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Jun. 13th, 2008 11:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I wish I took more photos.
Why don't I? A couple of reasons.
- Because my DSLR is fairly large and it's difficult to fit nicely into my daily-carry bag. It fits great if I pop the lens off, but then it takes me a minute or two to take a picture, which is anything but quick when trying to catch something neat that I noticed. It also takes a full 3 seconds from power on to first capture, so even if I leave the lens on the body (and carry my larger bag) I often miss that short-lived moment.
- It's fairly old (first-gen Digital Rebel), and the image quality isn't good when compared to just about anything newer. I can fake it to some extent in photoshop, but when the data ain't in the pixels there's only so much you can do.
- I don't like being "that guy" who always caries an SLR around his neck and frequently stops to shoot things. Sometimes I'm ok with it, but sometimes I'm not. If
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Is this just a whine to rationalize getting a new camera body? Meh. Not really. I can rationalize that to myself well enough if I really want to. It's more me mulling options.
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So if I'm going to upgrade do I go with the 40D and a decent point-shoot for constant carrying, only whipping out the big-guns when I really need it? Or do I go with the newer and smaller Rebel body and get a sort of compromise arrangement?
All a moot point until after the house is bought obviously, but it's been on my back-burner for over a year now.
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Date: 2008-06-13 04:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-13 04:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-13 04:50 pm (UTC)That's why I have so many different pictures of the same things-- they're on my route to the grocery store ;)
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Date: 2008-06-13 04:36 pm (UTC)Anyway, I have a Nikon D50 that I bought secondhand off of eBay. It doesn't get a whole lot of use because it's too big to tote around but it takes some damn fine pictures.
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Date: 2008-06-13 05:02 pm (UTC)Canon makes some REALLY GOOD high-end lenses if you can afford it, and the consumer stuff is decent. There's a reason you see so many white lenses (Canon L series) when you see lots of pro photographers lined up at sporting events and whatnot.
For both systems though you're often better off going with Sigma, Tamron, or other third party lenses assuming you're not filthy rich. They're usually better bang-for-buck, and the glass is then the same for either Canon or Nikon with just the mount differing.
I went with Canon because they had a far better offering back when I actually bought mine. My dad and sister actually both went Nikon, dad because his existing lens collection was Nikon so it was a no-brainer, and sister because she liked the control layout better. If I had to choose again today it'd probably be a coin flip honestly from an objective perspective, but my friends all use Canon so I can steal their lenses this way. ;-)
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Date: 2008-06-13 04:51 pm (UTC)That being said though, I found it infinitely useful to have my Nikon SLR and my Nikon point-and-shoot when I traveled, for mainly the reasons you already listed. Sometimes you want to just take a shot without worrying about shutter speed and f/stop. I personally would look at them as two separate and distinct beasts. Buy the dSLR that does what you need it to do and then analyze whether you find that you need/want the utility of a smaller camera to carry around for random photo-taking.
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Date: 2008-06-13 05:09 pm (UTC)Meg and I will always have a PS around because they're infinitely useful, but the question is just how I want to deal with carrying things around. The smaller Rebel bodies would certainly satisfy my actual needs (cake) as well as the 40D would, but I'd prefer the 40D for some "icing" reasons.
The question is; at what point does convenience outweigh icing? And that's purely subjective. ^_^
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Date: 2008-06-13 07:39 pm (UTC)exactly!
for me, i'm glad the answer was clear enough to avoid any sort of agonizing over it. hope you find a solution that works for you though... yay photography!
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Date: 2008-06-14 01:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-13 05:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-13 05:12 pm (UTC)Yeah, that's exactly what I'm up against. You have an original Rebel too? Or is yours an Xt?
Affording a 40D is at least 6 months down the road though, and then the 50D will probably be coming out. ^_^
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Date: 2008-06-13 06:40 pm (UTC)Didn't the 40D just come out in August, so the 50D is another year off (18 month cycle)?
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Date: 2008-06-13 06:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-13 07:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-13 05:30 pm (UTC)I wish I took more photos. [...] I don't like being "that guy" who always caries an SLR around his neck and frequently stops to shoot things.
Yes. That, and that. Particularly since most of what I want to shoot is pictures of other people, it's doubly awkward. I'm often in situations of choosing between participating in the social situation and taking pictures of it.
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Date: 2008-06-13 06:13 pm (UTC)This crowd is also very strongly Canon, which as mentioned above can be quite helpful when you need to borrow a lens for a weekend or something. Just devil's advocating, you won't go wrong with either system honestly.
As for where to buy, BuyDig is about the cheapest reputable place I've found for camera gear. If you want customer service though you have to pay the retail store prices and buy locally. C'est la vie.
Agreed on the social situation thing. I'm been watching Ringel lately as he seems to balance it quite well at gatherings.
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Date: 2008-06-13 07:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-13 07:41 pm (UTC)(but i assumed that once you'd gotten your gift that it would be moot and you'd run out and buy something... oops.)
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Date: 2008-06-13 07:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-13 07:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-13 07:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-13 07:54 pm (UTC)didn't think you were, just musing to myself about how i've decided one way or the other about whether to photograph or participate or both :)