I need a plan
A few months back I decided that some day (soon) I would own a DSLR camera. There were and still are several obstacles. One I’ve tackled: I regularly take photos with my Olympus FE-140 and post them at 365. I didn’t want to plunk down the money for a DSLR and then end up never taking it out of its bag.
The next obstacle I encountered was deciding which brand to go with. I have heard enough to know that there is some rather fierce brand loyalty in the photography world. It seems a bit like computer manufacturers: some people will swear by Dell while others will say they’ve never had a good Dell and would take a Gateway any day. Dell and Gateway being replaceable by any manufacturer, of course. So when it came to cameras I was expecting to hear some people saying that Canons are far superior to Nikons or vice versa. In the long run it seems to come down to personal preference. Each of the major brands has comparable models. It didn’t take me long to find out that in my family there are 5 Nikon owners: one D40, two D50s, one D60 and one D80. All seem pleased with their cameras with no major complaints voiced. With the potential for lens sharing it made sense to go with Nikon.
Once I decided on a brand I needed to pick a model. I had thought that I was set on getting the D60. It seemed like a good balance between the pricier D80 and the D40, which has fewer features. Just when I thought I had it figured out and set my sights on a D60 the D90 was announced as the replacement for the D80. With more megapixels (12.3!), a larger LCD, a video mode and several other improvements it seems as if it’s taken all of the good things about the D80 and improved upon them. However, these improvements come with a heftier price tag which is compounded by the fact that the price of the D80 is falling. I haven’t fully made a decision as to which one I will ultimately get because of the third obstacle.
Price. Each of the cameras I’ve named would be a rather large investment without considering the cost of buying lenses. You can’t just buy a camera with a kit lens and be done with it. Well, technically you probably could but that’s not what I have in mind. I’m looking at anywhere from $550-$1,000, depending on which model I go with, just for the body of the camera. Since I’m not swimming in money I need a plan to raise some ‘extra’ funds.
I do have a skeleton of a plan that includes the script I started working on a while back and what I intend to do with it. Another part is to build a site for myself utilizing that script. However, due to working full time and other responsibilities and interests I have not made the progress I would like.
Anyone have any other ideas? I’m definitely open to suggestions.