After studying the different cameras available on the market, and talking to several knowledgeable people, I had decided to buy a Nikon D5000. It is a digital SLR camera with good reviews and a lot of good features. At around $700 for the body and two lenses, and a battery charger and an SD card, it would have been a good camera for me to use while I learned how to use a digital SLR because it would also take pictures in automatic mode. That’s where the camera does all the settings automatically so you don’t have to think about it. But, alas, it was not in the cards for me to get that camera right now.
That is because the night before last, after dinner, I broke my partial plate. For anyone who wears dentures or a dental device like a partial plate, you know how expensive that can be. I got the plate in 2005, when we were still living in south Texas, 8 miles from the Mexican border. I walked across the border, had six teeth extracted, and had the partial plate made, for a total expense of $400. That included an antibiotic and pain meds to take after the extractions. I never thought about the thing breaking. Heck, I didn’t even know it COULD break. And I didn’t know you could only expect a partial plate to last for five to seven years!
After my initial shock, I did what any other sane person would do–I googled the internet for “repairs to partial plate”. The most important thing I learned from that search is that MY partial can not be repaired, because it broke on the metal part. They can only make repairs if it is the plastic part that broke.
My next search was for what it would cost to get a new partial plate made. In the United States, a partial plate like mine would cost me a whopping $1500 to $2000 at a regular dentist’s office! I know dental work is expensive, but this is not even a full set of teeth we are talking about here. At discount denture place I found, I can get a new set of teeth for about $650, but I would still have to drive down to Phoenix, twice. And that would also involve staying in a motel overnight both times, because it is just too far to go there and back in one day. So, we are still trying to decide whether to go to Yuma and walk across to Mexico, go to Phoenix, or wait and go to the outlet they have in Georgia in November. I CAN eat, just not a steak or a pork chop. And it would be sooo much easier to wait and go in Georgia when we get back east.
At any rate, in anticipation of having to spend at least $650 out of pocket, I decided it wouldn’t be prudent to also spend over $700 for a new camera, even though I really really want it. So, when we went to Kanab today, I bought an Olympus SP-600UZ. It is NOT an SLR camera, but it is a pretty good digital camera for under $200. It has lots of good features, including taking pretty good videos. The pictures come out clear and with good color. Which is what I want a camera to do.
It takes pretty decent photos of people:
It does pretty good on close-ups:
Landscapes:
And zoom:
Full sun does not wash out the color of the sky and forest:
And just because I like this photo:
So, even though I didn’t get the camera I wanted, I DID get one, and that is a good thing. Now for those teeth…..
