Since we have decided to let the deer walk this year in an effort to bring the herd numbers back up, I have decided to leave the firearms at home this deer season. Instead, I will hunt with a camera. On Friday, after 7 years and at least 10 thousand pictures, my Cannon A20 2 MP digital camera died.
I went to Best Buy and looked around for another camera that:
A.) Was under $300 (I paid $400 for the 2mp Cannon 7 years ago)
B.) had more telephoto than the old Cannon at 3X zoom.
C.) small enough to fit in a hunting coat pocket.
I ended up buying another Cannon. This time, an SX100 IS. This is no fancy schmancy jumbo camera and it still fits in a coat pocket. It is an 8 MP camera. It cost $249 and I spent another $40 on a 4 GB memory card. I could have paid less online but when I have it in my hand, I am prone to buying on the spot rather than waiting.
On Saturday, I went to the Kenosha Bowmen's Memorial shoot to talk to the President of the club about the WBH and the forum so I tagged along as he shot. I snapped a few pics along the way.
Here he is shooting at a 100 yard novelty shoot at a bear target. (with a longbow) Without zoom.
While standing in the same spot. I used the 10X optical zoom and the extra digital zoom for this shot (no tripod needed because of image stabilization built in)
Then, in order to make a photo suitable for web forums, I cropped the photo leaving only the area I wanted.
Then, today, I took a picture of the neighbors garden owl that was 70 yards away. Without zoom.
Then with the 10X zoom.
and then cropping the full sized image for web forum posting.
Since most of my firearms deer season hunting gives me views of around 100 yards or less, this will be my weapon of choice this season. Catch and release hunting.
Since I take a lot of pictures of work I do in my shop, I also wanted a camera that would do well up close. Here is a picture I took of a dime laying on a $20 bill. The lens was less than an inch from the dime when I took the shot.