as of yesterday, me = proud owner of a new Canon EOS Kiss x4!
there was a "sale" (sales are more like a 'let's shopping' campaign in japan haha) at eiden and i was like, "yknow i did decide a while back that i would buy a fatty camera right before i leave japan... and i'm feeling pretty good today... time to spend my hard earned bacon!"
so i got the main body, the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens, the EF-S55-250mm f/4.5-5.6 IS lens, a lens guard, LCD screen protector thingy, carrying case, and 4g SD card for 108000yen. i thought it was a reasonable deal considering it was a double lens kit with mem card, case and other goodies too.

it was funny cause i had done all this research before going to eiden, and then as i was playing in the camera section this nice, oldish, cool uncle-type salesman was like "greetings, pretty miss. i couldnt help noticing you oggling the pentax and lumix cameras a lot... and just wanted to say... i really, really, really want to save you from purchasing total crap lol" (i was like, dude this guy is awesome lol). then we were talking about the merits of nikon and canon cams and how other makers try to lure young women like me into buying their stuff by offering cool colors or a fancy compact design (and yes, i think everyone knows how i like to buy any technology that comes in pink - which is why i spent so much time with the lumix gf1 lol). so i was like, alright uncle, what would you rec for a first-time dslr person? and after much more Q&A and other talking i walked out of the store with my new baby.

i think the canon eos kiss x4 is actually marketed in western countries under different names, the "550D" and/or "Rebel T2i" don't really know why they would market the same thing under different names... although if i had to guess it's because the imagery of words like 'kiss' or 'rebel' or the definitively quantitative value of '550' subconsciously makes japanese people, americans, englishmen, etc. identify with their own inherent kinkiness, ruggedness or calculating preciseness... sorry if that came out racist at all lol.

anyway more specs on my baby here:
http://snapsort.com/cameras/Canon/Kiss_X4

needless to say, i'm really excited about summer vacation to okinawa + hong kong + tokyo disneyland + comiket now cause i'll be able to learn how to use this thing better on the field hehe. what's cool is dad was a pro photographer like 12-13 years ago so i'm sure he'll be more than happy to show me stuff~ yay~

oh, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, DAD lol.