Tuesday, February 15, 2011

The Camera Story

It came! After various mix-ups and confusions and illnesses (the lady I finally bought it from couldn't ship it for a couple of weeks due to the stomach flu) my camera finally arrived on Saturday. Hurray!!!

So, here's what I ended up with:
Pretty, huh? It's a Kodak Easyshare z740. If I'd bought it retail, it would have cost me hundreds of dollars. This one came with a printer/charger dock, several cables, a neck strap, and some batteries- all for $80. That included the shipping. And, because the lady took so long to ship it, she threw in a camera bag for free, which was a nice deal.

There are a couple of downsides to this camera that I picked up. The first is that the flash doesn't come up/stay up with the button push like it's supposed to. I have to hold the button and pry up the flash. Then I have to hold it while taking my pictures. It's a little annoying, but livable. The other downside, and something I had never thought about when buying from ebay before, was that when we opened the box, out wafted the strong smell of cigarette smoke. Blech.

The first order of business, obviously, was to clean everything. I used my regular cleaning products first, then coated everything in febreze, using a paper towel. It's better, now, plus the whole thing looks a lot cleaner. The camera itself still smells faintly of smoke when I put it up next to my face, but it's not bad. The camera bag, however, was the main culprit. We doused it thoroughly with febreze, left it outside for two days, then doused it again. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow.

The second order of business was to charge it. It's sitting on the charger dock right now, taunting me.

Soon I'll get a sim card so I can take more than 20 pictures at a time.

Then, my friends, I will begin to learn. Woohoo!

I specifically got this camera because it has the letters PASM on its controls. In my limited research, I've discovered that those letters give me the freedom to control shutter speed and aperture and stuff. I have much experimenting to do, and I think it might be fun to experiment and learn here with all of you as my witnesses.

Plus, if your camera happens to have those same letters, maybe you can learn along with me. Let me know if you're interested, and I'll figure out ways to incorporate your pictures into my blog as well, if you'd like.

Anyway, cheers!

1 comment:

Lynn said...

Is the camera bag washable? A gentle handwashing with a vinegar rinse would clean it and take out the smell.

Here's a blog you might enjoy seeing: http://ppitterle.blogspot.com/2011/02/prickles-day-163.html

If you need any camera/photo tips, feel free to call your uncle A.

WV: squati--what people do when they hike in the wilderness for their pictures and need to go pati.