Canon G11

We bought a new camera.

I've been thinking of upgrading my PowerShot A710 IS but it was not on the top of my priority list for many reason. One of it, I don't think I've fully utilize all the functions. What's the point of upgrading if I'm not going to use all the functions anyway. However, that doesn't stop me from eyeing the latest models and re-evaluating my decisions of upgrading. I have my heart set on PowerShot SX 20 IS. With 20x optical zoom, it would definitely give an interesting photography experience. Thinking, thinking, thinking... rational took over. My camera still works fine.

Then we got a new hobby. Diving! We'll not be able to capture all the interesting things we see underwater without a suitable camera. Since we're going diving soon, having a camera that works underwater suddenly feels urgent. I've been looking for underwater housing that fits my old camera. Tough luck! Not in stock anymore. In fact, some salesman have never heard of my camera model which means they have not been working in the camera shop when I bought my old camera. It is not that 'old' is it? I still wanted to use my old camera so I bought the generic plastic cover. Nereus is the brand. The lense did not fit perfectly but since I bought it already, I might as well use it. The plastic cover wasn't cheap either. But then, I can't fully operate all the buttons on land with my hand. How can I expect to use it underwater with gloves? Sigh! What a waste!

So I started surveying and reviewing again. I can't buy the PowerShot SX20 IS. It doesn't have underwater housing. PowerShot D10 looks interesting except it can only go down to 5 meters. It would be great for snorkeling but not diving. I spent hours looking at all the brand, reading all the reviews till I discover Canon is still a great buy. All the underwater camera or camera with underwater housing didn't originally come with high optical zoom so I have to live with the fact that my new camera will NOT have a super zoom feature. Too bad.

After hours reading all the reviews and selecting few options, it occur to me that I might not get my choice if it is not available in Malaysia or not in stock. So I refer to the website and called the dealers asking which camera model they have in stock together with the underwater housing. That should narrow down my search and saves a lot of time. After a few calls, I'm down to 3 models: IXUS 130, S90 and G11. I got the price range as well so it's easier for me to decide. They sell cheaper than the price published in the website.

So I read the reviews and search for underwater images for the three camera models. S90 has greater reviews than G11 in several websites and to me IXUS 130 has the nicest design. But more people published underwater photos using G11 than the other two models. Probably not many use their camera underwater. All the beautiful pictures kinda make the decision for us. G11 it is. Sigh! Phewww.... so that's how I got myself a new camera despite not wanting to upgrade my old camera in the beginning. I still have my first digital camera, a Kodak which I never use anymore due to its limited functionality. It still take great pictures but the body has melted a little bit because I left it in my car. Can't sell it like that. I'll still use my old PowerShot as it's smaller than the G11 but it has 6x optical zoom while the new G11 only has 5x. Hopefully everything works fine underwater.