Well, it's finally happened. I purchased a real camera. Nikon D300, with battery grip. It's second hand, but as new. Got it plus the hand grip for $2400. I know, most people think I'm strange. Why would I spend that much money on a camera when I don't even have a car? Well, I don't need to rationalise it. I haven't feel this happy with any material possession since I got my Olympus OM-10 when I was twelve. It takes me back to then, actually. Having a camera that just gives me feedback but lets me make all the decisions is something I've dreamed of for a long time.


Clubs:

Well, as per usual I've let things slide. Still haven't gotten anything done about the camera, for which I have no one to blame but myself. The only positive is I haven't really had any photos to take, either. I had some thoughts of buying a D90 to replace it, but my car has been sold to the wreckers because it was unfixable, so that pretty much puts and end to that idea. I'm going to spend the rest of the year saving up for a new car.

The good news is I got an ADSL connection finally happening. 1500kbps, so it's nice and speedy. And I'm looking like staying well within the download limit, so that's also good. I'm getting close to full hours at the moment, so money is coming in pretty quick.

I haven't been taking any photos lately, so I might go through the archives and see if there's any old ones I want to do something with.

Yeah. I'm back. I know you all missed me. It's ok, you don't need to lie. There's no shame in missing me.

Well, we moved house. It was tiring, stressful, and we had to do it in the middle of a record breaking heat wave. But it was worth it. We have a bigger house, town water, and we're five minutes walk from the beach. Plus, my room is in its own little building across some decking from the main house. And I have an en suite.

Why are you so late in hearing this? Well, as usual, Telstra screwed up and it took us three weeks to get the phone turned on. Investing in ADSL as soon as I can, though right now my focus is on buying a new bike.

In other news, my D60 died. I'm not sure what went wrong, but it's just not recording anything from the sensor. All I get is white images. So it's back to the FZ-50 for now. I'm amazed to discover that it's actually not much slower than the D60, it just generates obscene amounts of noise. Hopefully I can get the D60 replaced or repaired on warranty, it was only four months old when it died, and it's been treated like a baby.

Well, four weeks on and it seems my D60 was one of the best purchaes I've ever made. It's let me take photos I wouldn't have even bothered trying with the Panasonic. It already feels like an extension of my hand. I've taken more photos in the past month than I had in the entirety of my life before then - and that includes back in the days when my Olympus 35mm film SLR still worked.

Only trouble I've had is sometimes the autofocus fails miserably, I'm not sure why. The Panasonic was AF was slower, but seemed to be able to spot focus on a much smaller area. Still, I just got 132 quite usable images from Parks alive 2008 (the best of which are being uploaded to dA as I type) so it's not something I'll complain about. Next item on the shopping list is an upgraded computer to assist my photoshopping, and then it's on to some new lenses. I reckon a mid-range zoom and a low-(high-?)aperture wide angle would be in order.

Well, I set off to the city today with my 21st birthday present - a $200 gift voucher for a camera store - and two weeks pay, and I have returned with a Nikon D60 kit. Still need to buy a tripod, but I don't care. I have a DSLR, and even with the cheapest Nikkor lenses I'm already seeing the benefits. Nice photos at 800 ISO? Yes please!