that's all I have to say right now...

This week's 52frames had a very summer friendly theme, "Ice." I used frozen coffee in the shape of a heart.

The "crystal look" under it is from sugar. I shot it with my Galaxy II smartphone since my Canon 620 camera is dying or dead. I wonder if I should have had the entire background white sugar.

After taking the picture, I added milk for a delicious summer drink. Since I still have a few heart-shaped coffee ice cubes left, maybe I'll have another cup today.

For the Jewish Sabbath observers who want really good coffee Shabbat morning, I suggest freezing coffee in a plastic cup or ice-cube tray to add to your Shabbat coffee. Just make less coffee Shabbat morning so there's room for the frozen coffee. That way the instant tastes more like perked or from your coffeemaker.

Don't Replace it 'Till It's "Dead," But...

I've had my digital camera, the old and trusty Canon PowerShot A620 for years and years.  It's the only digital camera I've owned.  When I bought it, it was still pretty easy to get film developed and then, if you wanted you could get the film converted to a CD for your computer along with the negatives.  I did that quite a few times.

Half a year after I bought my camera, it was rated as the best digital camera on the market by Yahoo and some other sites. I felt pretty lucky that my sons steered me to buy it when their friend had gotten one. One of the things I really liked was that it looked and felt like an old-fashioned film camera with a viewfinder and all.  It took me a long time to even glance at the screen.  Actually, I had it flipped shut for ages.

A few months ago the shutter began giving a lot of problems, refusing to open fully, and I brought it back to the store.  One of the workers spent a long time on it, and now it opens on command.  I asked him if I should replace the camera already, and he said "no."  He told me that the camera may probably continue working, shooting great photos for a long time.

I'm starting to get tired of schlepping it around.  It's heavy, but it has been loyal and still takes better photos in many ways/settings than my Samsung GalaxyII smartphone.

I've already chosen a replacement, but I can't afford to just buy it when the 620 still functions.

I'd love one of those bright red Canon PowerShot A2500 .  It's more than double the megapixels and a fraction of the weight. The price is also great; Amazon has it with case and memory card for less than the official price.  And for some strange reason the red is less than the black one.

Things have changed in the digital camera market since I bought my 620.  I wonder when I'll really need a new camera. It doesn't pay to buy one when my old one still works, but like I did a number of years with my refrigerator, I'll keep tabs on the market so when the time comes, I'll be ready.  But who knows... the A2500 may be an antique by the time my 620 dies.  Then I'll have to choose a newer model!

Shooting for 52frames

Every week there's a different theme/challenge.  Many of us morphed this week's "on your plate theme" into some sort of food focused picture.  I davka shot a worker preparing an anti-plate shawarma, or something like it on the grill at my local Rami Levy, Sha'ar Binyamin.

I originally just wanted to just get the fancy knife-work and steam in my picture, but my model was so excited to pose for me that I included him in the shot.

Last week's theme was Action and here's my photo:

Yes, that's a winning game by the Big Blue Jerusalem Lions tackle football team.  I was very pleased in how strong the flash is on my new Galaxy II smartphone, although the pictures aren't as clear as from my old Canon 620 camera. Now, if I could combine the flash on the phone with the quality pictures from the camera...  I'd love to replace the camera, but I can't afford to as long as it still works. This week's photo was shot with it.

The week before was Reflecting, something that I only began shooting since I got the digital camera.

It's a whole new photo genre for me. I absolutely adore it. Most of my reflection shots are more chaotic, busier, but I thought that this one would please the style of the 52frame members. But it didn't make a dent; I'm still one of the "backbenchers" in this group.

Some of the photographers in 52frames are real professionals, not dabblers or amateur plus like yours truly. There's all sorts of talk of expensive cameras, lenses, settings etc.  I don't know if I'll ever get "there." It's not only the money; it's the idea of having to schlep all sorts of equipment and losing the fun and joy in just spontaneously shooting. Today's cameras (and some smartphones) really are good and it's possible to take fantastic shots without great expense and complicated calculations.

Some Recent Jerusalem Pictures

I don't play tourist, unlike Adventures in Aliyaland who had a real adventure taking her sister around on a whirlwind tour of Israel recently.  It's just that when I go to Jerusalem I frequently see a lot of it and often by foot and lightrail, too.

I need to exercise more, and just plain "fitness walking" is a bore, so when I'm in the big city I do walk.  It's just that I don't get there often.  Most of the time I'm only there once a week.  Well armed with my trusty Canon 620 (rather an ancient artifact by digital camera standards) I end up taking lots of pictures.  And also being well-trained by my parents "not to waste film," I rarely shoot more than one of two of a scene.

Since I'll soon be getting myself a smartphone, does anyone have recommendations of those with decent easy to use cameras or in the negative, what not to buy?  Price is important.  Less money is certainly better for me.

PS as you can see, there was still snow in many places.

Sorry For The Politics

When I "invited" my different blogging identities to blog on the "other blogs," I knew that I'd be complicating things a bit. Now I have to check which blog I'm blogging on, and I didn't this morning. I was sure that I was writing on Shiloh Musings, not here on me-ander.

I should have gotten the hint when I discovered that there weren't the right "labels" in the blog "memory," but I was so intent and intense on writing my post, that I just ignored it. So, if you're among the readers who don't want politics, I apologize.

G-d willing, a bit later in the morning, I'll be putting the hundreds of photos and videos, three whatever worth of digital memory, onto cd's, and then I'll try to post some. Now that I'm taking videos on my Canon 620, I'll have to get something stronger than my "one" or "two."

And tomorrow, I'll weigh myself, if my friend is home, and see if my "sort of" following my Start Fresh kosher weight loss diet kept my weight from increasing. It's not easy to diet in an "all you can eat" Eilat hotel setting, even "half-board." At least this is Israel, where salads are more than plentiful.