I finally did it.

I finally ordered the new camera last night. An Olympus SP-510, with 10x optical zoom and 7 megapixels, and other cool features. The SP line replaced the C-series, and both the SPs and Cs are sort of a bridge line - not quite a fully manual dSLR, but darn close. On the other hand, you can also use the SPs in a full-automatic, almost idiot-proof mode too. The excitement of a fully-working camera was slightly overridden by the what-ifs, which is why I spent an hour or so second-guessing myself on the camera model, and checking reviews (again) of the website I bought it from before I hit the "place order" button.

Yes, I have a problem with second-guessing myself, and the more I'm spending, the worse it is. What if the other model is better, what if the store sends the wrong thing and gives me a hard time about replacing it, what if my old camera is really better and I should have had it fixed. You get the idea. Yes, most of the worries are pointless - I've researched the camera, I can always deal with the credit card company and the Better Business Bureau if there are problems, UPS hasn't lost any of my packages yet, etc. It's a family trait. When I graduated with my Masters degree, my father was apparently up half the night worrying. Not about me getting a job or anything, but about where he was going to put the one-room's-worth of stuff I was bringing home with me. (Yes, I moved back home for a few months until I found a job.)

I shouldn't worry - the company I ordered from (B&H Video) has a good reputation online everywhere I've looked, including Epinions and ResellerRatings (where they have a 9.57 out of 10, even better than Amazon's rating). And I got a good deal, since the camera was $70 cheaper than at the local Circuit City. Okay, $60 after shipping, and I used part of that to get a 1GB memory card to go with it, but still a good deal.

I think I'll like the camera. I ended up with the SP-510 from Olympus, which has decent reviews and is a big step up from my old camera, in terms of megapixels and zoom. The only thing I don't like about it so far - assuming that the aperture does indeed go up to f8 as stated in the manual - is that the "printed" manual is half the size of the SP-500's, and Olympus seems to have put a lot of the how-to in the camera itself as menu stuff. I don't know if I'll like that, or if it'll feel too dumbed-down. Plus, Olympus (like lots of other companies) has gotten into the habit of sending the manual as a PDF on CD-ROM. If you, like me, would rather read on paper so you can make notes, or be able to use the manual when you're out taking photos and don't have a PC handy, you can either print the whole rotten thing yourself, or buy a hardcopy from Olympus. It bugs me.

But the SP-500 had one big strike against it - no remote capability. Tell me, what is the point of an 8-minute exposure capability, if you have to hold the shutter button down for the whole 8 minutes? Even with a tripod, you're going to get movement, and that 8-minute exposure will be a blurry mess. Since I plan to attempt some astrophotography with this one - after finding the right remote, of course - the balance tipped in favor of the 510.