{"id":125,"date":"2006-01-04T12:58:35","date_gmt":"2006-01-04T03:58:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2006-01-04\/125"},"modified":"2006-02-04T23:43:03","modified_gmt":"2006-02-04T14:43:03","slug":"ive-decided-on-a-camera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2006-01-04\/125","title":{"rendered":"I’ve Decided on a Camera"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

\n\nSo, as per my previous\npost<\/a>, I'm considering<\/span> a big<\/span> full-function SLR to augment my micro-sized\npoint-n-shoot Canon\nSD500<\/a>. In the last<\/span> day or so, my feeling has gone from\n“considering” to “will buy” to “have\nordered”.\n\n<\/p>

\n\nTo some extent, the decision about what to get is easier with an SLR than\nwith a point<\/span>-n-shoot; with the latter, the choice for me involves balancing\nthree things (cost, features, size), while with an SLR it's just two (cost\nand features). Of course, with an SLR there are many, many more features. I\ndon't<\/span> have a lot<\/span> of “boy toys” so I'm tending to let myself\nsplurge a bit<\/span> this time, concentrating more on features than cost...\n\n<\/p>

\n\nSo, what features do I really care about? Of course, I'd like<\/b> to\nhave the best blah blah blah, but I don't<\/span> really need<\/b> them. In the end<\/span>, there will be (as JR says in a comment<\/span> to my previous post) annoyances\nwith whatever I get,<\/span> so which annoyances do I really<\/span> want to avoid?\n\n<\/p>

\n\nWhen it came down to it, the one thing I really<\/span> wanted was an autofocus\nassist lamp. This is the often dim red light you see with many\npoint-n-shoots just before a shot<\/span> is taken. The little<\/span> bit of light helps\nthe autofocus focus before the flash fires to actually take the shot. I also wanted<\/span> a built<\/span>-in flash. But here's the kicker: I want<\/span> the autofocus\nassist and flash to be different<\/b>.\n\n<\/p>

\n\nAs a bit of background, it seems that SLRs that have a built<\/span>-in flash\ngenerally have it as a pop<\/span>-up like this:\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>
(photos from Digital Photography Review<\/a><\/small>)<\/td><\/tr><\/table>\n\n

\n\nYou pop the flash up when you need it, and tuck it away when you don't.\nHowever, if the camera doesn't have an autofocus-assist light, it's the\nflash that needs to provide the light. But if the<\/span> flash isn't up, it has to\npop up automatically on its own (or, if it can't pop up on its own, it has\nto display a warning<\/span> of some kind that the autofocus can't work without\nmore light).\n\n<\/p>\n\n

\n\nNow, this may sound like a small thing, and I'm sure to many people it is,\nbut it would drive me absolutely batty<\/b>. When this first happened to\nme while at the store looking at the Canon Digital Rebel\nXT<\/a>, the loud kachunk<\/i> of the flash popping up on its own startled\nthe heck out of me. Once I knew<\/span> to expect it, it merely annoyed me. The more I<\/span> thought about it, the more I realized<\/span> that if I chose<\/span> that camera, I would<\/span> regret having chosen it every time that darn flash popped up. If I'm\ngoing to drop a big<\/span> chunk of change on a camera,<\/span> I don't<\/span> want to regret it\nevery day.\n\n<\/p>

\n\nSo I started looking around with a wider<\/span> perspective, and found that the\nNikon line of digital SLRs generally have the autofocus assist light I\ndesire.<\/span> The main prosumer<\/span> models are the D70<\/a> and the older D100<\/a>, both of which\nare 6 megapixel cameras, and look very nice. The newer<\/span> D70 has a faster<\/span>\nshutter, larger image cache, orientation sensor (so that images can be\nauto-rotated to compensate for shots taken sideways) and a slightly<\/span> higher\nbetter image-postview screen on the back.\n\n<\/p>

\n\nConsidering, though, that my tiny walk-around SD500 has 7.1 megapixels, it\nseems somewhat backwards to “move up” to a smaller<\/span> size. This\nalso concerned me about the Konica Minolta\nMaxxum 7D<\/a> that my sister loves so much.\n\n<\/p>

\n\nThen I found out about Nikon's just-released (hit stores a week<\/span> ago!) D200<\/a> and wow, it\ndidn't take long before I knew<\/span> it was the camera for me:\n<\/p>\n\n