Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Orange You Perfect?

I got a new toy today.  

I have been using my clunker digital camera c. 2005 during road races.  It sort of reminds me of the Ford Taurus I drove during college.  Dependable, comfy, but definitely not brand new.  Once I was trying to squeeze out of a parking structure and ended up scraping up a good portion of one side of the car.  The parking attendant ran over to me horrified when he heard the noise and I just smiled and waved as I drove off (my dad did not smile and wave when he had to hammer out the body of the car because it was now scraping the wheel).

This is my relationship with my current on-the-go camera.  It's been dropped.  It's been scraped.  It still does everything I need.  I love taking it to races because I could care less if it went skipping across the concrete.  However I have come to realize that while I don't care about the camera, I definitely care about the pictures it is supposed to be capturing.

I was watching a video of the Big Sur Marathon today (can I just say that if the grand piano guy is playing "What A Wonderful World" when I go running by I will totally start crying).  I realized there are going to be some amazing photo-ops on this course.  In fact, with my lack of consistent training the whole point of this race is enjoying the scenery.  But what happens if it rains?  How will I take pictures?  I was planning on getting a sleeker digital camera I could stick in my back skirt pocket before Disney 2010.  But I realized I have an amazing race to photograph coming up very soon.

I had been piddling around researching cameras for a while but really got down to business today.  Long story short, I ended up getting this one in orange.  Even better it was on clearance at the physical store even though it hadn't yet been marked down online.  In fact I think I got it for a great price even when looking at those bargain-yet-possibly-shady electronics sites.

The thing is shockproof (go ahead and drop it!), waterproof (sweat, rain and snorkeling!), and freezeproof (hello, Antarctica Marathon!).  At first my goal was to get the lightest, sleekest camera possible.  But I'm willing to haul around another ounce for some peace of mind.

10 comments:

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

Looks like you're all set! And when you're not taking race pictures, you can take bunny pictures.

Chocolate & Chants said...

I like!

RG said...

Stylish! Once I was carrying a digital camera in a plastic grocery bag and drinking a pepsi. I put the top on the pepsi and dropped it in the bag too. A bit later I went for the pepsi .. boo .. the top not on good ... camera soaked in pepsi ... done for!

Mica said...

Wow, that is the perfect camera for capturing races. I want!

d. moll, l.ac. said...

There is nothing like a good camera. Is this one approved by Mario as well?

Alisa said...

Totally worth the extra ounce! I CANNOT wait to see pictures from this race. (And from Antarctica too...that would be one crazy marathon. If you do it someday, you can say you ran in Africa (probably one of the hottest) and the coldest.)

Did you take pictures in Africa? I would love to see them sometime.

Runner Leana said...

Nice new toy! My poor digital camera is in such rough shape now that I have hauled it around on races. It is scratched and the shutter won't close properly!

Sweatproof sounds like a great feature!

Marathon Maritza said...

Sounds like a PERFECT race camera!!! How awesome! I cannot wait to see what you and your new toy do with Big Sur...gonna be great!

ShirleyPerly said...

Shock proof and waterproof, sounds perfect!!

And I love that orange color. Look forward to seeing what that new baby captures.

elementsoferin337 said...

I have the same camera in blue and LOVE IT! Great for the active photo taker.