Buying a digital camera is this decade's version of buying a baseball glove.
Well, it is for me, anyway.
Back in the day (read: the '90s), I'd do as much exhaustive research as possible when picking out a new glove. I'd try a bunch on, knowing that in the store, they'd feel nothing like they would playing catch six months later.
And every time I'd buy a glove -- which was about three times, I think -- I'd feel instant buyer's remorse that it cost too much, felt too stiff for too long or it was a step backwards from my broken-in, old gamer that was literally falling apart at the seams.
That's kind of how I feel about digital cameras. In the last 10 years, I've owned six of them: a piece of junk from Epson that I bought in '99; a Kodak that I lost in a cab; a Minolta that died and I actually paid to get repaired until it eventually died again; a great Lumix that I dropped during the playoffs last year; a Fuji that was stolen out of my car last week; and a new Lumix I bought to replace it.
With the exception of that first Lumix, I've hated each and every one of them. The jury's still out on the new one, which arrived yesterday.
I'm far from a professional photographer, but I understand intermediate concepts in photography, and I need a decent camera for work purposes. So I'm always forlorn that my camera du jour is too bulky or lacks a good zoom or can't shoot crisp photos in low-light situations or doesn't offer manual control to adjust aperture settings.
In other words, I'm never happy.
The new camera is a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500, the first touch-screen offering from Lumix. I found it online for $210, which seems to be the sweet spot for a decent point-and-shoot. I really liked my old, five-megapixel Lumix with its Leica lens, and would probably still be using it if it wasn't dropped off a car hood while tailgating. But even that one didn't have many manual settings, and I spent most of my time suffering from camera envy.
This new camera does have good manual settings, but it also has a tiny joystick that might not work with my stubby fingers, and the touch screen is, well, touchy.
But enough about me. Whenever I bitch and moan about my digital camera, someone in the room always seconds my emotion. For one reason or another, they hate theirs, too. I suspect it's for many of the same reasons.
Believe me, I do tons of research every time I buy a camera (which at this pace, is about regrettably once every two years). Still, I'd like to hear if anyone has found something compact, powerful, versatile, durable and cheap.
For my money, this product doesn't exist.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
