Digital SLR Time

One hobby of mine that has fallen by the wayside the past few years is photography.  Sure, there are times I pull out the Sony H-20 to do some random shoots of stuff but I've not been real serious about getting out and about in some time.  This is something I'm planning to rectify come this fall.

While the H-20 is a fine point-and-shot digital camera and takes some outstanding pictures with some nice features it's still not a DSLR type camera with options for various lenses, RAW file format capability, and other assorted options.  If I want to really get serious about getting back into photography as a hobby I'll need to step up my game, so to speak.

This will be a multi-stage effort on my part starting with purchasing a copy of Aperture 3 by Apple.  I've been playing around with the 30 day free trial and I'm hooked!  It's got some powerful photo editing features that rival and surpass what I've used with previous versions of Photoshop, integrates very well with my iMac, and is no where as expensive as Photoshop.  If you've got a Mac computer and like to take pictures do yourself a favor and try this software out.  You'll thank me later.

Second will be deciding which DSLR I want to get.  Up until my purchase of my Sony H-20 this past spring I've been a hardcore fan of Canon cameras.  As someone who was assistant manager of a photo lab and worked in the lab of a major camera store chain I've always been partial to Canon products and recommended to many friends and customers.  I've used other digital cameras from Nikon and Fuji but always felt that Canon products offered a better quality hardware/picture combination.  The Sony I have has been changing my mind about this somewhat.

One factor in the camera decision will be lenses.  With a Sony Alpha model DSLR I'll be able to use Minolta lenses but I've not had much experience with those so it's a bit of a hedge point for me.  I also prefer lenses made by Sigma.  They offer lenses for Canon, Nikon, and other SLR/DSLR cameras and I like their products.  I have to admit I don't know if they offer equipment compatible with Sony cameras or not, I'll have to get off my butt and look it up later.  One thing is for certain, a trip to the local Wolf Camera at Cameron Village is in the offing as I'll be able to go there and play with various models and lenses to get a "feel" for the current state of DSLR offerings.  I also need to find out if a professional photographer friend I worked with when I worked for Wolf still works there, his is advice that I trust.

My final factor is working out a budget for this project.  I'm including the cost of Aperture 3 in this as it's directly related and will be the first purchase around the end of August.  There will also be various accessory purchases to take into account such as compatible memory cards (at least 32MB), extra battery for the camera, a second zoom lens (at least a 55mm-200 with a preferable 55-300mm range lens), UV filter, and a bag for the new equipment.  An extra zoom lens shouldn't be too big an issue as lots of times DSLRs are advertised with specials including such a lens.  I've already got a decent tripod so that's one less thing to worry about getting.

This is a project/goal I'm looking forward to almost as much as the iMac one was for the first half of the year.  I really do miss going out somewhere with the goal of doing nothing but looking for what catches my eye and thinking of how I want to frame a picture to make it one that others will enjoy as much as I do.

Comments

[Catherine]

Sigma makes lenses for the Minolta/Sony A-mount. The bodies may be a bit too small for you though. And if you worked in a store you should know that Sigma makes the Quantaray line. I've found my QRs quite sufficient for the photography classes I'm taking, although I'm starting to take to the Tokinas I got with a film SLR.

Take your tripod with you. If you're still using the one I remember, then it may not stand up to the weight of a dSLR. Turned out mine didn't, so I've started using that one for my compact zoom and bought a new one for the Minolta.

To be honest, I find the CZ much easier than the dSLR and it allows for full creative control. Mine has Leica (Leica!) glass, a zoom that covers everything nicely, and a manual mode where I can set things any way I want. It even has a manual focus.

[Catherine]

Forgot to mention one thing about the CZ: yes, as a matter of fact I can use filters on it. Most CZs these days are threaded for an adapter tube that will then accept a filter. Mine cost me $30.

[Mike P.]

Right now I'm leaning towards either the Nikon 3000 or 5000. I had a chance to play with them yesterday afternoon and was impressed with both models as well as how they felt in my hands.

A couple of months ago I upgraded to a new tripod so that's not a problem.

I may end up selling off the H-20 if I do end up getting a DSLR next month, a couple of people at work really like the camera and now that it's not on sale anymore on Amazon.com (it's over $100 more than I paid for it when I got it) they keep asking me if I'll sell it to them. That would off set some of the costs.