Chelsea Kaplan’s Musings About Life... After Birth

My little Canon point-and-shoot’s been failing me lately. There is way too much wait time in between the moment I press the “take a photo” button and when the camera actually takes the photo. As a result, I miss all sorts of cute moments, and instead capture random shots of my kids either looking dazed and confused or not looking in my general direction whatsoever. The other day, my Big Bro and Little Bro both managed to open up a diaper box and hop inside it, pretending they were in a train. I found it hilarious, and wanted to capture the moment for a future Bar Mitzvah or rehearsal dinner slideshow. This was the best shot I got:

While griping about this to a few Momtourage and Dadtourage members at a recent birthday party, it seemed everyone had a similar groan, so I called upon Dadtourage members Jeff and Eric, camera and tech

afficionados, to research the latest and greatest cameras, and categorize them into prices for any budget. My recommended place to purchase them is SHOP.com, which has some AMAZING prices and a ridiculously huge selection. Seriously, if you haven’t yet visited SHOP.com, you must go there - now!

Below, find our camera-savvy Dadtourage’s recommendations, compiled after an exhaustive amount of research:

If you’re able to spend somewhere around $1000, go for the Canon EOS Rebel T1i


Canon’s EOS Rebel T1i is packed with features, both refined and new. In addition to its admirable performance with a 15.1-megapixel Canon CMOS sensor, DIGIC 4 image processor, a 3.0-inch clear view LCD with anti-reflective and scratch-resistant coating, and compatibility with the EOS system of lenses and speedlites, the EOS Rebel T1i adds remarkable Full HD video capture at resolutions up to 1920 x 1080. An HDMI port allows for quick connections to high definition TVs and monitors for easy viewing of your stills and video. The entire operation is simple and easy even if you are a beginner. You’ll have uncompromised EOS digital performance with power and flexibility right in the palm of your hand. It retails for $749, and you can add a fantastic lens or two for an additional $200-300. We went for this one - photos of us using it and the unreal images it captured to come later on in this week!

If you’re able to spend around $500, check out the Canon PowerShot SX1 IS



With a 10 megapixels Canon CMOS sensor and 20x wide-angle zoom for incredible reach, the PowerShot SX1 IS offers continuous shooting up to 4fps and can supplement photos with Full HD videos. It retails for $615 (we know, it’s a little over $500, but our experts swear it’s worth the extra $115 bucks!).

If you’re able to spend around $200, go for the Fujifilm FinePix F70EXR


The FinePix F70EXR gives three critical improvements on current models. First, image quality - the one drawback with long zoom cameras is that the sensor has to be necessarily small, with less light reaching the CCD than would be the case with standard compacts. Fujifilm has introduced its award-winning EXR technology into the FinePix F70EXR, giving a significant improvement in image quality against other models. The second major benefit of the FinePix F70EXR is the neat compact design. Lastly, Fujinon 10x zoom lens, developed in conjunction with the super CCD EXR sensor, produces crisp high resolution results throughout the focal range, from 27mm wide-angle to 270mm telephoto.It retails for $209.95.

Need a new camera? The first person to send an email to info@themomtourage.com telling us why you need a new camera will win a Canon EOS Rebel T1i and lens kit, courtesy of the awesome folks at SHOP.com! We’ll ship it out to you first thing Monday morning, with plenty of time for you to learn all about it before your spring break travel! Good luck!