Ode To My Powershot A610 And High Hopes For My Poweshot A570 IS

Nothing would prepare me for the demise of my first ever digicam last 28 December 2007. I was supposed to take pictures at the BDS Christmas Party and at April's get-together for her best chums. I even had my batteries recharged. Alas, when the time came for me to take pictures, all I saw was a blank screen. I tried taking a shot but it was all in vain. As if to signal its death, all I saw was a black screen staring back at me.

It would take another week before I was able to take it to the Canon Service Center in Pasong Tamo, Makati. The service guy finally confirmed my worst fears. The lens sunk and the shutter could not even open. A death sentence was just handed down to my beloved camera. Desperately, I asked the guy if there was still a chance to save it. There was a small silver lining when he said that they can still fix the problem. He proceeded to give me a quote for the repair and service costs. He wrote the numbers in a small piece of paper. My eyes nearly popped when I read it. It costs a whopping PHP9,822.00 to have my camera restored: PHP7,922.00 to replace the optic lens and PHP1,900.00 for the service charge. That amount can buy a new digicam already and that's half the amount for the higher-end camera models!!! I decided to think things out first.

Slowly, the reality started sinking in and I was waxing sentimental about my first digicam. I could still remember buying it on the final days of yet another Canon promo. I even asked my friend Candice to accompany me to the Canon D-zone in Glorietta after lunch. It cost PHP21,950.00 then and I slaved for a whole year to pay for it.

My Powershot A610 might have been a bit heavy but it more than made up for it with its great features. I loved it because of its vari-angle lens, which made it easier for me to take photos of myself. Ü This proved handy whenever no one else was on hand to take a picture. My mama and I had pictures together in Hongkong and Macau. I used it to take silly pics with Chrys and a bunch of other silly friends. It saw me through weddings, baptisms and even funerals. I could go on and on but I would just let my photo albums in Multiply speak for themselves.

This was indeed a great loss for me but I was comforted with the thought that my first digicam served me well. Perhaps it was really time for it to take a much-deserved rest.

The succeeding days saw me consumed with the desire to buy a new one. Luckily, there was an on-going Canon promo so I could get a new one on installment. The next problem now was choosing the model for my next camera. I wanted to have a camera that belonged to the same family as my first one but I soon found out that it was overly expensive. Achingly, I decided to let go of my illusions of having another camera with a vari-angle lens. The choice was now down to three: Powershot SX100, Powershot A720 IS and Powershot A570 IS. For the most part of the week, I believed that the first one was the best choice. However, it did not have a normal viewfinder. The choice was narrowed down to two. The Powershot A720 IS came with a camera case, a 1GB SD card, an Energizer charger with 2 batteries and a Ray-Ban gift certificate. After much thought, I decided that I would have no use for the shades so I decided to get Powershot A570 IS. It took me one whole week to arrive at that decision. Mind you, it was one of the most difficult decisions I had to make. To get to that point, I consulted other photography aficionados, researched the web till my eyes could take no more, read my book on digital photography, visited two shots and caressed the different Powershot models and prayed that I would make the right choice.Ü

Today, I finally bought a new camera. The restlessness has come to an end. I am once again filled with renewed hope. I am confident that together with my camera, I will conquer the world, one shot at a time. (Wow, such a sweeping statement! Hahaha!) Ü