Top photo courtesy of Yumi Abe (since I couldn’t use my camera to take a picture of my camera very easily).
Now that the Driven Daily Flickr Pool is up and running, I decided to take the plunge and purchase the inexpensive DSLR camera I had been eyeing for almost a year now. I’d been looking at the Nikon d40 because it’s inexpensive, is very capable of producing great shots, has a wide variety of lenses available, and gives lots of control to the photographer (something most point-and-shoot cameras don’t offer). I don’t generally like buying anything at full price, so I started scouring eBay and Craigslist for one, and found nothing that seemed like a reasonably good deal.
taken with the Tmobile G1 (cellphone)
I had been taking pictures using my phone (Tmobile G1, running the open-source Google-backed Android operating system), which produces some extremely underwhelming photos.
Since I’ve found used stuff to sell on a seasonal cycle, I stopped looking for a week and came across a camera that caught my eye: a Nikon d40x. It was listed for $350, and included a lens, battery, and a teeny 32mb sd card. I called the seller, arranged a meet, and talked him down to $250 (which is apparently an incredible deal, even at $350 it’s a reasonable camera at a great price).
d40x
The Nikon D40x is an entry-level Digital SLR. It’s a 10-megapixel barebones tool that allows me to take the pictures I want while improving my photography skills. I’ve always been a believer that a good driver should be able to drive around any shortcomings their car may have, and I am of the same school of thought with photography.
The difference between the G1’s built-in camera and the D40x are night and day. The g1 is very difficult to handle, since it’s a small phone. It’s also slow to take pictures, and is abysmal when the object I’m taking a photo of isn’t in direct light (like an engine bay, or anything in my garage). While it’s an impressive camera for being built-in to a phone, it’s still a phone. The d40x is a very capable machine that requires a bit of skill to use, but the results can be professional quality if the photographer is good enough (that’s not me, unfortunately).
I’ve been interested in photography for awhile now, and have shot a lot of 35mm but this is my first real step into the digital photography world. I’ve subscribed to DPS but I don’t really know where else to go for photography tips. Any suggestions from the community?
My beater's better than your Beamer.