Despite of the fact that my previous digital camera was stolen by bad guys during my last trip to the Homeland, my passion to do digital photography didn't get lost. I'm quite a persistant person in reaching my aims, also I do agree with the old Freud idea that unrealized desires give birth to neuriosises knowing it from my own experience. If you want something, you must do it yourself. I've gotta respect my own desires.

What I really don't like about East Europe is the situation with electronic gadgets. Generally, being "poorer" than our Western fellows we have to pay three times more for modern toys. Ok, Moscow and Kiev can be proud of having shops with acceptable prices, but the capital yet is not the whole country. Besides, in some countries in the region even capitals don't have such great advantages. Here in Romania, for example, prices for electronics in Bucharest don't differ much from ones of other cities, so you gotta be tricky here.

My new digital camera, judging from its papers, was produced in Japan. Then it hanged out a bit in Ireland and then arrived to a shop in Stuttgart for sale. It's Germany. There it got bought by a Ukrainian programmer who brought it to Lvov, and then it was delivered to me to Iasi, Romania. Sounds complicated and weird, but there is an obvious funds save: it cost $400 to me while in Bucharest the minimal price for the same model is $530, plus 15 days delivery period at least.

Anyway, the camera has arrived. Now a few words about what I've got here and what I think about my new toy. It's called Canon Ixus V2, and here you can find pictures, techinal specifications and a small review by a guy from the States who's been maniacally trying all the digital cameras that get into his hands. Don't pay much attention to the fact that it's called Powershot S200, it's just a name for the American market.

In comparison with the late HP C318 this camera has the following features that I liked a lot. Obviously, this purchase was a serious upgrade for me. Well, it left within the same limits of 2 megapixels, but for my tasks it's quite a sufficient value (the maximal resolution is 1600x1200). By my tasks first of all I mean quality good enough for putting the shots out on the site and in general, for viewing on a monitor. Photos of this size can be also easily printed on paper of the 10x15 cm format. So, the first nice feature is a lot of different setting options. It's possible to set the exposure manually, and also there is a 2x optical zoom. Though it's rather unfair to compare cameras one of which costs two times more than another. Another nice feature of the camera is the exterior design. The body is made of metal and the lens is hidden inside when the thing is off. It's really nice since I hate all of those additional cases and "condoms" - small plastic bags where thrifty ones put any kind of electronics starting with TV remotes. Plus the camera is very small and fits in your palm, thus it can be easily taken everywhere in a pocket.

	I'm not sure I am familiar with all the camera's features, but there is a set of photos that I taken in my new appartment here. Just in case if someone's wondering about the furniture I spend my evenings when I manage to arrive home in time suitable for doing something useful. The site notes are also written here, since at work the atmosphere is not really too condusive for that. The place is on the picture to the left.
	As you can easily guess from the existance of sanitary equipment, there is my bathroom to the left. Baia in Romanian. To the right is the kitchen with the mug which I brought from Bran.
Here you can see an example of what can be done with the help of long exposure. I was on my balcony, the exposure was set to 4 seconds and on the street a car was moving. Who says this is not an interesting effect will be raped cynically and killed right on place.

Finally, there are some new additions to the Iasi photos section of the gallery.