Tragic Tandy Hills Photographic Calamity

When last we spoke I said I was heading out to get in some aerobic stimulation. Late afternoon, temperatures in the 60s, I figured I'd go to the Tandy Hills, again, maybe getting a good picture or two of the Fracking (or Fraccing) being done by Chesapeake Energy to the formerly, sort of, pristine Tandy Hills.

But no Fracking was heard as I exited my vehicle. It was quiet, no wind, birds chirping, beautiful. I walked along, holding my camera bag in my left hand, my arms swaying back and forth, like arms do when walking fast.

I had not made it off the cement sidewalk entry to the Tandy Hill trails when, suddenly, my camera went flying out of its bag and landed hard on the cement. I picked it up. Turned it on. It did not respond. Tried again. I got a sign of life. The motor began to whir, the lens popped out, but there was a grinding noise. The display lit up for a second. Then went away. I pushed the shutter button. Nothing.

I quickly came to terms with the fact that I had killed my 8 year old Olympus camera at the Tandy Hills. A fitting place for a sad demise.

My camera was already on its last legs and I was already looking for a replacement. I've got my choices narrowed down to the Olympus Stylus Tough-8000, you see above, and the Canon PowerShot SD880 you see on the right. I like the specs of the Olympus camera. It can survive almost a 7 foot drop. I can take it 33 feet underwater. It can handle being way below freezing. And it is crush proof.

The Canon is top rated for the quality of its pictures, color-wise. And its speed of processing. Neither of which is a huge issue to me. I've been perfectly happy with my, now dead, antique Olympus. I'm thinking getting a new Olympus, that would not die from an untimely death drop, is the way to go.

It's like an omen. Old camera killed by being dropped. Get a new one that can survive such a calamity.