the elusive all-in-one digital camera

I've owned several digital cameras over the years. I've been fairly satisfied with most of them, each for varying reasons, but I haven't been fully happy with any single one of them yet. My first digital was an HP - horrible quality pix, but it was a very early model, so the resolution was lacking. My second was also an HP. The resolution was greater, and I had some terrific customer service experiences with HP. It really made feel like a loyal customer. I was going to keep buying HP, until I saw the affordable features of my current camera, and Olympus SP-320. It's got tons of features, and the price was right, but I've had many problems with it, and have already had it replaced once. The software is also a nightmare, and you are best off just plugging it in as a USB mass storage device.

Lately, I've been looking at digitals once again, not because my Olympus has quit functioning again, but because there are certain types of shots that it just doesn't capture to my satisfaction. While the close-ups that it captures are awesome, and the skin-tone is usually phenomenal, landscape photos leave much to be desired. I've tried many of the different settings and presets and none seem to fix it. Also, tripod photos at night look gorgeous when I leave the flash off and the shutter open.

There seem to be lots of options these days, and prices are continually spiraling downwards for the amount of technology that you get. But is there any digital camera that truly functions as an all-in-one solution for any photo situation that I may run across?

I've looked at digital SLRs and those may be the answer, but some of the non-SLR cameras have been getting great reviews and are much cheaper. I don't think I would touch another Olympus, but HP still sounds good. The Canon Powershot series has good reviews and seems to offer a lot of bang for the buck. Plus, they have the name of Canon to back themselves up. I just don't know whether I trust camera companies who have moved into digital, or digital companies (like HP or Sony) who have moved into cameras. I once had a little Olympus 35mm that I used for years and years and it always gave me great photos. In fact, that is the only reason why tried the Olympus digital in the first place. But their digital cameras fall short of the reputation they had earned with their 35mm models.

Perhaps the answer lies in the habits of 35mm photographers. Instead of carrying around different lenses to capture the right shot, perhaps the answer lies in carrying around multiple digital cameras. I'll keep my Olympus for close-up portraits and candids, as well as night-time shots. I'll need another to capture landscapes. The only problem is that this idea defeats one of the main purposes of digital cameras - to have something "at the ready" whenever you need it. No film to load. No lenses to swap. Just point and shoot. But how d you point and shoot when you're juggling two or three different cameras?

chicago postie

PayPerPost presented the latest "postie patrol" video on their blog, in which one lucky (but freezing) Chicago resident was given the opportunity to win $1000 and a bunch of free Digital Photo Printing gear from HP. Robyn Nykaza risked frostbitten life and limb across the streets of Chicago, searching for mistletoe, carolers, dogs, pizza and more. Ted (founder of PPP) was nice enough to "tear away" his pants and give her a quick snapshot of himself in shorts, one of the more difficult items on her treasure hunt list (especially in freezing Chicago winter weather). A rep from HP accompanied the crew in their quest.

I think the funniest part had to be the guy on the street singing a rendition of "Rudolph the Red-nosed Gangster" in true Chicago style, although Ted making blowfish marks on the windows was a close second. Check it out for yourself:



It's funny, because every time I see one of these "postie patrol" videos, I wonder if this is something that I'd actually want to experience myself. On one hand, the extra cash would be great, and it would be a fun experience, but I've never been much of an outgoing person. Plus, I can't see them coming down to a small town like the one I live in. But I suppose that anyone is fair game.

Brought to you by HP!

hp digicool

About a year ago, my employer presented HP digital cameras to each of their field employees so that we could record what we saw during site surveys and equipment audits. Seeing as I am one of those typical male self-proclaimed "engineers" who doesn't like to waste any time reading directions for consumer-based technologies like digital photography, I instead decided to "break my camera in" by taking it with me on a family outing one weekend.

We had decided to take the kids to an amusement park in town, and I was going to give the camera a spin - literally. The park was busy but not overcrowded, which was a relief because the temperature was *hot*. The camera was taking some great photos of the kids, even when they rode the vertigo-inducing vomit rides. After watching my youngest spin 'round in circles on the sparkle-painted "kiddie" rides, we decided to take my daughter over to the "Wild Chipmunk", a spirited but mild coaster that I had never been on. My wife watched from a park bench as we waited in line, and she called out to me to "hold on." Surveying the amateur thrill seekers in line, and the lack of loops, dips or rolls in the track, I gave her a crooked all-knowing grin. After all, this was the "Wild Chipmunk". How bad could it really be?

Unfortunately, upon moving farther up the line, I realized that my daughter was slightly too short to ride. She was very upset, and we were ready to head back to "kiddie" land, but my wife convinced me to go ahead and ride the "Wild Chipmunk" by myself, just for fun. While standing in line and staring back at my pouting daughter, I had an epiphany. This new HP camera can shoot digital video! I can film the entire coaster for my daughter, and she can see what it would have been like to ride it.

Climbing into the 4-person coaster car, I slipped the camera strap around my wrist, relaxed into the padded vinyl seat, and started recording as the coaster slowly climbed the first hill. Unfortunately, what came next was a total surprise. Instead of plummeting down an incline like most coasters, the car jerked to the left so hard that the camera flew out of my hand, the strap slid off of my wrist, and my brand new company-owned HP digital camera was soaring through the air and falling fifty feet to the ground below.

The rest of the ride was a blur, and what was probably a twenty second ride felt like a five minute ride. The coaster continued to jerk to the left and to the right, bobbing up and down like a menacing, wild...chipmunk. I attempted to keep my eye on the area where the camera landed until the coaster came to a stop and they let me off. The camera had fallen into a grassy area just beneath the coaster, but fenced off from the public. I had to ask one of the operators if he could retrieve it for me. After a bit of hunting, he found it and handed it to me.

The camera was still filming, but the viewfinder was blank, and the lens wouldn't recede back into the camera when I turned it off. I was freaking out. Here I was, using a company owned camera for a personal family outing, and I dropped it off of a roller coaster ride. Fortunately, the camera had hit moist dirt, so it wasn't scratched or dented much at all. In fact, aside from the non-functional lens and the fact that the camera wouldn't turn back on, it only looked slightly mishandled. But what would I tell my employer?

I decided that I would try to have it repaired first, or replace it at my cost if necessary. I took the camera in to an electronics store, to have it inspected. The gentleman behind the counter asked me, "What happened? Did you drop it?" I nodded, but conveniently left out the fact that I dropped it fifty feet off of a roller coaster. I already felt stupid enough. I asked what it would cost me to repair or replace it. He then proceeded in explaining that people drop these all the time, because they are getting so small, and not to worry about it, because it was still under warranty and HP would probably cover it. I was shocked...

He packaged up the camera, had me fill out some paperwork, and assured me that he'd have it back in a few weeks. I was ecstatic. I had made perhaps the dumbest mistake that one can make with company property and I was going to get away with it. I floated home, but just as I was pulling into the garage, I realized that it wasn't over yet. I had just turned in a camera to be repaired under warranty, and I had left the video that I had taken stored in the internal memory. Someone at the repair center was sure to see this moron (me) filming the ascent of a roller coaster ride, and then watch in bewilderment as the camera goes flying off through the air, and lands on the ground. Then an amusement park ride attendant finds it, hands it back to me, and it continues to record me cussing and swearing as I try to stop the recording and shut it off. I was doomed.

After several weeks of sweating, I received a friendly call from the local electronics store indicating that "my camera was in". I hopped in the car, headed down to the store, and sheepishly presented my paperwork, preparing to hear the worst. However, he thanked me, handed me my camera, and that was it. I checked the package, and soon discovered that they had replaced it with a brand new one! Unbelievable! Somewhere out there in authorized HP repair-land, there is a technician with a very interesting piece of video footage. Perhaps one day I will see it again, maybe in an HP commercial, or one of those cheesy "amazing videos" shows. Or perhaps not.

Regardless, I have to say "thank you" to HP for saving me on that one. After pushing our boss to receive digital cameras at work for over a year, the last thing I wanted to do was to have to explain to him how I had dropped it and broke it (off the top of a roller coaster). HP, you rock!

I've since left that job, but would love to get another one of those HP cameras for personal use, and this time I promise - I'll keep it far away from anything named after rabid forest creatures...

This post was brought to you by HP.