The Nikon d40. It’s taunting me…the price continually going down, and down. But I can’t quite pull the trigger on it.
Way back in the old days (I’m old enough to have those), I used a film SLR camera. My SLR was the Pentax K1000 that is still popular today to teach the basic elements of photography in many places. But then I became a mommy and point-and-shoot seemed a better option for grabbing quick kid shots. I didn’t have time anymore to practice "art" with my camera, or fuss with settings. Same thing when I changed to a digital camera several years ago. I bought a point-and-shoot. DSLR’s were still very expensive then (relative to how they are now) and I didn’t have time, with a two year old in the house, to learn a complicated new camera and fuss with settings on an SLR.
But now I am getting frustrated with the limitations of my point-and-shoot, even though it is a really great camera for its class. My Canon A610 takes great quality pictures but it is only 5 MP, limiting the amount of cropping that I can do in editing. And like all point-and-shoot cameras, its performance in low-light is mediocre at best, and then only if I use manual settings. I get frustrated by the camera’s shutter lag trying the capture the movements of my energetic almost 5 year old daughter.
That description sounds like moving up to an SLR should be a no-brainer. But there would be a downside as well. RAW files would give me more control, but I would have to spend time processing them. My current camera is more discreet and easier to carry around than a larger SLR would be to lug. And of course there is the price: I could uprade to a better point-and-shoot than my current one for a fraction of the cost of a DSLR, and that would just get me the body and one lens. I know from past experience that once you start down that road there is always the lust for the extra flash unit, new and better glass, filters, etc. That is not so much a problem with point-and-shoots (although there are some cool teleconverters and an add-on flash available for the Canon A-series that I love!)
For now, I’ve convinced myself that the 6MP of the D40 just wouldn’t make me happy, and the Nikons with more megapixels are out of reach financially. So I guess I will just have to wait, and watch for new models and prices to fall.
But that won’t stop me from having a long Amazon wish list containing my latest favorite camera and accessories…