I last used an SLR camera in 2000. It was a secondhand Pentax K1000, a 35mm film camera of course, and I enjoyed taking some good pictures and messing around with different lenses and filters. Then I was bitten by the new digital camera bug and traded in my SLR for an Olympus compact digital. A digital SRL was out of the question (the Nikon D1 took 2.7 megapixel photos and cost about £5,000) but I was astounded with the quality and sharpness of my compact digital's photos as well as the ease with which they could be edited and displayed on a computer.
Over the past 12 years or so I've had five different digital compact cameras, the more recent ones also doubling up as digital camcorders. I've now got several thousand digital photos and they continue to be sharp and bright with ever better resolution.
But... I realised a few months ago that photography just wasn't as much fun as it had been with my 35mm SLR. I used to enjoy taking photos of flowers with a blurred background, lakeland waterfalls with the water really moving - or not moving at all, using a polarising filter to add really deep blue skies. With my digital compacts it was basically point and shoot. With 100% guaranteed perfect results. A bit boring really.
And then a few weeks ago my nephew, Jonathan, showed me his digital SLR and I was bitten, once more, by the bug. Digital SLRs are now much more affordable and after some research I settled on a Nikon d3200, their latest number which takes photos up to 24 megapixels. I added a nice long lens and a few filters as well as a very smart camera bag.
Having been playing with it for the past few weeks I think I've got the hang of it.
And, most importantly, photography is fun again.
 |
| The old ... |
Over the past 12 years or so I've had five different digital compact cameras, the more recent ones also doubling up as digital camcorders. I've now got several thousand digital photos and they continue to be sharp and bright with ever better resolution.
But... I realised a few months ago that photography just wasn't as much fun as it had been with my 35mm SLR. I used to enjoy taking photos of flowers with a blurred background, lakeland waterfalls with the water really moving - or not moving at all, using a polarising filter to add really deep blue skies. With my digital compacts it was basically point and shoot. With 100% guaranteed perfect results. A bit boring really.
 |
| ... and the new |
Having been playing with it for the past few weeks I think I've got the hang of it.
And, most importantly, photography is fun again.