Saturday, April 7, 2012

Using the Canon Vixia HFM301 for Photography

On my most recent trip to Savannah, Georgia I decided to give a try at using my Canon Vixia HFM301 to take photos.  It is one of the features built-in to the camcorder and since I'll be in the market soon for a new digital camera I wanted to see how the Canon optics performed even though that's not the primary purpose of this particular product.

This isn't the first time I've taken photos with a Canon though.  My first decent digital camera was a Canon Powershot A60.  That was way way back in 2003.  It was a great camera and ultimately was sent back to Canon for repairs due to a faulty image sensor which turns out was covered under a recall of sorts.  They paid for shipping and replaced the image sensor.  The camera lasted for a few years more.

But the A60 was a 2.0 megapixel camera.  Newer cameras were entering the market with higher megapixel capabilities.  I then purchased a Canon Powershot A550 in 2007. Wow - a whopping 7.1 megapixels.  It served me well for a few years - and then - my son dropped it on the sidewalk while on vacation in Savannah.  The camera happened to be powered on with the lens extended and after it hit the ground the lens was whomp-a-sided and wouldn't retract.

Later that evening in the hotel I decided to try and "fix" it, so I forcibly pushed the lens back into it's normal position.  Amazingly I could power it on an off, the lens would extend and retract as normal.  I was surprised because honestly I was expecting the worst.

The A550 served well until 2011.  Early that year the LCD display started to fail.  I believe it was due to the sidewalk incident.

So then it was time to purchase a new digital camera.  Me being the cheap person I am found out about a Polaroid i1237 for sale at Big Lots for the low price of $55.  Even a coworker of mine owns that particular camera and raved about it.  The i1237 is a 12.0 megapixel and was the right price for me.

I bought it and don't you know it, on our vacation in summer of 2011 the camera's LCD display started failing.  It would go blank intermittently.  We coudn't use it because the i1237 doesn't have a built in eyepiece, so you have no idea what your taking a picture of.

Ok well this year we're taking another summer vacation and while the LCD display on the i1237 started working again, my wife doesn't have any faith in it.  So pretty soon we'll be buying a new digital camera.  But she doesn't want me to go the bargain route because, well, we see where it got me this time.

I took some pictures on our trip last week to Savannah using the Canon and posted them here as an example of their quality.  Everything looks good to me - so most likely I'll be shopping for another Canon.  These are all 3.0 megapixel images.

A jet fighter at the Mighty Eigth Air Force Museum.

 The entrance to Old Fort Jackson.

A soldier ready to fire the cannon at Old Fort Jackson.

The cannon after firing at Old Fort Jackson.

A lifesize cutout of Paula Deen greets patrons at her restaurant The Lady And Sons.

A tug boat play area on Riverfront street.

A view of the bridge on Riverfront Street.

The Tybee Island Lighthouse and Museum on Tybee Island.

A view of the ground from atop the Tybee Lighthouse.

A view of Fort Screvin from atop the Tybee Lighthouse.

A view of the horizon from atop Tybee Lighthouse.

A selection of cupcakes from Mabel Francis Potter's Cupcake Emporium.

The view from behind a rain covered window as a cargo ship passes River Street in Savannah.


All pictures copyright John Colangelo 2012.

No comments:

Post a Comment