Well, after crunching some numbers, and thinking about our overall financial priorities, I decided that buying a $600 camera was not the best decision at this time. Instead, I did some research on the digicams available for about half that price. What I found was the ***Canon Powershot A70|http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/a70-60/index.html***. Some of you reading this, particularly Mom and Dad, might recognize the model… yes, in fact, this is the same camera that my parents bought earlier this year as their first digital camera.

The A70 is a really great camera. It’s perfect for first-time users, like Mom and Dad. If left in its automatic mode, it takes great photos and is simple and easy to use. But if you switch to its manual mode, you can control aperture, shutter speed, focus, exposure, and more. There is a ‘Stitch Assist’ mode that makes it easy to create panoramic shots, such as ***this one|http://prwdot.org/img/livingroom_panoramic.jpg***. The image quality is great. The camera runs on four AA batteries, and can get over five hours of shooting time. It received the best rating, “Highly Recommended,” at ***Digital Photography Review|http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona70/***.

Hopefully this weekend I’ll get a chance to really put it through its paces. Becky is back from her NEMA conference (yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!), so we may bundle up and go do something outside. You can be sure that you’ll see the photos here!