Trying out a new camera

Because she knows of my digital camera dilemma, my good friend from work, Kathy, has let me borrow her camera. She's a camera buff herself, and owns a very nice Cannon DSLR (sorry, I don't remember the model.) But over the weekend, inspired by a sale at a major electronics chain, she picked up a Canon PowerShot A570, a point and shoot model on sale for about $150. She too, wanted to have a small, economical camera to put in a purse or carry along when it doesn't make sense to haul out the big camera bag with the DSLR and the lenses and flash.
So, after only taking a handful of pictures with it herself, she lent it to me, to let me play around with it.

So... I've been playing all day:
(Maybe not the best quality photos, but a range of my experimentation to see what this camera can do.)
Our pink fish. Beautiful and large -- mostly because he ate all of his friends. We started out a few years back, with about 5 of these guys. (Not sure if I like the blur, or would have preferred a clearer shot.)

Lauryn hardly ever wears socks. Or clothes for that matter. (low light, no flash, grainy)

A new creation, made after school (no flash)

Some of Owen's artwork, framed in our living room. (no flash, early morning light)

Lauryn nearly always has a notebook, crayon, pencil or marker with her... sometimes she's writing her name, other times she's just "writing." (no flash, natural morning light)

Checking out the depth of field, macro in low-light conditions. The guitar is a beautiful piece of art to practice different angles, depths, etc. (no flash, and better lighting than I would have expected)And just because I haven't posted any recent pics of my kids, here's what they look like. They're cute, huh?

Overall, the camera is much like I expected. I get frustrated not having all the controls, waiting to see the picture afterward and finding out its not exactly like what I had in mind. But then that's a point and shoot. I have been impressed with the speed, the quick shutter, the quick flash recycle, etc. I am a bit disappointed with the macro, I wish it was clearer for extreme closeups. But then again, the fact that this is a $150 camera, kinda can't be beat. I've also checked out the video feature -- its a fun little extra that I wasn't planning on, but is quite nice. Really, it was just nice to play around with a camera that wasn't on the "show-room floor." I'm still not sure if I'm in love with the camera, or if I need to do more looking. But I am enthralled with the fact that I shot about 90 pictures today, and in a matter of a few minutes, they were all on our computer, and now, on my blog. Whoo-hoo! The digital bug has got me... stay tuned for more pictures to come!