digital SLR

08.08.07

Digital photography is fun! In 2001 I purchased my first camera, a Canon Powershot ELPH S100. Three years later, I handed it off to my Mom and upgraded to an SD110. My new camera met an untimely demise, and wasn’t worth repairing. Before I headed off to Europe in 2005, I purchased a new SD200 which has been a great camera. Eminently pocketable, easy to use, it has provided me with many great images of God’s glorious creation in the Swiss Alps.

But it is time to step it up a notch. Point-and-shoot is great, but to be really creative, a digital SLR is the ticket. I looked at several cameras and reviews before settling on the Nikon D40.

It’s an entry level SLR, with plenty of onboard help to assist the new photographer. It has a great feel and speedy performance, and very little noise at high ISO levels. I’ve stuck with the base level, but of course the lenses are exchangeable and filters can be added.

So far I have spent most my time in the auto modes. I now have books on “Understanding Exposure” and “Landscape Photography” - so it’s just a matter of getting into the nitty gritty of apertures, shutter-speeds/f-stops, and all that jazz.

To go alongside my new camera, I purchased Lightroom to manage photos. It is faster and more capable than iPhoto’07, and with the built in photo-editing features I can do a lot without the need to launch Photoshop.