New Camera
Christmas came early for me today. Weeks ago Margo gave me a budget and let me get a new DSLR camera. After lots of research I settled on the Nikon D40X.
This is a big step up from our seven-year-old Olympus digital camera. We go from 3.3 megapixels in our sensor to 10.2. From 32 megabytes of storage on a long-obsolete format (capable of storing 42 JPEG pictures at 2048 x 1536 pixels), to 8 gigabytes of storage (capable of storing over 660 RAW pictures at 3872 x 2592 pixels).
But there are three big advantages for me. I get much better low-light performance (from ISO 400 to 3200, plus the ability to work with vibration-reduction lenses), so the next time I'm in a cathedral (for example), I'll have fewer pictures blurred by camera shake. My startup time is a near-instant 0.18 seconds, instead of several seconds, so I'll miss fewer shots when interesting things happen. And I've also got a fistful of sexy kit.
At this price point, there were several worthy alternatives, and I'd gladly bore you all with the detailed reasons why I chose this one. But thinking of this as the beginning of a long-term and probably ludicrously expensive hobby, the choices really narrow down to two players: Canon and Nikon. Which family do I join? The competition between both is very intense, so either choice is a good one in that respect - neither side is clearly inferior. I decided on Nikon as I like their ergonomics more.
I'm looking forward to sharing (marginally) better pictures with you all. Tomorrow is our first chance to take some. We are planning to visit the Christmas village in Lowestoft, on the Norfolk coast.
This is a big step up from our seven-year-old Olympus digital camera. We go from 3.3 megapixels in our sensor to 10.2. From 32 megabytes of storage on a long-obsolete format (capable of storing 42 JPEG pictures at 2048 x 1536 pixels), to 8 gigabytes of storage (capable of storing over 660 RAW pictures at 3872 x 2592 pixels).
But there are three big advantages for me. I get much better low-light performance (from ISO 400 to 3200, plus the ability to work with vibration-reduction lenses), so the next time I'm in a cathedral (for example), I'll have fewer pictures blurred by camera shake. My startup time is a near-instant 0.18 seconds, instead of several seconds, so I'll miss fewer shots when interesting things happen. And I've also got a fistful of sexy kit.
At this price point, there were several worthy alternatives, and I'd gladly bore you all with the detailed reasons why I chose this one. But thinking of this as the beginning of a long-term and probably ludicrously expensive hobby, the choices really narrow down to two players: Canon and Nikon. Which family do I join? The competition between both is very intense, so either choice is a good one in that respect - neither side is clearly inferior. I decided on Nikon as I like their ergonomics more.
I'm looking forward to sharing (marginally) better pictures with you all. Tomorrow is our first chance to take some. We are planning to visit the Christmas village in Lowestoft, on the Norfolk coast.
posted by Michael Nelson at 11:50 am
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