To celebrate Devil’s Night, the evening prior to Halloween, we’ll be headed up to Fort Henry for some cheap laughs, and heart pounding scares thanks to Fort Fright. Although it’s already sprinkling out, with enough fermented libations, we’ll come out on the other side with our limbs attached, and brains uneaten. Depending on the performance of my camera, I’ll be reporting back on Monday with lots of pictures, and advise whether or not Fort Fright is worth your while. Getting back to my camera, I’m finding that it’s performance has fallen a bit short of my expectations lately. While I’m an amateur at best, in the past I’ve been able to churn out some pretty decent shots, or at least come away with something that I could touch up in Photoshop. Nowadays, it seems as though I’m asking it to do way too much, as my night time photos, and concert coverage have been ruined on a few occasions by lack luster performance. While I would love to upgrade to something with more capability, it’s hard to justify the expense of even the low-end digital SLR cameras. For all you budding photogs, I would love some recommendations. On that note, the Nikon D90 seems rather impressive, while acktown’s autumn photo of a colourful winding road, is a great example of it’s ability to shine. Happy Friday, and Happy Halloween!
Friday Foto
Harvey Kirkpatrick | October 30, 2009
A year and a half ago, I picked up (Ebay) a Nikon D80 kit (4 lenses, extra cases, tripods, slave flash, filters, 5-year Canadian warranty, etc, etc) for about $1500 including shipping, upgrades and customs.
Sounds expensive, but my previous camera was a Sony Cybershot that had lasted me five years…I deserved something new and THIS camera is the last one I’ll ever buy. I love it, although it was a little intimidating after having only ever touched a P&S before. Now, I hardly leave the house without it on my shoulder…and forget lining up at Wal-Mart for Xmas pics of the kiddies! Setting up a photo studio at home is more fun with less stress and wait.
This past summer I helped a friend purchase a Nikon D90, and got to play with it a little bit. Honestly, I find the video capability a little too gadgety for my taste (not to mention that NOT looking through a viewfinder throws me off now).
Highly recommend the D80 – good weight and fits well in my hand, 3 shots per second, and all the manual stuff you could ever want to mess with. (And yes, I’m still learning!) Again, DSLRs are a bit pricey, but certainly worth it for anyone with a strong enough photo addiction OR kids. There is no way I could have gotten some of the shots I have with my old P&S.
I also recommend buying through Ebay – once you’ve done the research on the cameras you’re interested in and the seller ratings, you’ll never find better deals in local shops.
Good luck and Happy Halloween!