(no subject)

[inahandbasket]

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 prosicated and I are just out for a walk I have no problem with it, but walking to the drug store by myself and randomly stopping to shoot photos always rubs me the wrong way. I don't know why.

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.

coraline just got a new Canon Rebel XSi body which is quite nice, and much smaller than my existing one, which would address a lot of my above issues. From the feature-set and physical-handling perspective my selection would be the Canon 40D, but that's a much larger camera body than my current one, exacerbating the portability issue.
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.

Comments

[drwex]

I'm >< this close to buying my first DSLR if only I could figure out what I want and what a good price is. I'm not likely to go above the 'prosumer' level and I think Canon and Nikon glass are about equivalent in that range. I also like the feel of the Nikon bodies over the Canon bodies, which seem too large and bulky from my limited use of them.

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.

[inahandbasket]

Didn't you run around with Johanna's Rebel for a bit? That's kind of the antithesis of large and bulky... ^_^
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.

[drwex]

No, I never managed to borrow Johanna's camera. We talked about it several times but it never actually passed hands.

[coraline]

sorry abot that :}
(but i assumed that once you'd gotten your gift that it would be moot and you'd run out and buy something... oops.)

[drwex]

Thanks - i do appreciate the thought. The gift was a token for "when you make up your mind we'll help you get it". I still haven't really made up my mind, though.

[coraline]

i love taking photos of people, and i think i do an ok job of balancing it out... though this means i've been finding i've been taking fewer pictures and spending more time cuddling recently. which really, i can't complain about :)

[inahandbasket]

*chuckle* indeed. I'd noticed your increased tendency in that direction, didn't mean to slight your multitasking. ^_^

[coraline]

didn't mean to slight your multitasking. ^_^

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 :)