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Yeah. It's stuck in my head.

I've been thinking about upgrading our existing camera for a while now. It's an Olympus C-2020Z and it's a great little camera. We've had it for a long time and have taken countless pictures with it. Peg and I both love the camera and we knew it would take a really special camera to fill its shoes. What I really want is a DSLR, but I don't want to completely give up the whole point-and-shoot convenience either. I know... apples and oranges. So I've decided if I must have an apple and an orange, then I would buy an apple and an orange. I know different cameras were meant to serve different purposes and I'm okay with that.

So while I am still undecided about which DSLR camera I really want, I decided to focus on replacing our beloved Olympus. First off... I will say I am not necessarily brand loyal (though I do love that old Olympus). In this "point-and-shoot" camera, there are features that we really liked and wanted to keep. For one, the Olympus used AA sized batteries and we liked the convenience of using either rechargeable batteries or in a pinch, regular alkaline batteries. We also really rather liked the pictures that the Olympus produced, so whatever camera we chose to replace it, would have to be at least as good. After so many years of advancements in digital photography, one would think this shouldn't be too tall an order. There are also some areas on which we wanted some improvement. The first of which were in the areas of optical zoom and resolution. The C-2020Z afforded us with 3x and 2.1 megapixels. That was really something back in 2000, but six years later? One final thing that I personally wanted, was an LCD that could be adjusted to see at different angles. It's nice to be able to take pictures from different heights and angles and still be able to see the LCD.

So I'm sitting there browsing through dealnews.com and I notice this sale for a Canon PowerShot S2 IS. Through Jan 12th, you can pick one up at Dell.com for $399.00. Sweeeeeeeet! We picked one up and can't wait to start using it. It takes AAs, just like our old Olympus. It has an optical zoom of 12x and more than twice the resolution at 5 megapixels. It even has the swivel LCD that I wanted. One thing that it does NOT have that I will miss very dearly from our beloved Olympus is a wireless (infrared) remote control. Why not every camera comes with this is beyond me. It's such a useful feature, but one I guess we will have to live without... at least with this camera. There are other improvements as well, ie: the movie feature. It's a new chapter indeed.

Check out the comparison below...

Title:	Olympus C-2020Z vs Canon PowerShot S2 IS
Description:	Out with the old and in with the new!

The jury's still out on my DSLR selection. I'm taking a hard look at the Nikon D200, though Shelby (my brother-in-law, and huge fan of Canon cameras) is encouraging me to wait until Feb/Mar when it is expected that Canon will release their answer to Nikon's D200, with their own EOS 30D. Should I wait?

By the way... if you ever want to see lots of very thorough camera reviews, you may find them at Digital Photography Review. It's obvious that Phil Askey, (Editor, Webmaster & Author of DPR) puts a lot of time, thought, and effort into his site. Another site I have really come to enjoy is KenRockwell.com. Lotsa good, practical information there and some good reviews too. Ken's making it hard to not consider the D200.

One last link before I call it a night. I mentioned my brother-in-law and his affinity for Canon. He's also a professional photographer in NYC. If any of you could use one for whatever reason, please look him up. Check out Shelby Chan Photography. I might be biased, but he's really very good.

Hope yours was warm, happy, and safe.

Yes. It's time. This could get messy. Wish me luck.

Update: Well I'm back. Not as much drama as I thought. Some glitches. Had to upgrade a few plugins. By and large, not too shabby an upgrade.

In case anybody's wondering, I'm running a modded Connections Theme, so I imagine the "off the shelf" version should work swimmingly with Wordpress 2.0.

May yours be warm, safe, and happy.

Pimpin' Santa

Originally uploaded by e_ticket.

Yes it's time for a little last minute Christmas shopping at the Fashion Show Mall here in Las Vegas. Who, but who could resist jolly old Saint Nick and his band of merry Barbie Elves? I never knew Santa was quite the stud. Yowsa! Forget about his list. I wanna see his little black book!

"While visions of Sugar Plumbs danced in his head."

Originally uploaded by e_ticket.

Now this guy right here reeeeally knows how to shop. While the wife is off doing her thing, it's "find the nearest waiting area" and then it's "lights out". We men cannot be bothered with such things as shopping bags and pushy sales people.

More Slide Rock pics.

Originally uploaded by e_ticket.

Just got back from a trip to Arizona with Peggy, My sister Nancy and her friend and former college roommate, Janet. It was just a quick weekend thing to check out some stuff we hadn't seen before. On the way out we stopped in Flagstaff & Sedona. There was this place called Slide Rock State Park which I'd come to find out is a very popular attraction in the warmer months. Arizona has some really pretty areas to see. We'll have to go back for more of it sometime.

More Grand Canyon pics.

Originally uploaded by e_ticket.

After seeing Slide Rock, we took off for the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. I'd seen it before... in pictures & movies. But nothing can prepare you for the enormity of this canyon. It's just huge. There are certain points along the rim where you can walk up, take your pictures, and be somewhat protected by a handrail, but by and large, you are not coddled by any sort of idiot protection. If you get too close, slip, and fall... they will be scraping your dumb ass up off the bottom of the canyon. Vacation over. All in all, is is quite a spectacular sight. I would someday like to return and visit the North Rim and perhaps even go down to the bottom where the Colorado River is.

Sam, the "World's Ugliest Dog"

Originally uploaded by e_ticket.

This little fella really lived the life. We should all aspire to live so long and so well. May your toys and treats be plentiful in the afterlife, Sam. Cheers.

Be sure to check out Sam and Susie's Blog.

featuredpic

Originally uploaded by e_ticket.

There was a time I thought that clever tee-shirts were a bit overdone, but for some reason I found this one amusing. If you like it, get yours at OneHorseShy.com. And while you are there, check out their other fine shirts. Fine rack not included.

Fear the Kitty

Originally uploaded by e_ticket.

Halloween came and went this year and it seems the more years go by, the less it is the way you remembered when you were young. I got home from work maybe around 6:30p. That is plenty dark here around this time of year. But there didn't seem to be that many kids. My wife told me that many had already been there and that it seemed to be winding down. What? At 6:30? Perhaps it was because it was on a Monday. I remember when I was younger, I used to hate it when the day after Halloween night was a school day. Priorities man. C'mon. Be sure to check out the other pics.