My Camera is Bigger than Yours

As i was planning my trip to Japan recently one of my major thoughts was about which camera i was taking with me on my trip. I was in Hawaii this spring and ended up playing on the beach with my friends and we got to throwing the frisbee at each other and before you know it i was on the edge of the beach with my khaki cargo shorts with multiple pockets in which lay my Sony Compact slim camera that i was very proud of for being compact and i could slide it in my back pocket and take pictures in cool placesl ike bars, concerts, house parties.

Well by the time i remembered my camera was in my shorts i was drenched in beach water and sand and now was just hoping the camera will now work. Unfortunately not. I let it dry for a couple of weeks but it never came back to life so i embarked upon my new camera search. There is a Nigerian Proverb that translates as " The palace of the king that got burnt is just adding more beauty to it" Basically it means that the remodelling will cost more and be an opportunity to build a bigger and nicer palace. Now that was the same thought that came to my mind and i was torn between an SLR or a Point and Shoot.

Over the years i have always marveled at the number of Japanese tourists i have seen all over the world with the mega cameras dangling from their necks while they snap away and in my mind i am thinking "Bloody Tourists" and for them it was the most fun while the purchased Digital Cameras that cost about the same price as a used car or a new hybrid car and just teased each other by showing off their latest gadget and demonstrating its skills. I know i dont want to waste that much money on an SLR because i am not a true photographer and i am not about to pick it as my hobby but i also knew that i didnt want to just pick any compact Point and shoot camera either after messing up the last one in Hawaii so i had a decision to make.

I surfed and surfed and comparism shopped for months before i finally found a Cannon SX100 which has 10Megapixels meaning it will be crispy enough for me to see all the details of the picture and also had a X 15 Optical zoom which means i can take close up pictures of someone who is several feet away and to top it all it had face deduction which means it can spot a face out in the crowd and get a sharp picture of it. I had to decide between a few other similar ones and price was definitely an issue. I was so glad i made that decision to purchase it here in the USA rather than in Tokyo because i noticed they had a few better cameras but not better prices and i am more of a bargain person that latest technology.

Now fast forward to Tokyo, I had to finally test my Camera in the world of "My Camera is bigger than yours" and it passed the test with flying colors. I told a couple to take a picture of me behind a landmark and as soon as i handed over my camera which is not an SLR but has a 3inch LCD and had some super duper retractable lens and to top it a pop up flash which was around 8 lbs total size meaning i could slide it in my back pocket on a good day. So back to the test. As soon as i handed him my camera i noticed the surprise in his eyes and when he took the pic he felt so proud of himself for taking the pic because what these cameras do is give you this pseudo feeling that you actually are skillful enough to be a professional photographer which is not true. Its just like the average kid playing Videogames nowadays who really isnt doing much but the computer makes you think you are an expert because of the graphics and moves in the game.
I overheard him tell his wife that it was a nice camera and the screen was big enough for a Camcorder so in short i passed the test of my Camera is bigger and better than your camera.

Another advantage of my camera was the zoom function which practically turned me into a daylight stalker because i could basically take pictures of people over 100 feet away without straining and use the zoom to bring them closer to me without them even realizing and i take their pic which is something i did a lot of during my trip but i am too smart to wake up one day and decide i want to be a professional Fashion photographer and start making business cards and taking pics of teenages barely clothed or over the hill ladies who just like to pose for the cameras in their ridiculous poses even though they are half a dozen dress sizes too big to be even fathoming a modelling career but unfortunately my camera has that magic that makes women think it can bring out the best in them. I wish i really gave a damn so much so i can publish some of the pics that i took but i really cant be bothered so you are just gonna have to take my word for it when i tell you that i took some great pics while in Tokyo.

Peace.