Dear Brand X Cameras,
I have always loved taking pictures and yours has been my favorite brand of camera since I received my very first one, the "Cameo," as a teenager. I loved that camera and used it all the way through high school. When it's film 'door' (?) needed to be taped shut in order to not over-expose the film, it was time for a new one.
My second camera was also from your Brand X, but I don't remember the style name. Digital cameras were new to the market and very expensive, so this one was still a film camera. I loved it, too. I had this one through college, while dating my husband, Mr. Two Cents, and during the early part of our marriage.
The first Christmas Mr. Two Cents and I were married, he surprised me with a Brand X digital camera. He picked it out, without even knowing my preference for Brand X. This style was called an "EZ Share." Since it was a digital camera, I was able to take my pathological photo taking to a higher level. I loved this camera. It pretty much went with me everywhere, and gave me dreams of someday becoming a professional photographer. I recommended it to everyone. My in-laws even bought two! One as a gift for Grandma, and one for themselves as a small camera they could haul around more easily than their huge DSLR.
For our 5th anniversary this year, Mr. Two Cents and I decided to upgrade to a new camera. We had often talked about upgrading to a DSLR ourselves, but money always stood in the way. The "EZ Share," while not being a DSLR, had pretty much all the same features, without having interchangeable lenses, and was hundreds of dollars less expensive. Since we loved the first "EZ Share" so much, we decided to just upgrade to the newer model of the "EZ Share."
And this is where my love and admiration for Brand X Cameras has come to an end...
Now, I'm not sure if we just happened to get a lemon, but this camera was nothing like what we expected after such a good experience with our first "EZ Share." I was frustrated every time I tried to take pictures. I was missing all the good shots, because the camera always hesitated by "processing" whenever I hit the shutter button. I would press it halfway to focus, then all the way to take the shot, and it would still hesitate and "process." It was so annoying!
A lot of my shots had these horrible purple lines through them, ruining what would have been a good photo. At first I thought I must have jiggled or something, but it continued to happen even when I was very careful to stay still. I was so frustrated, that I had stopped trying to learn how to use the manual settings (the lines appeared less when it was set to auto). The saddest part was that I had stopped trying to take photos, because I always missed the shots I wanted anyway. After much trial and error, we determined that it had a faulty light sensor, and possibly a faulty processor.
This past weekend, Mr. Two Cents graduated from college. Out of all the photos I took, only a small handful turned out, even with the camera set on auto. And even then, I am not very happy with those that turned out. That was the last straw for me. I was done with this camera. It was still under warranty, so I could exchange it for another, but I didn't want to take that chance that the same problems would start happening again. I was once an extremely loyal customer, but this one experience has changed that. I am not sure if I would ever trust a Brand X Camera again.
Mr. Two Cents told me I could get a DSLR if I really wanted one, even though we really can't afford it right now. While I think that I would like one someday, I just want a camera that works to take pictures of our family. I'm not attempting to go professional (at least not for now), so we don't need an expensive camera that I don't know how to fully use just for shots of licking popsicles on the lawn, or looking at animals at the zoo.
We found a camera that fits that bill. It is not a Brand X. It has all the same features of the new model "EZ Share," and hopefully none of the "EZ Share's" problems.
Sincerely,
A once loyal, now disgruntled customer
Are any of you readers loyal to one brand of camera? What do you like about that particular brand?
