Good Buy, Great Little Camera For a Bonehead like Me

We have purchased two inexpensive cameras in the past, both of which only lasted a short time, and both of which were made by reputable brands. This time, we decided to spend a little more money and get a good camera that works. At the time we decided to do this, an advertisement appeared for a local warehouse-type store for this very camera, for just over a hundred dollars.

Of course, I was interested, and immediately looked the camera up on Epinions. The review I read enhanced my interest in the camera, so I went to check it out. When the salesperson handed me the camera, I was immediately impressed by the solid feeling of it. It wasn't excessively heavy, it just felt like it was well put-together. I played with the zoom control to see what a difference the zoom would make, and the magnification was impressive. I was more taken with the camera when I saw that it had a digital readout showing how many pictures taken, and an automatic lens cover.

I read the owner's manual, which told of all the neat automatic features the camera has. It decides how much flash, if any, the best kind of exposure, and other things that my photographically-disabled mind don't understand. There are settings for several different photographic situations, including one that causes the camera to flash a red light in the dark, preventing "redeye" in photographs of people. This can be turned on or off, in case you aren't photographing any people.

Needless to say, I bought the camera. We shot two and a half rolls of film on a sight seeing trip to Seattle, including shots from the Space Needle, at the zoo, and scenes around the city. 99% of the pictures came out beautifully, and the few that didn't were because of the photographer. It turned out to be a lot of fun to use, and we shot several rolls of film before we realized the prohibitive cost of all the film and developing. Now we save it for especially good shots, and enjoy it very much.

I have no complaints about this camera, and I recommend it to anyone who is not an experienced or trained photographer, or to an experienced photographer who needs something a little more from-the-hip. It is compact, well-built, reliable, and a heck of a lot of fun to take pictures with. I especially recommend it if you can find one on as good a sale as I did. Happy Picture-Taking!