You may recall that my little point and shoot bit the dust a few weeks ago.
Being a MOMMY of 2 and blogger, this was NOT a good thing.
The day before my point and shoot zonked out on me I had decided it was time to start my camera fund for the DSLR that I have been wanting. In case you are wondering, it was started with a whopping $30 with the intention of adding to it every week.
$30 wasn't going to buy much of a camera, but I couldn't be without one. My sweet husband was willing to get me whatever I wanted, but when it came right down to it, I didn't know what I wanted. I had been talking a DSLR for MONTHS, but I knew that I would have to LEARN how to use the thing. I currently had a point and shoot so I knew I could take my time leaning the new camera.
I went back and forth trying to figure out the best thing to do. We weren't going to buy 2 cameras at the same time. Since I am so used to having a camera that I can throw in my purse or the diaper bag, I wasn't sure a DSLR was the real answer. Decisions. Decisions.
I spent DAYS reading camera reviews online. My favorite point and shoot was this one, followed by this one.
My father in law has this DSLR that he wanted to sell. I decided to use it for a little bit to see if I wanted to purchase it from him. It was a DSLR that I could purchase for a much lower price than a new one, but would I be able to figure it out? I used it a lot for several days.
Every single day for a week I changed my mind about which scenario was the right way to go.
Scenario 1 - purchase this (more expensive) point and shoot and hope that it was good enough that I wouldn't still want a DSLR right away
Scenario 2 - purchase my father in law's DSLR and try my best to learn it quickly so that I wouldn't miss pictures of my kids, and then a little later purchase this (the less expensive) point and shoot so that I had a small camera to take on outings
Scenario 3 - purchase this (less expensive) point and shoot so that I could keep taking pictures of my kids without feeling completely overwhelmed, and then continue to save for the new DSLR that I really wanted
I didn't think about anything else for a solid week. I just read about cameras and practiced using my FIL's trying to get comfortable enough to use it as my only camera for a while.
When it came down to it, the DSLR took AWESOME pics when I had lots of time to play with it, but I felt completely overwhelmed every single time I picked it up.
I ended up going with scenario 3. I am still learning my new point and shoot (the settings seem a lot different from my other camera and I'm trying to learn to use this one without having to use the flash, so bear with me), and really looking forward to the day that I get to get a new DSLR that I can take my time learning.
What kind of camera do you have?
right now, I'm "borrowing" my mom's canon...but my dream camera is the Nikon D90!! Ah, someday...
ReplyDeleteOk, Nikki - you need to do a "video' or week of tutoring showing off your blogging advice. U are growing adn "going" places girl! TEACH ME everything you know!!
Oh I so wish I could get a new camera it really does make all the difference!
ReplyDeleteLoveing your blog, thanks a million for the sweet comment!
I have a Nikon D80, which is a very nice camera. However, my dream camera is a Canon 5D Mark 2, which shoots full frame photos. I am exercising extreme discipline by not already having this camera in my hands. I made a deal with myself, but haven't actually started it yet. I said that for every dang catalog I receive in the mail each and every day, if I throw it away without looking at it, then I will put $5 per catalog in a camera slush fund. If I did that, it seriously would not take long to have enough money to buy the camera.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this post. Choosing a new camera is SO difficult! There are so many awesome and amazing cameras out there to choose from it is SO hard to choose!!
ReplyDeleteThe Canon Rebel is an awesome camera from everything that I've seen. I have a Nikon D80, and it has been a really good camera, though I'm itching to upgrade and switch from Nikon to Canon.
When you do get around to buying an SLR I have started teaching online classes for new SLR users, this year the class is only $25 and will only be about $45 next year for a whole month of classes!