The Great Camera Debate, Part Two

I heard back from my cousin and he recommended the Canon Powershot SX1 IS based on it's CMOS sensor and the ability to record in RAW format. He's still digging into the ISO issue for me.

In the meantime...I figured that since I'd probably be spending $500, I should just look at a few basic DSLR models and compare prices. My first stop, as always, was Consumer Reports magazine and they rated both the Nikon D90 and the Canon EOS Rebel T1i highly. But, down just a few notches and listed as a CR Best Buy is the Pentax K-x. I found several reputable places online with kits that include the camera and two lenses (18-55mm and 55-300mm) for around $700. It is 12.4 MP, records in RAW, has CMOS sensor and, something that wasn't available in DSLR when I was looking in June 2008, ability to record HD video. I just spent over 2 hours reading customer reviews and they all say phenomenal things about this camera. Oh, and that Consumer Reports ISO test...this Pentax rates at 6400!! Yes...I think I'm in LUV!!! I just wasn't getting a good vibe on either of the Canon models but, I'm definitely feeling it with this Pentax!! One thing that I REALLY like about this camera is that it uses AA batteries...very unusual for a DSLR. I have learned that it is so much easier to have spare, charged AA rechargeable batteries (if I remember to actually recharge them!) than to worry about whether the battery pack is charged.

So, now I just need to raise $700 so I can buy this baby!! It comes in a choice of black, red, navy or white...hmmm...which color should I choose?

The Great Camera Debate

I am looking to purchase one, of two, almost identical cameras.

The first one is the Canon Powershot SX20 IS, which is a next generation model of the Canon S5 IS that I bought in July 2008. It is 12.1 MP, has CCD sensor, 20X optical zoom, 720p HD (1,280 x 720 pixels at 30 fps) movie mode and records only JPEG. The best price I can find on this one today is $330.

The second one is the Canon SX1 IS. It is 10 MP, has CMOS sensor, 20X optical zoom, Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels at 30 fps) movie mode and records JPEG and RAW formats. The best price I can find on this one today is $518.

I have devoured the Consumer Reports ratings on both cameras and have read pages & pages of customer reviews...and I still can't make up my mind! I do like the fact that the SX1 IS shoots in RAW but not sure that it is worth the extra $$. Also, the CMOS sensor is supposed to be superior to the CCD as it is the sensor found in all DSLR cameras. The reviews are mixed and I'm mostly concerned about the ISO test that Consumer Reports put each camera through. They test for "maximum ISO with best quality" and, according to CR, the SX1 IS rates at 100 ISO. They rate the SX20 IS at 1600 ISO. That seems pretty significant to me and tells me that the SX1 IS doesn't do well in low light. I generally avoid using flash (don't like the "washed out" look it gives photos and, don't like to call attention to the fact that "hey, I'm taking photos"), so I do not like this bit of information on the SX1 IS. In fact, many of the customer reviews that I've read state that it does not do well in low light situations.

I have sent an email to my cousin, a professional photographer in Los Angeles, to get his expert advice. I know he'll say to buy a DSLR with all of the fancy high tech gadgets. (I think he has a Canon 5D.) I would SO love to have a DSLR but, it's not in my budget at this point.

So, if anyone out in blog land has experience with either of these two cameras, please take the time to leave a comment with your opinion. Thanks!

Building Bridges

This week's Science Saturday had us building bridges using popsicle sticks. And since the theme is "science", the bridges had to be structurally sound and not just pretty.
The specifications were that the bridge had to span a space of 14 inches and had to be made using no more than 45 popsicle sticks.

The first task was designing the bridge on paper and then assembling the popsicle sticks, using LOTS of hot glue. Jamie drew out his design and then helped to modify as we glued it together. To strengthen the joints, small holes were drilled and short pieces of paper clips were inserted.

Jamie's bridge

Civil engineers of the future?

After everyone was finished building their bridge, it was time to test their strength. Two bridges were set up, side by side, and weights were added until one bridge broke. Another bridge was set up with weight equaling the bridge still standing. The final two bridges belonged to Jamie and Parker and Parker's bridge was the strongest. Jamie's bridge came apart at one of the joints, but otherwise held up. Parker kept adding weight to his bridge and it slipped off of the stool but never broke!

and the winner is...

(I took my mom's camera with me to Science Saturday to take pictures but NONE of my batteries were charged...UGH!!! Had to settle for using the camera on my cell phone. It does an OK job but, I really need a new camera!!)

Reality Bites!

Nothing says "welcome home from your warm and sunny Arizona Spring Break" like a spring snow storm...at least 5 inches!

Home Again

We're home from our Spring Break trip to Arizona. I'll miss the warm sunshine but it is good to be home. We had to do the "spring ahead" for daylight savings and lost an hour but at least we got to hang onto that hour for an extra week. (Arizona doesn't do daylight savings.)

Friday and Saturday were both fairly laid back days. We gave Jamie a few choices for activities to do on Friday. He must have been as tired as the rest of us because he passed up going to an amusement park and a chocolate factory tour for Toys R Us and hanging out at grandma's house. Bill & Jamie went to the Mesa swap meet and then to Toys R Us to spend Jamie's gift card from Christmas. When they were finished, mom & I met them and we went to Joe's BBQ for lunch.

YUM!!! I love that place!! We stopped at Saver's on the way home but, other than that, just relaxed around the house all day. I was watching the NCAA basketball tournament most of the day and Bill & Jamie played catch or bowling outside. I also did laundry.

Saturday morning we got up and packed and took our time getting ready to leave. We were worried about travel conditions because NM had a big snowstorm on Friday but the roads were clear & dry. We drove straight to Gallup, NM and stopped at Applebee's to watch UNM play Washington in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament. UNM lost! We got into Albuquerque about 7:30 and drove to Billy's house to pick up the van. (Bill had stayed there & Billy took him to the airport). By the time we got to Rio Rancho it was almost 9:00 and we all went straight to bed.

We met Esteban at Satellite Coffee on Sunday morning. He was in town for a few days (visiting from Los Angeles) so it was a special treat that our paths crossed long enough to meet up. Afterwards, I was so tired from our busy week that I decided to just head to Alamosa and since we had two vehicles, Bill decided to stay longer and have lunch with Billy. Jamie rode with me and we were home by 3:00...he was so excited that it was still daylight when we got home!! (We usually don't get home from out of town trips until after dark) We unloaded the car and he started in playing his new NBA Wii game. I, of course, watched basketball.

Today we're getting back into the daily routine...Jamie & Bill are at school and I'm recuperating. I have scrapbooking tonight and I'm so tired, I don't really feel like going. I don't have anything prepared to work on, although I do need to do my swap cards for next month's stamp club and prep for the workshop I have on Thursday. My new Cricut arrived while I was gone, too, so I also want to play with that & figure out how to use it.

I'm starting the camera research process...again! When I went through this in June 2008, I assumed that that camera purchase would take me through at least 5 or 6 years...but, here I am, less than two years later and needing to buy another camera. I'm so frustrated!! I really, REALLY liked the Canon and am considering another one, but want it to last more than 2 years. Jamie is going to be a groomsman in his cousin's wedding (Scott & Corrie) over Memorial Day weekend so my goal is to find, purchase and figure out a new camera by then.

Day Eight

...it's all...

...about the snacks...

Group photo: Linda, Chris, Bill, Jamie, Julie
(yes, Jamie is crossing his eyes & making a silly face!)

Rockies WIN!!

Our final baseball outing of this Spring Break took us to Peoria to watch the Rockies vs. Mariners. Peoria is approximately 57 miles from where my mom lives in Mesa...it took us about 50 minutes to drive to the exit and then another HOUR to go one mile from the exit to the stadium!!! There was NO traffic control in place...un-freakin-believable!
Then, when we finally got to the stadium, the parking lots were all full. UGH! I was driving so, I dropped Bill & Jamie off and drove around until I found a parking space at a strip mall about a mile away from the stadium. I was so aggravated!!! I will probably avoid this stadium in the future due to this one horrible experience!
But, it was good to see our friends, Chris & Linda, who live in Payson and come down every Spring Break to meet us for a baseball game.
So, I just have to say that my team won every game that we went to this week...maybe an omen for the regular season?

Hi Corbett Field

So, Pat called on Wednesday morning & said they were a couple of hours from Tucson so we headed down to meet them. Google Maps said it would take us 2 hours and 45 minutes to go the "scenic route" but we figured we had time and decided to do it. It only took us an hour and a half, which put us on the same time-table as Pat & Cathy...we arrived at Hi Corbett Field at almost the same time and parked next to each other.

This is the last year that the Rockies will have their Spring Training in Tucson. Next year, they will share a brand new facility with the D'backs in North Scottsdale. It will be much more convenient for us but, we felt like we needed to go to one last game at Hi Corbett.

Rockies warming up
(Todd Helton #17)

Rockies WIN!! And...it was a toasty 84 degrees!

Group photo: Cathy, Pat, Julie, Jamie & Bill
(Thanks, Joni, for being the photographer!)

Wednesday also happened to be St. Patrick's Day. Since Pat(rick) & Cathy McDermott are Irish, it was a no-brainer that they'd be decked out in their holiday green!
We saw other Alamosans at the game, too, including the Bilderbecks.

After the game, Pat pulled out his wiffle ball stuff and he, Jamie & Bill had fun playing while Cathy & I watched and chatted. I'm definitely going to have to arrange more play-dates for Pat & Jamie!!

We all went to dinner at Olive Garden, then we headed back to Mesa while Pat & Cathy went to stake out their camp-site for the night. They were going to explore Tucson on Thursday and then go to the Rockies game at Hi Corbett today.

I was feeling tired from all of this weeks activities and almost backed out of the Tucson trip but I'm glad I didn't...we had a great day!

Arizona Museum of Natural History

Bronco & Ginger also enjoyed their spring break, they have had the "freedom" to roam in the yard and in & out of the house.

Bill & Jamie playing catch in the yard.


The Phoenix metro area has an awesome program called "The Culture Pass". Public library card holders can check out free passes to several museums and even the zoo. It's a very popular program and the passes are hard to come by. My mom lucked out, though, and got a pass for the Arizona Museum of Natural History. We went to that museum last year and we all enjoyed it so, we were excited to go again. Grandma went with us this year, so it was even more fun!

Bill & Jamie were exhausted after the museum!

I just talked to our friend, Pat, from Alamosa. He & Cathy are on their way to Tucson...we've tentatively planned to meet them there to watch the Rockies at Hi Corbett Field. They left Alamosa about an hour ago and are going to drive most of the night but don't know if they'll make it to Tucson in time for the game. I haven't bought tickets because, if they don't make it, I'd really rather stay in Mesa and relax. They're going to call by 9AM tomorrow & let us know their progress. So, I guess we need to be ready to go to Tucson anyway.

Sunshine, Baseball, Friends...Spring Break!

Bill's plane arrived this morning. Jamie & I drove to the airport and, actually, over-estimated the time it would take us to navigate through traffic so we ended up sitting in the cell phone lot for almost an hour.

We already had plans to meet my high school friend, Darrin, for lunch and a baseball game so, instead of driving back to Mesa, we headed from the airport to the Arizona Mills Mall to wander around for a bit. After lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, we went to Tempe Diablo Stadium to watch the Dodgers vs. Angels. We try to get together with Darrin every year and since we're all big baseball (all sports, really) fans, it's fun to hang out at the ball park. (side note: one great high school memory I have is of Darrin's dad...his favorite greeting was "hello sports fan!")

Jamie was happy to see his daddy (so was I!) and we had a great visit with Darrin. And...the Dodgers won! Jamie, again, had to pick a team to cheer for and it had to be the one that we weren't cheering for. Since Darrin & I both grew up in the days of the Albuquerque Dukes, we still tend to bleed a little Dodger blue. So, Jamie decided to cheer for the Angels...and actually, since Mike Scioscia (a former Albuquerque Duke) is the Angels manager, I could've gone with either team. I was just happy to be enjoying the warm sunshine and watching baseball! We also were entertained by someone climbing the small butte just past the outfield...our entire section cheered when he summit-ted!

Found out today that my mom's camera doesn't read the SDHC card that I transferred to it from my camera. Her camera has a small internal memory and I was able to take pictures so it never occurred to me that they weren't being saved to the card...until we got to the game & I started taking pictures and got the error message that the memory was full. So, I had to delete some of the pictures I took at the Cubs game and then had to be selective of what pictures I took today. Tonight I got the pics off of the camera's internal memory downloaded and put in a regular SD card so, now I think I'm set for the rest of the week!

Spring Break, Day Three

Today was a laid back day. My mom, Jamie & I went to the Mesa swap meet this morning to walk around and look. My mom had to buy some things for a friend of hers. Jamie was NOT at all interested in going but, once we were there, he wanted to look at EVERYTHING!! We spent a couple of hours there and, according to my mom, only got through about 1/4 of the entire market. They have just about anything you can think of there! Jamie came home with a remote control car, actually a cool toy and more than I expected for the $7 I paid for it.

After the swap meet, we decided to go to Pei Wei for lunch. I'd been to one in SLC and was really impressed and thought my mom would like it too. This one was OK, different and more formal than I remember the one in SLC to be...doubt that we'll go back, though.
I loved the all you can eat fortune cookies and all you can drink chai tea!!

We learned something about Ginger today. When we left for the swap meet, we left her chained up in the yard because, although my mom's yard is completely fenced, we're pretty sure she can jump the four foot fence. Thing is...I don't think she knows she can jump it! When we got home, she was off the chain but, still in the yard. She had broken the clasp on the chain and we were so glad that she was still around! When we put her in the dog run at home, with a six foot fence, she climbs over and is out of the run before we can close the gate. But, we keep her & Bronco in the laundry room with a 3 foot baby gate and she doesn't jump that, even though she could probably step over it. So, maybe she's a climber and not a jumper and maybe she needs more fence to get traction to climb. Silly dog!!
So, we're letting her roam in the yard here and, so far, she's done great! Who knew?? It's better for us, too, because now we don't have to listen to her yelping!

Bill arrives tomorrow morning! I'm glad Jamie & I came down early but I'll be happy to have another playmate for Jamie!

Spring Break, Day One & Two

Jamie & I arrived in Tempe, AZ at about 4:00 on Friday...my first stop was a camera repair shop. The news was not good and I'm so bummed! The memory card slot is NOT an easy fix, the entire camera housing has to be replaced. When I asked about having it repaired, they strongly suggested that I just buy a new camera...that it would actually cost less to buy a new camera than to have that one (less than 2 years old!) repaired. They said that cameras are being made like cell phones...made to last a year or so and then be replaced. Damn!
Then I got to drive to Mesa in rush hour traffic!! Welcome to the big city!!

Luckily, my mom has a decent digital camera and is letting me borrow it until I find and can afford to buy the camera I want.

So, to start off our week in the sun, Jamie and I went to see the Cubbies play today at HoHoKam Park. They played the Reds (Jamie's little league team last summer was the Reds) so Jamie wore his Reds gear and I had my Cubs t-shirt. He's going through this phase now where he likes the opposite of anything Bill or I like, so we had a fun & friendly rivalry going. The Cubs won, though, so I had the last laugh! Ha! Ha!

After the game, we went to the park and played our own version of baseball. It started out with me pitching to him (regular baseball & metal youth bat) and him hitting the ball way over my head so that I had to chase it. That version very quickly became not so fun for me as I spent all of my time chasing the ball!! He pitched to me some and then we finally settled on me hitting grounders to him so he could practice fielding. He was tired when we finished and actually said that I wore him out! It's usually the other way around...he wears me out long before his energy runs out.

Give Me A (Spring) Break!

Woke up to about 3 inches of new snow this morning, which makes me even that much more excited to be leaving Alamosa for Arizona to spend Spring Break in the warm sun.
But, before I can leave, I have a very busy day ahead of me.
I have P.E.O. at 9:30, then lunch with my P.E.O. sisters (if I have time) and a dentist appointment at 1:40. Then I go and pick Jamie up from school for his 3:00 dentist appointment. I hope to be on the road by 4:00 so we can get to Albuquerque tonight at a decent hour. We'll drive to Mesa tomorrow. Bill is staying here for the Crane Festival this weekend and will fly to Phoenix on Monday.
Bill was nice enough to put the car topper on the car last night and had to leave it out overnight...didn't know it was supposed to snow.
So, I have to get everything packed in the car this morning before I leave for P.E.O. so that after Jamie's dentist appointment, we just have to stop and pick up the dogs and go! I better get busy!!

de Cranes! de Cranes!

No luck, so far, with my camera...sigh! No one has responded to my forum post yet.

It snowed here earlier today but cleared up a little before I left for scrapbooking. Several strings of cranes were flying over so I had to stop and take these photos with my trusty cell phone.

I love the cranes!!!

Science Saturday and Camera Woes

Today's Science Saturday was about robots and it drew a very large crowd!!
Dr Emmons gave instructions about basic robot/computer programming and helped the kids (& adults!) understand that you have to program every little detail. They played with Lego Mindstorm Robots and were able to program the computer& download it to the robot and then watch their robot do what they had told it to do. It was fun but crazy & loud with so many people participating. It's nice to have a bigger crowd but it did take away from the time that each kid was able to spend playing with the actual robots.

A weird thing happened to me at Science Saturday...I pulled my camera out to take photos and got the error message that I did not have a memory card in the camera. I figured I had just neglected to take it out of my computer and put it back into the camera so I fished in my camera bag for another memory card. When I went to insert the memory card, lo and behold, I had not forgotten to replace the original memory card but, for some reason, my camera was not reading it. So, I played around with it for a while and it seems that there is something wrong with the memory card slot...the card does not "click" into the slot I took a few Science Saturday photos with my cell phone but they're, obviously, not as good.

When we got home, I tried to figure out a way to wedge cardstock or cardboard on top of the card but then couldn't close the cover and I didn't want to completely break it. I found a Canon forum on-line and posted my problem...hope I get an answer soon! It doesn't seem like it should be that hard to fix, as it's not a "technical" problem.

Bill suggested we all go to the Hooper Pool this afternoon so I decided to not stress about the camera. It was nice to relax at the pool and we had a nice visit with the Morins.

I do hope I get an answer soon from the forum about my camera but, I'm also planning to take it to a repair shop in Tempe during Spring Break. I'll have to borrow my mom's camera until I can get mine fixed.

Lunch with Mrs. Price

Jamie has been looking forward to today for at least a couple of weeks. He normally takes his lunch to school but, today, he is one of 8 students in his class to share a special lunch with his teacher.

Back in September, Mrs. Price challenged the class to set a goal of passing 100 AR (reading) quizzes at their reading level. She said the first 5 to reach this goal would get to join her for a special lunch. Turns out that 4 kids reached the goal on the same day, so she included them (total of 8 students) and today is the day that they have their special lunch. They are having pizza, lemonade, cake & ice cream. They get to have lunch in the classroom...an added bonus for Jamie as he has often remarked that the lunchroom is too noisy!

Last Friday, the school librarian held an ice cream social for all students who have passed 50 AR quizzes. The above photo is from the bulletin board outside of the library and it has the names of all of the 2nd graders who qualified for the ice cream social.
Jamie is doing well in reading and the rewards along the way are pretty nice too!