Yeah, I said it.
Befuddled.
Why does buying a camera (insert whiney voice here...) have to be soooo hard?
Okay, here's a little back story to get you invested in my story. Otherwise it just seems as if I'm a pretentious spoiled little housewife with nothing else to do but complain.
So, anyway...
For Christmas, Randy gave me some cash as my present and said, "Go forth and spend." But, being the spend-thrift that I am, I sat on the Christmas gift for a week tossing ideas around as to how I wanted to spend the money.
I finally decided that I wanted an upgraded camera from my trusty Canon point and shoot. I wanted to take my pictures and creativity a step beyond what I've been able to produce with my current camera. He agreed it was a great idea.
Only problem... I needed to scrap together a few more Benjamin's to get (at best) an entry level "prosumer" DSLR camera. (BTW, a prosumer is a "serious amatuer". Didn't know that until yesterday. Just passing on a little nugget of fun for y'all.)
So, after selling (all) my worldly possessions on Craigslist and eBay, including, but not limited to a very sought after pair of Frye Ankle Harness Boots that I acquired a few months back, I finally scraped... and I mean that in it's rawest form... SCRAPED enough cash together to be able to begin considering various models of cameras.
Now that you have the back story you will understand my plight.
See, I just don't want to willy-nilly toss money at the first camera that I see. I want to make a smart choice and not be drawn into bells and whistles of HD video capturing capabilities. Although, that seems like a nice whistle if you ask me.
And, I'm not opposed to buying used. If I can save some money by buying used, then heck ya, right? Then that extra cash could be used to buy an additional lens or something.
So, ye old wise internets and DSLR users... what's a gal to do?
Buy new, straight out of the box and slowly acquire all the other stuff and perhaps a new/used lens down the road, etc. (via birthdays/anniversaries, etc.)
or
Buy a used, slightly older model, with all the fixin's (extra memory cards, extra batteries, case, remote, etc.) and have the option to buy an additional lens?
Really at this point, I could go either way. That's why I'm befuddled. So, please impart some wisdom to me. I need some help!
Don't be swayed by the bells and whistles like video. If you want a camera, get a camera for pictures, and if you want a video camera, get a video camera. They have those mini HD cameras for fairly cheap, and they take much better videos.
ReplyDeleteDon't let memory cards or extra batteries sway you either. Memory cards are CHEAP and you don't need an extra battery. I would put in fresh batteries (old camera) or charge my battery (current camera) and not have to worry for a couple months, and I generally take between 500+ pictures a month. On DSLR, there's no LCD screen that you use to take pictures, which drain the battery; you look through the hole.
I have a refurbished Canon 40D, and I love it. It's definitely in the "prosumer" category. It's an older model (I think they just came out with the 70D, though they were on 60D when I bought mine.) My old camera was a Canon Rebel, and it just gave out. Some mysterious error code. So, I bought using the Canon loyalty program, got a discount, and chose my camera for about what a new Rebel would have cost me. I think that your camera has be broken to use it, but it might be worth double-checking if you'd be willing to part with your point-and-shoot. Their deals are always changing, depending on their inventory of refurbished cameras.
If you go Canon, one of the first accessories you should buy is the 50mm f/1.8 II lens. It's around $100, and is my favorite lens. I keep on my camera all the time. It's great for low light indoors. It's a fixed lens, so you can't zoom in and out, but I still can't say enough good things about it.
Good luck with your search!
I personally as a new Nikon D3100 owner believe that you have to learn quite a bit to warrant an upgraded lens. Buy new and acquire lens later.
ReplyDeleteIt is still a big investment to go used and have something be wrong with it.