jethrien

So I think I'm ready to finally be dragged kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century. It's time to give in and get a digital camera.

I know nothing about digital cameras.

So right now, I have a Canon Rebel that I love. I don't use nearly all the features that I feel like I should, but I love that it's both got idiot-buttons so I can hand it off to someone else, but also lets me play all I want with zooming and focal lengths and stuff. Part of the reason I got a good camera in the first place was a series of pictures where the light levels were all wrong or the auto-focus picked the wrong object and what I actually wanted a picture of was blurry. I also really like that I can blow up pictures from film to have something larger to hang on the wall that is still sharp. (Although I don't do this all that often, either.)

What I don't like about the camera - the usual flaws of film. You can't see it until you process it, you have to print every picture, you can't send a million copies to all your friends for free. Also, I love the quality you get from a bulky, "real" camera, but I'm getting tired of trying to lug such a bulky camera around. I feel like if I had a smaller camera, maybe I'd use it more because I'd take it to parties or horseback riding or whatever.

So, things I would like to be able to do:
- have some control over focus beyond simply zooming in or out
- take pictures of a high enough quality that I could have prints made that were at least 8 1/2 x 11in.
What might be nice, but might contradict points A and B:
- having something small enough to actually fit in a purse or deep coat pocket

I don't actually know pretty much anything about digital photography right now, although I'm willing to learn. I don't know who are good companies, or what kind of specs I should look for.

Help me, Intarwebs! (By which I mean, people who read my LJ and like giving advice.)