I blame my uncle! Last weekend when we visited and got to see Graeme on his flying visit to Australia he had a shiny new camera. Not just any shiny new camera either — the same model IXUS 700 I’ve been with myself…. The last fortnight has been extra difficult too, with the old camera in for repair at Canon, and me with no camera. Prices seem to range from a RRP of $885 down to $660, with half a dozen businesses selling them for around $570 via eBay in Australia as “Pay in Australia, shipped from Hong Kong to you and identified as ‘gift’ for customs to avoid GST. Too dodgy, instead I bought it from a local dodgy-looking computer parts supplier.
I don’t know why, they may well be perfectly legal, above board and everything, but their appearance always strikes me as shonky. Receipts on scraps of paper, an enormous staff of family members and friends, no service, no advice, no support, just low price. I wonder how often the tax office drops in for an audit?
Open the box, charge the battery, insert the memory card — oh yeah, the 32M card supplied is a joke, if not an insult Mr Canon. Fiddle about and take a photo. Yep, OK it works. Now what?
