2 posts tagged “dslr”

I'll be the proud owner and user of a Digital Rebel XTi. I've let myself convince the budget in my brain that I can afford this, and I'm excited (for once) by the possibility of taking photos of my work to liven up my website. It's a business expense, this camera, don'tcha know?

I called Central Camera (downtown on Wabash) and spoke to a wonderful gentleman who I talked with a few weeks ago. I told him what I wanted, he asked where I wanted it shipped and I said "Well, I'm hoping to take it on a trip next week. Do you think it will be in by then?" I could hear him smile (I remember the days of working retail knowing I could make a customer happy) as he told me, "I could ship it out this afternoon." Glee leapt into my voice as my squeaked, "Really? That fast?"

So tomorrow afternoon, I'll be heading downtown to pick up my new camera and my 50 mm lens and my 2gig card and my camera strap and lens cleaning kit and UV filter. He even said, "Play around with the camera for a few weeks to learn its strengths and quirks so you can come in and try out some other lenses. That way you'll know what you like and what you don't like about the lens."

And at this point next week, I'll be taking pictures with my new camera in New Orleans. I'm excited about this. Much more excited than I thought I would be. "This is a tool, not a toy," I keep saying to myself. But I'm looking forward to playing with this new tool.

I am this close to calling a local camera shop and having them put an order in for one of these for me. It's a Digital SLR camera. Nowhere near the top of the line,  but still pretty good. I've been hanging out on Flickr looking at all varieties of sizes and photos that were taken with this camera and I'm pretty happy with it. I'm not entirely sure how well it handles low-light situations, but I still have my Canon G2 which does really well there so I think I might keep that for my taking around to places camera so I can use it to get snapshots.

I got to play with Ari and Michael Brown's camera at SXSW and loved it. The buttons just made more sense to me (since I've been used to having a Canon for 6 years now) and it felt better in my hands. It just fit better. Sort of like how Henckels fits better in my hand than Wustoff, even though they're both great knife manufacturers. I've watched Cecily grow by leaps and bounds since being on Vox. I've gotten caught up in Paul's desires for an SLR. I've seen the amazing photos that so many othe rpeople are able to get with their SLRs. I've looked at my product photos and seen them sorely lacking.

And we're going to a wedding in Key West at the end of July. And we're going to New Orleans in a few weeks for our anniversary vacation. New Orleans is a place that makes me feel so creatively alive its almost electric. Every crack in the sidewalk full of termite eggs jumps out at me. And I know that some of it is because it is a new place and I'm not used to seeing it. But a lot of it is the energy of the city. Energy that I don't feel able to capture with my point and shoot. Energy that I want to capture. And what better place to play with a new creative tool? The vibrancy when the sun shines. The haze that settles to mute everything and tamp it down just before a storm. If I'm going to purchase it I have to do it quick. But I think I ought to sleep on it overnight at least. At least.

And I'm very glad that I came across Reseller Ratings. They give you reviews of camera shops. I was considering ordering from a place online because the deal was so great. But after reading reviews on this place I realized al the cheap places seem like scams. And in the "practice what you preach" vein, I've decided that a trip to my favorite local camera shop is better anyway. If nothing else, I might get to try out some lenses before I decide to purchase them.