In February 2007 I purchased a Canon EOS 400D, my first ever SLR camera. I only take it out when I don't think I will get it wet! I'm on a steep learning curve as I try and work out how to use it out of 'automatic' mode.
From Sunday 8 May 2005 photographs are taken with a Canon Digital IXUS 700.
It's 7M pixel, smaller and lighter than the 300. The batteries last a lot longer too!
All my photographs up to Saturday 7 May 2005 are taken with a Canon Digital IXUS 300
Basic information:
- Optical Zoom 3x (35mm-105mm)
- Digital Zoom 2.5x
- 2.1M pixel
- 128M compact flash card (it came with a 8M card)
- Photo modes - Auto, Manual, Stitch Assist and Movie
- Dimensions: 94.8 x 62.5 x 29.9mm
- Weight: 279g (including battery and card)
I bought the camera for taking photographs while out hiking to publish on the internet. The main requirements were that it should be small & light and have the ability to take panoramic shots, resolution was not a major factor as I didn't / don't intend to print many of the photos.
I tend to take pictures with a 1600 x 1200 pixel resolution and the resize down to 600 x 450 for the landscape shots for loading onto my website. At this resolution the card will hold approximately 200 pictures. I have two rechargable batteries so that I can carry a spare with me, one battery will normally last for well over 100 shots. On a 5 hour walk with good visibility I take between 80 to 150 photographs of which, excluding panoramas, between 15 and 25 will be loaded on the website. Each 360o panorama takes 16 shots.
I don't use the manual or movie modes. The Stitch Assist mode is used for the panoramic shots and the auto mode used for all others. I use Canon's ZoomBrowerEX software for downloading and storing the photos and their PhotoStitch software for creating the panoramic shots. PaintShop Pro is used for adjusting the brightness and contrast if necessary and resizing.