25X Optical-140X Digital

About 2 weeks ago I was looking through some of our older pictures—the ones we took in Italy to be specific. I noticed which camera I was holding at Trivi Fountain (it’s the one I take out in the kayak now) and thought to myself about what a difference the camera I currently used would have made.  I also thought to my self that if a better camera were available (for the level of photography I’m into) I would get it before we went on another big vacation. 

Just 2 days later Penny tells me about the new model of the Canon camera that we currently owned 3 generations of.  Unlike my current camera which has a respectable 20X optical zoom this new model has 35X.  She encouraged me to get it.  My initial thought was that the last thing we needed was another camera.  But the seed was planted in my mind.  I thought about what I had decided 2 nights earlier and after mulling it over for a week I decided to go for it.

I found the best price, believe it or not at Wal-Mart.com.

I picked up the camera yesterday and Penny and I went out to Destin to put it through its paces.  Penny now gets my “old” 20X camera and that’s what she took to shoot in Destin.

Here are some shots demonstrating the zoom:

The black speck in the center of the picture is a fisherman.

At 35X you can see he has a friend with him—a heron.

At max digital zoom I get just the bird. 

Admittedly the bird is a little coarse due to the digital zoom but it’s not bad.  I’m excited by the possibilities.  

I took some shots of the moon tonight, too.

Here is the 35X shot.

Here is the max digital zoom. If you look carefully you can see the Apollo 11 lunar lander at the top center of the picture in the Sea of Tranquility (only kidding).

All the max zoom pictures were taken hand-held.  Even without using a tripod I’m impressed at the relative sharpness in the shots—especially the moon with max digital zoom.  I didn’t crop these pictures.  I couldn’t fit the whole moon in the frame at max digital.

My new camera is a Canon XS30IS if you are inclined to know more about it.  It  is quite similar to my previous camera but they’ve made some nice improvements that make the camera easier to use.  For example, in the AUTO mode the camera automatically goes into the macro setting if the subject is close to the lens.  I won’t bore you with more details.  It takes good pictures, that’s what’s important.  Oh, and it is compatible with the flash unit my daughters got me for my birthday 2 years ago.

We had a beautiful sunny day to play with the cameras at Destin Pass.

Finally, on a different note, 2 kitties showed up tonight—Velcro and Buzz.  That’s the first 2 kitty night in some time.