RIP: Canon Powershot s45

(me circa 2003)

Some asshole mugged me last night and made off with, among other things, my treasured digital camera.  Our time together was short (a gift from my family this past winter), but I became quite attached.  I was finally starting to get the hang of all this macro-food-photo business too.  I am fortunate to be fine with only a few cuts and bruises, it could have been a lot worse. 

I have a few pictures for you from Waupaca that I will put up soon, but the asshole made off with most of them still in the camera.  For the moment Part-Time Pro Bono Baker will be on hiatus with less frequent posting.  I will probably be able to borrow a friend's camera here and there, but I certainly can't afford to buy myself a new one at the moment.

If someone from say, Canon, Minolta, Olympus, Sony, Nikon, etc. is reading this and would like to donate a digital camera to the Pro Bono Baker cause, feel free to email me at [email protected] (you can also send me Paypal donations to this address if you feel so inclined) and I will be sure to advertise like mad for you.

Short of that I will have to consider this an "opportunity" to upgrade my camera.  Now that I have learned a bit about digital cameras, I find that perhaps a camera with better macro capabilities or the possibility to change the lenses would be pretty awesome.  It will be quite a long time before my broke self is able to afford another camera, but I will cross my fingers that it will be before John and I leave on our trip.

In the mean time, I would be quite happy to hear recommendations from other food bloggers and my readers in general as to what camera I should buy next.  As I said, I am not exactly rolling in cash, so the price would have to be a few hundred dollars or less.  Please let me know what you would suggest, I would be grateful for the advice.

People can be pretty lousy, huh?

Comments

ohmigod. that's so awful (and scary). i lurk around your blog and love it. so sad to hear this, but very happy that you are safe & sound. take care!

[Melissa]

Gemma, I am very happy you are well and alive. What a story...I live in Panama, Central America...althou it is beautiful and my family lives here, I read every day horror stories @ the local newspapers. I guess it is everywhere, but I thank G_d every day for my life...believe me :)
Back to the fun stuff---I purchased a new camera recently,...she is great, somehow we are in love :) It is the SONY Cyber-shot 7.2 mega pixels---slick, small, fantastic. Well this is all I have to say after only 1 week with her :) P.S. all I have to do now is READ the manual.

[Alice]

Oh, how terrible!! So sorry this has happened to you. I'm glad you are relatively unscathed. Losing the camera, though, what a loss!

[debs]

hey gemma,

i'm so sorry, that is terrible but i am glad you are ok. i use a fuji finepix s7000 and i love its super macro setting. its a 6 mp and i hear it also does a little better in lower light settings than other cameras. but those new slim sony's with the big screens are sooo sexy. take care!

xo
debs

[Vital Information]

Wow, mugging, I'm glad it's just a camera. Glad you around and bloggin'

[J]

hi gemma, that's terrible! i'm currently saving up for a canon eos20d, which is not exactly wallet friendly, but which i've witnessed in action taking the most breathtaking photos - that, and a macro lens...

[gemma]

Thank you for all of the sweet words everyone! As I have mentioned to one of you already, it just seems to happen that everytime I meet an extremly rotten person or have something pretty nasty happen, something will quickly reaffirm to me that most people are actually very awesome and capable of such lovely things. Thanks for taking part in that reminder.

I'm fine, much more pissed off than hurt or scared. And once again, I know I am lucky. Anything can happen, watch your backs out there.

Thanks for the camera advice. Keep the suggestions coming. "Window shopping" online has been a great distraction this last day and a half when I should really be doing other things!

[Zarah Maria]

Oh dear. I only saw the first part of your post in my RSS feed and I thought Oh God, what happened?! I'm glad you're okay - why oh why does people like that have to exist? ARGH! I'll keep a look-out for any camera-offers...

[clare eats]

That is terrible!!! I am soo glad you are ok and not harmed and that you get a new camera soon!

[keiko]

Gemma - I'm so glad you are fine, although it was a terrible thing to happen. Hope you will find a camera you like soon...

[santos]

hi gemma--i'm glad you are okay as well. do take care and good luck on your camera search!

[gemma]

Thank you everyone! I will let you know how the camera search progresses, but meanwhile keep the suggestions coming as they have been valuable.

xxoo,
g

[Nicky]

Hi Gemma,

so sorry to hear what happened! Of course you keep thinking about the camera, but most importantly: You're fine, that's what really counts ;)
Regarding a new camera: I use a rather small digital all-rounder camera (Fuji 610), which does great macro shots and is small enough to fit in your jeans pocket. Despite its rather low price, the pictures are quite good. One of my colleagues just bought it - even though he owns already two digital SLRs...
Take care :)

[Sweetnicks]

That is horrible, but most importantly, I'm glad you're ok. Have a wonderful vacation!

[gemma]

Hi Nicky and Sweetnicks. Thanks for your thoughts. The food blogger community is so thoughtful, so many excellent people.

Nicky, thanks for the advice. I have been looking around at the reviews, though it seems they don't manufacture it in the states, but I will hopefully track one down. Is that what you use to take most of your pictures? Your photographs are stunning! Perhaps this would be better served in an email. . .

Thanks again you everyone.