Warning: Excessive Thinking Ahead - I buy a camera

I couldn't take it anymore. After researching the cost of repairing my camera - there was nothing positive nor any happy reviews about my camera's LCD repair costs. Really, nothing nice about repairing digital cameras in general.

The cost of new point and shoot digital cameras have come down dramatically. I paid over $300 for mine 3-4 years ago. It has/had a 3x optical zoom, viewfinder, 5 Megapixels and otherwise was an awkward, but serviceable camera for what I bought it for. I just wanted something smaller to take non-artsy photos with. After hauling my 14 lb Sony Mavica with 14x optical zoom all over France and Italy, I needed to downsize. My neck thanks me. The smaller camera became indespensable when I started blogging and selling items on eBay.

Last night I spent some time researching point and shoot cameras. I got some ideas from ebay, but didn't want to wait for auctions or pay their "Buy it now" prices. I remembered how happy Twisted Sister was with her HP so I started looking them. It wasn't long before I found out that HP pulled out of the camera market and all the cameras shown on ebay were discontinued items. hmm, I was not sure how I felt about that and it was too late to put in a call to Houston to find out more. I meant to my sister, not the company. :)

So then I started the rounds of the retail market to see what was current and under $50. Hey, doesn't hurt to dream! I was surprised there was a lot of possible choices! My 2 favorites are called Beans. They look like carabiners that you click onto your backpack and come in fun colors. The small one, called the Bean Sprout, is only $15 at Target and the full size Bean is just under $50 and comes in a 3 and 5 MP. I love the portibility and style, they are just a fun idea! However, the Sprout has no LCD screen and no options. There are also no reviews that I could find online. And I am not familiar with the company...so reluctantly I moved on.

I went to circuitcity, target, walmart, bestbuy looking for deals. At walmart.com I found my answer. As part of a special buy, they had listed a camera that has a retail of almost $300 for $66.00 with $3.00 shipping. I love a deal! But is it really a deal? It was still a little more than I wanted to spend, and maybe more than I needed. Back to Google for more research.

I found a surprising source with Flickr.com. Flickr keeps track of camera information that is part of the image files you upload to their site. A little scary, but in this case, handy for me. It includes how many people are using the camera, ranks the popularity of it, tells you what they are using it for (night, action, portraits, etc), and then you can see examples of pictures taken with that camera in those catagories. This was valuable info for me. These images were spectacular in all but one catagory...night. My other camera sucked with night pictures also. I have come to believe that it shouldn't even be an option on point and shoot cameras. They just can't handle it well enough to be worth the effort.

Anyway, the short story is: I bought a camera last night. I bought a Sanyo Xacti VPC-T700 7.0MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom. A mouthful, I know. The reviews on it are mixed, but I chose it for several reasons - The PROS: Great price for 7MP, small, simple, large LCD, has movie with sound capablity and uses same memory cards I have now. It will work well for ebay and blog use, i.e., daily use. The CONS: no viewfinder - I like this option for bright light conditions (hello!, the beach), but I think the larger LCD will help. Different battery type than I own now, and less than rock solid reviews. I will be hanging onto the receipt as one gloomy reviewer recommended. :)

So now I am off to the bank to deposit the camera money. I am going to head to Houghton Lake to the bookstore and hit Walmart.

On another note. I am getting back into the personal finance mode. One of my PF blogs talked about a "No Spending Month" in order to save money for Christmas. I am interested in this exercise and think I can handle it for a month. I even wonder if it will make a difference. I have slipped recently, but this is pretty standard operating procedure for me. Some were doing it for longer, for different goals. I need to build up my Emergency Fund again after being laid off, so I am thinking of doing it for 2 months. I will post my progress here to keep me honest. Anyone else want to give it a try? I will look for some kind of goal tracking widget for my blog...but I need a specific goal...hmmm, I will have to figure out an attainable goal.

Any ideas or suggestions? You can post anonymously!