Cameras

Just spent 3 hours today searching for a suitable second hand camera on Yahoo Auctions- the Sanyo S6 (a cheap, plastic $170 camera) that I share with the rest of my family is firstly, shared (i.e. I can’t hog it all the time), and secondly, really quite bad.

Learnt an entire dictionary’s worth of camera-related lingo today- from ISO settings to focal lengths and what have you. From distilling them down on yahoo auctions, I’ve managed to come across 2 cameras which I think fit my needs for the next 3 years at least.

The Sony DSC-N1

The Sony N1 was a surprise find at S$280- I’d seen a classmate use it on my edusave-sponsored trip to India in ’07, and was pretty taken by the awesome touchscreen. I always had the impression a camera of this standard would cost at least a $1000, and was shocked when I saw one on sale at $280, albeit without a charger.

The Casio EX-Z750

The Casio EX-Z750 at $190 was one of those cameras which the reviews loved, and the sample photos they took seemed pretty good. Personally, I like it a lot- no frills, just a pure workhorse camera- doesn’t look stylish or whatever, just takes good photos.

This will be my first camera, and I’ll probably be using it for the next few years at least. I’ve always admired the power of pictures- they can take an idea, a scene to an audience of millions; after all, a picture is a thousand words.

A small idea:

I’ve been toying with the idea of going down to be a photographer of social issues in Singapore after high school, and putting them all on a website. The website would basically be categorized according to issues (for example, children/elderly/handicapped/etc.), and each category would include photographs, a short write up, and the contact details of organizations that help the particular cause. Ideas on “how you can help”, and the donation needs of the organizations would also be included on each page.

The power of photography- a street child in Calcutta

It does seem unrealistic for a single person to accomplish, and although the web site is easily programmed, it’d be a lot of work going down, taking photographs, then researching the organizations and all. However it is a more powerful and compelling method of publicising causes- the photos could perhaps even be made into an exhibit, which would travel from school to school, a “volunteerfest” of sorts.

Perhaps a workaround would be to collaborate with the photography clubs of various schools- I’ve observed over the past few years that their efforts seem to be largely limited to merely photographing school events, even though their equipment (which is really expensive) and skill set certainly qualify them to do more. The project could start off small- say focusing on only 1 or 2 causes first, then moving on to other causes once we have found out best practices, and set up the infrastructure.

Meanwhile, I’ve chosen to go with the Sony N1- it’s a large investment (although I thank God for providing various prize monies to cover it), and you’ll be seeing many of the pictures I take on this blog. The N1 at $280 is just too good an offer to pass on- although I think I’ll eventually sell it off and purchase the Z750. The N1 seems to “high end” for my use, and just too stylish and elegant- while the Z750 would just get the job done discreetly.