Geeks With Cameras

You've got to have the right camera ...


... if you want to get the right pictures.


Upon recomendation from SWMBO, I'm kinda looking at the Samsung TL220 at $299. The Samsung TL225 costs another $50, but the price difference doesn't include features I want. (They include PAL video format, for example, which are only useful outside the U.S.)

Both Samsung cameras cost more than I want to spend, but if I were certain that they include all of the features I want, I would be willing to pay the extra buck$.

As the saying goes: "The thrill of paying a low price is undermined by the disappointment of low quality".

Or perhaps more accurately: "Some people will by anything if they can get a bargain price; others will pay a higher price to get what they want."

But the bugger of the deal is, it doesn't tell me specifically that the video includes sound, or whether you can zoom while filming video. The good news is that there seems to be a 20 minute limit on the video length, while the Canon A1000IS seems to limit videos to 3 minutes.

Number of Recording Pixels
Still Image: 3,648 x 2,736 (Large), 2,816 x 2,112 (Medium 1), 2,272 x 1,704 (Medium 2), 1,600 x 1,200 (Medium 3/Date Stamp), 640 x 480 (Small), 3,648 x 2,048 (Widescreen)
Movie: 640 x 480 (30 fps/30 fps LP), 320 x 240 (30 fps) available up to 4GB or 60 minutes per clip, 160 x 120 (15 fps) up to 3 minutes per clip

No, I don't understand the seemingly contradictory specifications, but I'm not buying until I can work it out; it seems to me that the lower (15fps) density should provide a recording time than the higher (30fps) density.

And again, I don't know if either of the mentioned cameras allow zoom-while-recording in video mode.

Unfortunately, I can't find a reliable authority which can provide all the detail specifications I'm looking for. I would go to a camera store, which now-days seem to offer digital cameras at least as frequently as they to traditional 'film' cameras, for help -- except my experience in brick-and-mortar stores seem to demonstrate that:

1. the prices are almost invariably much higher than internet sales;
2. they don't provide any better customer service than do internet stores;
3. they are no more knowledgeable about digital camera specifications than are available online.

So I'm still looking for a real authority, who can answer my questions about the available digital cameras.

I was spoiled by the HP camera, until it died on me. With a little fiddling, I can still get it to work. Unfortunately, HP no longer makes or sells digital cameras, and their customer support is non-existant.

Apologies for the digression here from my usual USPSA-themed articles. Oh, wait ... I spend more times on politics and cultural themes than I do on shooting themes, don't I? Perhaps I'm less geekishly one-dimensional that I thought. Anyway, the purpose of my interest in photography is mainly involved with shooting USPSA matches with gun and camera, both.

At the last ARPC match, I had the best intentions of filming the New Shooters so they would have a record of their first match. The demise of my camera stopped that, just as my inability to find my bifocals stopped my ability to hit targets consistently.

I definitely have to get back to Open Division! Both in firearms, and in cameras.