$$$$$$!!!!!!!
I just spent mumble mumble mumble dollars on a shiny new toy:
Those of you who know how much my little point & click camera has annoyed me over the years may be surprised to see the Sony label on the front of that beast, and indeed, that’s not the camera I went into the shop intending to buy. But after talking to the very helpful and knowledgeable assistant for about an hour (!!!! on a busy shopping day a couple of days before Christmas – that’s what I call customer service! (it was in Paul’s Camera Shop, for Christchurch people – I’m happy to give them free advertising after today)) about different models and options, he sold me on the Sony. Which I’m calling a Minolta, because Sony bought them out a few years back, so their DSLRs are basically just rebranded Minoltas, and to my old pre-digital photography geek brain Minolta is a proper camera brand 😉
For those who want to know such things, it’s a Sony Minolta α77, and the lenses are both Tamrons, a 17-50 mm (having to get used to the much shorter lenses of digital – my go-to lens on my old pre-D SLR was 35-70) and a 60 mm macro. I may get a longer lens at some point, but I don’t know how much I’d use it (the long lens on my old camera hardly ever left my camera bag, except in Africa for wildlife stuff), and I was already splurging by adding the macro lens.
I ended up going a bit over my intended budget – not on the camera body, which was actually a bit cheaper than the one I had in mind, but because I added the extra lens, plus a few other accessories. But I’ve now got a camera that will actually do what I want it to, and hopefully, with a bit of practice (it’s been a few years!) I’ll be able to start taking the kind of photos I want to again. I used to be a not bad photographer with my old SLR – nowhere near professional level, but good enough that I was pleased with my photographs. So ever since my old SLR was rendered obsolete by the disappearance of film I’ve been dreaming of owning one again. And now I finally do.
Merry Christmas me!
(PS. No photos from the new camera yet sorry – its battery is still charging.)
Yea!!! I’ve got the new camera bug too, but I am staunchly resisting. I don’t have time to play with one and my old one is still perfectly good. Have fun and can’t wait to see pictures!!!
Congrats! Looking forward to seeing your photos. Enjoy!
By the way, a good single-lens solution for traveling without bulky gear is the Tamron 18-270: http://www.amazon.com/Tamron-18-270mm-3-5-6-3-Aspherical-Cameras/dp/B004FN1W2S
I have the older model on a Canon body.
Looks beautiful ! Well done !