A bit of everything

Ok, where to begin. Well I guess I'm doing ok, from a general point of view. I got some money in that I wasn't expecting to get so instead of doing the practical thing like get my car fixed (which is happening tomorrow by the way) I decided to splurge and buy myself something which I've been wanting to buy for a very long time... a really good point-and-shoot digital camera. I picked up a Canon Ixus 80 IS from Makro. It's pink, but hey... it's a dusty, dirty pink, and it looks so beautiful.

The specs are:

Sensor

• 1/2.5 " Type CCD
• 8.0 million effective pixels

Image sizes
(L) 3264 x 2448, (M1) 2592 x 1944, (M2) 2048 x 1536, (M3, Date Stamp) 1600 x 1200, (S) 640 x 480, (W) 3264 x 1832. Resize in playback (M3, S, 320 x 240)

 

Movie clips
• (L)640 x 480, 30fps/60fps
• (LP) (M)320 x 240, 30fps
• (S)160 x 120, 15fps
• Time Lapse 640 x 480, 0.5/1fps (Playback 15fps)

File formats
• JPEG (EXIF 2.2)
• AVI [Motion JPEG compression + WAVE (monaural)]

Lens
• 3x optical zoom
• 6.2 - 18.6 mm (35mm equivalent: 38–114mm)
• F2.8 - 4.9

Image stabilization
Yes (lens shift-type)

Digital zoom
up to 4x

Focus
TTL
autofocus

AF area mode
• AiAF (Face Detection / 9-point)
• 1-point AF (fixed to center or Face Select and Track)

AF assist lamp
Yes

Focus distance
• Normal: 12 in./30cm-infinity
• Macro: 1.2 in.-1.6 ft./3-50cm (W), 1.2 in.-1.6 ft./3-50cm (T)
• Digital Macro: 1.2-3.9 in./3-10cm (W)

Metering
• Evaluative (linked to Face Detection AF frame)
• Center-weighted average
• Spot (center)

ISO sensitivity
• AUTO
• High ISO Auto (incorporating Motion Detection Technology)
• 80
• 100
• 200
• 400
• 800
• 1600

Exposure compensation
+/- 2 EV in 1/3 stop increments

Shutter speed
• 1/60 - 1/1500 sec (factory default)
• 15 - 1/1500 sec (total range - varies by shooting mode)

Aperture
F2.8 - 4.9

Modes
• Auto
• Manual
• Digital Macro
• Portrait
• Night Snapshot
• Color Accent
• Color Swap
• Stitch Assist
• Movie

Scene modes
• Kids & Pets
• Indoor
• Sunset
• Foliage
• Snow
• Beach
• Fireworks
• Aquarium
• Underwater

White balance
• Auto (including Face Detection WB)
• Daylight
• Cloudy
• Tungsten
• Fluorescent
• Fluorescent H
• Custom

Self timer
2 or 10 sec
custom

Continuous shooting
Approx. 1.3 fps (Large/Fine)

Image parameters
My Colors (My Colors Off, Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Positive Film, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red, Custom Color)

Flash
• Auto, Manual Flash On / Off, Slow sync, Red-Eye Reduction
• Face Detection flash exposure compensation
• Flash exposure lock
• Range: 30cm - 3.5m (w), 2.0m (t)

Viewfinder
Real-image zoom optical viewfinder

LCD monitor
• 2.5-inch TFT
• 230,000 pixels

The thing that I love most about this is that Canon has really thought about their end user. The functions are all easily accessible without having to trudge through the menu. Obviously, more custom settings are available through the menu, but the basic functions, ie: flash on or off, macro or standard zoom and ISO standard or high are all there at the push of a single button.

Moving on from the camera, I delivered the album of doom last night. Thankfully they (the couple and the bride's parents) loved it. I have to say though, all the work I put into it paid off, and it was a fantastic looking album in the end. I even took some photos of a few of the pages, which I will post at some point.

I'm going to wrap this post up with Starbright Girl. Megan has updated her website www.starbrightgirl.co.za with her new stock, and it's going quickly. So best you get in there and get buying. The thing that I really love about her jewellery is that it's not "cheap shit". Every item is beautifully crafted and the quality of the materials used is superb. I was initially sceptical about the resin, but let me tell you, it's lightweight and maintains its original look, unlike metals which lose their lustre after a while. Not only that, the jewellery is light weight, which is fantastic in our sunny climate, because it doesn't make you feel like you're wearing something heavy that is sticking to you. I am even wearing drop earrings now which I never did before because they are lightweight and look beautiful. It's very 80's movie/tv orientated jewellery, which is what makes it so appealing. If you wanna have a look at her latest items go visit her website... Here's the link again... www.starbrightgirl.co.za

Ordering is nice and easy, just do a direct deposit from your internet banking (if you're not on internet banking get out of the stone age), and then pop Megan an email with what you've ordered. I advise checking with her first though that the item is still available, as she isn't updating her site every 10 minutes. So check with her if the item is available, and then buy it ;)

Have a great day all!
xx