my camera is very sick!!

:-( just paralysed! it kind of half starts up and then goes into error mode, display frozen or off, and the lens out or half out!! the only way to switch it off is to take the battery out, but that doesn't retract the lens, oh dear... i've treated it so well, never dropped it or got it wet or anything...

i don't like to be without a camera, it makes me uneasy! i like to have it with me most days! just in case! i love digital, i don't mind taking 20 photos to get just one good shot, and i love being able to take pictures of bits that i'd never bother to get printed, just to show on the blog or send home to my sis or parents. p got it for me last year in february, on ibood, so it is still in warranty, unfortunately it's a 'carry in' manufacturer's warranty, and i have a feeling it might be for the UK only, they don't even have an irish phone number... have to wait till monday when their warranty department opens to find out. it wasn't expensive, as far as digital cameras go, under 150€ including all the bits, postage, tax... all of it! so if i go down the warranty route, i might spend a large percentage of the price on sending it to and from the UK...

i might see can i bring it into one of the camera shops in town, but the two i tried today were no good. in one of them the guy was pressing on the lens to try an make it retract! he even left a big fat fingerprint on it, i think to work in a city centre camera shop you don't actually have to have any knowledge of or interest in cameras... ah well... p managed to make it retract properly by pressing a lot of buttons at the same time, so at least i can transport it safely and won't be asked if i dropped it!

if i can't get it fixed i think i'll have to get another compact, and i'll have to decide on one soon (only 7ish weeks till baby's due!). i had just started to think about getting an SLR-like camera, but i don't think i could handle having only a bulky camera, i really like to have something small that i can slip into the handbag or jacket pocket, it was supposed to be in addition to my point and shoot!

i like what i'm reading about the lumix lx3 , but it's only just out and not in any shops here, and gee, it is pricey for a compact! but it reminds me of my precious old analog olympus myu, no zoom on that one, but a lovely bright lens and it takes great pictures. although the flash can be a bit bright... alternatively maybe the tz 5 but i heard it's got noise problems?

i seem to be quite set on something with a wider angle lens, and at the moment i like the panasonic ones best, but i'll have to do a bit more research... when really i should be preparing the house for the baby!! i seem to be suspiciously easily distracted...