This is a bit of a personal post as it involves one of my favorite hobbies – photography. Years ago I started to enjoy the process of taking photos, and when they turned out beautifully, I felt like I had accomplished something major. It really is a great artistic expression, as well as provides instant gratification if you get that perfect shot. My love of photography started when I purchased a higher quality point-and-shoot digital camera by Canon. This baby has gone a LONG way with me, and been through hell. Let’s just say I have a tendency to drop stuff, often. It has really stuck through it all. The better I got, the more interested I became. Long story short – I got to where I am today, ready to purchase a DSLR.
I have been mighty proud of my pictures taken on my Canon, so to get a DSLR is SO exciting. One of my major pet-peeves with the Canon is that its really difficult taking high-quality photos in low-light. God, it drives me up the wall! But, you get what you pay for, and once you know how to manipulate a camera and use it to it’s max, you know how far you can push it. So, it’s time to move on. No worries my faithful Canon friend, you will always hold a place in my heart, and still will travel with me always. (There often is a need to have the pocket-sized camera!)
So, a little background. I research, I research, and I RESEARCH. Possibly to a fault. Whenever I am spending my hard-earned money, I want to be damn sure I am getting exactly what I want. So you can imagine, if you are about to drop close to $1000, I had a mini-panic moment. My wonderful boyfriend D., my beautiful mom, and my tech-savvy Dad, all chipped in for my birthday to get me a DSLR. My birthday was last September 6. Yes, almost 8 months ago. Ok, so I know that is not “my” hard-earned money, but it’s their money, which when gifted to me, means I am going to be POSITIVE I have made the best choice possible. I know my obsessive nature was the cause of me waiting this long to actually make up my damn mind, and I have known which camera I have wanted for a few months, to say the least. I have spent the last few months price-comparing. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Regardless, let’s all clap our hands together, I finally made the purchase yesterday! YAY!
So, what did I choose? The Nikon D5000 kit with both a 18-55mm lens and a 55-200 mm lens. It’s really a top-notch camera, and a very hard choice, as there are a few other cameras that are up there in this price-range and quality (particularly the Canon EOS Rebel Tli). It comes with 12.3 megapixels, a flip and twist LCD screen (awesome to help move the screen out of the glare of the sun), Nikon’s wonderful colors and metering, excellent image quality, sharp lens, and HD video. I will spare you the details of all the specs, but you can view them here.
There are a ton, and when I say “ton”, I mean huge amount of websites that do a comparison of this camera against the Canon. Some say Canon, others say Nikon. It ends up being more of a personal preference. I have owned both brands in the past and they are both superior. Take a look at this link for a side-by-side comparison.
What’s even better is that Travel + Leisure picked this camera as their fave DSLR right now. Read about why. Considering that I had already made up my mind prior to reading this article, I was stoked! (I also went to a really high end camera shop near my home and they helped guide me through why this choice was best for me.)
Here is a sample photo from the D5000. This is the exact type of photo that I can’t wait to shoot. Impossible to get with my current camera!
I can’t wait for it to arrive this Friday. Perfect timing for my trip to Hawaii! I will make sure to post some of the beautiful pictures I take. Should you want more in-depth advice as to why I chose this camera over the others, I would be happy to help. But, instead of boring all of you with the details, I’ll leave it up to you to contact me! kirsten@travelingfashionista.com
Love, K.
