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Canon has released about a million products today, including the:

• Powershot G9. It’s a 12.1MP G7 with RAW, a 3″ screen, and some decorative changes. It also supports Canon’s ST-E2 wireless flash transmitter, a boon for strobists.
• Powershot A650 IS. It’s a 12MP A640 with a longer zoom and the solution to a nagging problem: Image Stabilization. The lack of IS has always been a disadvantage of the high-end A series, and Canon has made a smart move by addressing the issue in their new cameras. Style-wise, it seems to follow Canon’s SD1000, with an odd mixture of black and pewter.
• SD870 IS. It’s a small revamp of the SD800 IS, with a wider field of view than usually found on point-and-shoots.
• EOS 1Ds Mark III. It adds five megapixels to the 1Ds Mark II’s resolution (a grand total of 21MP, in fact), does 5FPS, and has nearly everything the 1D Mark III had.
• EOS 40D. Pretty similar to a 30D, with the usual improvements (3″ screen, Digic III, 6.5FPS…) and adds live view, interchangeable focus screens, and nine cross-type AF sensors.
• 18-55 IS and EF-S 55-250 IS! It’s amazing! Yes! Stabilization for the masses! Slow aperture and no USM, though. Also, the idea of EF-S telezooms is interesting, but not for me.

Overall, not a bad crop at all. Canon’s made some smart moves here.

I’d get a G9 if it had a flip-and-twist LCD like the A650. I’d get the A650 if it was the size of the SD870. I’d get the SD870 if it was as flexible as the A650. SLR-wise, I’d get a 40D with the 18-55 IS as a walkaround lens.

Posted by Michael at 6:44 pm under Canon, Equipment
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Writing much takes skill; writing little takes more skill.

Posted by Michael at 2:30 pm under short-n-sweet, Things I've Learned
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Site analytics service ClickTale is open to the public today. It lets you track your visitors’ actions to an almost-scary level—including mouse movements, clicks, and scrolls. ClickTale also offers heatmaps, a la CrazyEgg.

Their free plan tracks up to 100 page views a week across 2 domains. Paid plans, starting at $19/month up to $99/month, offer more features.

Posted by Michael at 3:58 pm under Uncategorized
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Many Canon point-and-shoots offer a host of features that are either undocumented, unlabeled, or just tricky to find. Here are a few useful ones. I have an A640, but these might apply to the rest of the Powershot lineup.

Focus lock

Half-press the shutter button, hold it, and press down on the directional button. Voila, instant focus lock. Press down again to revert.

Exposure/Flash Exposure lock and Program Shift

Half-press the shutter button, hold it, and press the exposure compensation button. Press the left and right buttons to shift the exposure. Press pretty much anything else to revert.

If you keep the shutter button half-pressed, you can mash the exposure comp. button as many times as you want. The camera will re-meter and lock the exposure each time you press it.

Shooting priority (sort of)

If you’re in a menu in shooting mode and need to get out quickly, the shutter button will immediately exit the menu. This won’t work in playback mode, unfortunately.

Advanced image review

I turned image review off on my A640, but I can see the shot I’ve just taken by holding the shutter button down. To see detailed info, press the DISP button (while still holding the shutter button). You can then let go of the shutter button and cycle between no information/detailed information screens. You can even zoom in on the image or delete it. To revert, touch the shutter button.

Jump

Newer Canon cameras (including their SLRs) have a “jump” feature during image playback. This lets you jump forward or back 10 images, 100 images, between days, between movies, or to another folder.

On the A640, press the up button in display mode. To cycle between jump modes, keep pressing the up button.

Posted by Michael at 4:18 pm under Canon, Equipment
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There are three ways Americans approach most problems:

1. Throw money at it.
2. Go DIY and build something to fix it.
3. Do nothing.

Posted by Michael at 9:56 am under short-n-sweet
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