Tech: Cannon SX40 HS

Every tech purchase has its story. My story is how I became traumatized by my crappy Samsung Galaxy SII camera.

Long story short, I saw Logan Lerman in person and could not take a picture of him-- even though i was a few inches from  him--because it was dark and my phone camera sucks. Yet, I look over and my classmate has taken a great picture with his iPhone 4S. At this point I started shaking my fist at Samsung. Anyway, I told myself I needed a camera and because I love technology I went into bestbuy and looked around carefully until I found the beauty pictured above(with my crappy phone camera).

The Cannon SX40 HS is a beast with a 12.1 megapixel camera, Optical Image Stabilizer, Lens that zooms up to 35x and takes pictures in the dark perfectly. Another great feature is the 2.7-inch LCD screen, which swivels around for great self portraits. One weird feature that I have not noticed must cameras don't have is the ability to look into the viewfinder instead of just the screen to see the scene.

I guess the new generation adapts so quickly to technology that we don't even notice when something doesn't exist anymore as we've moved on to the next best thing. However, I appreciate the option of looking into the viewfinder even if for shooting video it is not ideal.

Oh, did I mention the beast can shoot full 1080p HD video? Well folks, it can and with its usual partner: HDMI out capabilities. And maybe I have just been too busy, but since when can we shoot video while taking photos as well?

I cannot praise this camera enough. I will never be traumatized again. The 35x zoom is so extreme that I can take a picture of the inside of someone's apartment in the building that is three blocks from me. Maybe for others, cameras have not improved much, but for me, going from a crappy phone camera to this, it's a Godsend.

The camera is not only a zoom-in beast but has many different settings and tweaks for those of you who like to play. It has everything for everyone. With movie mode you can shoot YouTube videos, with the sport feature you can take action shots for those energetic toddlers and for those who do not want to do anything fancy is the "auto" button where the settings are set for you.

This camera packs a punch. You can take pictures in the dark with stabilized shots, zoom in ridiculously and shoot amazing video. Not to mention the capability of adding an extra flash on top of the one that lifts up from the camera. Seriously, you cannot go wrong with this camera and at $350 this is the best deal you will find in this lifetime.