As I already mentioned in Part I & Part II of this camera kit series.  I have settled on the Nikon D700 and since purchasing it around 4 months ago I have not read a single review of any cameras or even inquired about Nikon’s newest models and the likely replacement for the D700.  I am 100% happy with my D700 and the camera gear I have kept for my kit which I travel with although I am often unhappy with my photography but that’s what learning and improving your skills is all about.

On a side note:  Even though I am happy with the D700 I am anxiously awaiting the replacement that Nikon has yet to announce.  Nikon just announced the D7000 which is a lower end model replacing the ever popular and great D90 and it looks fabulous.  The features and specs on the Nikon D7000 are any indication the future Nikon D800, D700x, D700s or whatever they decide to call it is going to be a must buy investment.

D700 with (optional) Battery Grip

D700 Digital SLR

As mentioned before I have chose the D700 and love it.  Although for me, the D90 was a slightly “funner” camera the D700 is a better piece of serious equipment which requires a little bit more know-how to get the most out of it.  Since I have upgraded to the D700 I have found the learning curve has caused me to miss more shots than the D90 but the more I use the D700 the easier and more fun it gets to use as well.  Not to mention the quality of my photos is increasing dramatically in the process.

My Current Lenses

Nikon Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8

When I first test shot this lens in the camera store on a D700 I knew immediately I wanted to buy it.  In addition to taking crystal clear photos this lens allows you to get very close to your subjects which lets you take photos from unique perspectives.  Especially while taking tourism photos, I would estimate 95% out there who are taking photos with point and shoots and SLRs would not be able to get.  I find the drawbacks to using this lens are minimal.  Even though the lens is heavy it balances perfectly with the D700 which has even allowed me to get some great shots holding the camera with 1 hand.

Nikon Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR

This enormous lens is a lens I love to hate.  While it’s one the best lenses and an absolute delight to use it is by far the worst lens to have when you’re not using it.  When I first started using this lens I would use it solely for far off objects while I used my super-wide for most other things.  I have slowly started using the 70-200mm f/2.8 VR for more of a wide variety of photos, especially controlling depth of field which gives the photos a very professional look.  The VR works flawlessly and has allowed me to get ultra sharp shots even while being sloppy and not holding the camera steady.

Nikon Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 D

In the first few months of owning this ultra compact lens I barely used it.  Leaving my camera bag behind numerous times and missing out on the opportunity to get some fabulous shots has caused me to appreciate this lens a lot more.  Now instead of leaving my entire camera bag at home or the hotel, I bring just the D700 & this lens.  I don’t have a point-and-shoot other than my cell phone camera but the D700 along with this lens allows me to get far superior shots in low light than any point and shoot although during the day the advantage is lessened, especially for shots of landscapes.

Nikon Nikkor 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5

A lens I essentially got for free this is my only “non-professional” lens in my camera bag.  The focal range is handy for numerous situations and it is light enough to be a “walking around” lens.  Even though this lens is perfect for walking around while touring new places during the day I tend to only use it for its ‘macro’ ability (close up photography).   I also use it for nighttime cityscapes in which I am stuck in a location and cannot get the right shot w/ my 12-24mm ultra wide or my 70-200mm telephoto.  While the shots look great when attached to a tripod, I prefer not to use this lens handheld at night as I would have to crank up the ISO which would yield noisy shots.

Nikon Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 VR Micro

At the moment I haven’t decided if I want to lug around this 1+ pound lens in my camera bag because macro photography is not my #1 passion.  That says nothing about the quality of this lens which is absolutely superb.  The photos are very sharp and the colors seem better than most other lenses.  I purchased the lens with the thought it would make my macro shots a lot better but the truth is the lens has really just shown me how very difficult macro photography is.  Taking photos of flowers is one thing but if you want to get a shot of a honey bee’s eyeball like I do, there is much more to it than simply pointing and shooting.

My Essential Accessories

Nikon MB-10 Battery Grip

I was hesitant to buy this as I had just spent a lot of money on the D700 body and Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 lens.  I was considering a knock-off battery grip but figured I may as well get the Nikon quality version and I’m glad I did.  It took me a while to finally use the battery grip but once I started, I almost never take it off.  In addition to the ability to use another battery, Nikon’s professional powerful battery, and a bunch of AA batteries, the battery grip allows you to get 8fps (frames per second) during continuous shooting with AA or Nikon’s pro battery.  Even though the aforementioned perks are nice, they are not the reason why I recommend a Nikon battery grip to anyone who owns a digital SLR.  The second shutter release and navigation button make shooting a lot more efficient and comfortable.  Switching from landscape (horizontal) to portrait (vertical) is seamless and allows you to frame portraits perfectly almost every time.

Nikon SB -600 Speedlight

I bought it used from Craigslist.org for $200 as opposed to buying the newer and more power SB-900.  While it has the same ability to be used remotely as the SB-900 it has less range and a slower recharge rate.  Like the expensive SB-900 the SB-600 can be used attached to the D700’s hot shoe as well as remotely on a stand.  Since I bought the SB-600 speedlight I have only used it a handful of times and look forward to learning more about flash photography in the future.

Nikon SB-900 Speedlight

Even though I have not been using flash very much as most of my subjects are landscapes and cityscapes, I wasn’t quite satisfied with the rate at which the SB-600 recharged its flash and I really want to get into portrait photography more so I decided to plunk down another few hundred bucks to get Nikon’s flagship flash.  At the time of this writing I haven’t really used the flash much but I will tell you if the instruction manual of 200+ pages is one indication, the flash is very complicated to the untrained photographer.  I have found the built in white bounce card to be very useful so far.  Using the SB-900 in combination with the 105mm Macro lens has produced very satisfying results and has made handheld macro photography a lot more fun but I’m still learning.

Lens Pen & Cleaning Kit

Anyone that owns an SLR knows the frustration of not having the right cleaning supplies to clean their equipment.  Camera equipment is very expensive and should be taken care of properly and I carry a standard lens cleaning kit with lens paper and cleaning solution, a bulb blower and a couple microfiber cloths.  I also have a lens pen which has a brush on one end, and a wet sponge-like cleaning pad on the other.  The lens pen is a must have for anyone with a digital SLR in my opinion.

Kata 123-Go-30 Camera Backpack/sling

The first camera bag I had was a compact, quick release shoulder sling which went over one shoulder.  While I liked the style the constant weight bearing on a single shoulder was causing pretty bad shoulder pain.  I found myself at Funan It Mall in Singapore where I saw a good selection of camera bags.  What attracted me to this bag was the versatility of being to switch from a right or left shoulder sling to a backpack as well as being able to fit all my gear.  The bag is built nice and is comfortable but it is lacking a couple things.  Although there is plenty of room for the aforementioned equipment, there is no way to attach a tripod or a compartment for even a small laptop computer.

Digipod BH-55Q Tripod

After spending thousands of dollars on lenses and camera equipment I really didn’t want to spend too much on a tripod.  I ended up going to Power Buy a retail electronic store chain in Thailand and buying a Fancier tripod which was on sale for 2000 baht.  The tripod was actually very good and although it worked okay it wasn’t designed for a heavy camera/lens combo.  On the first day of a Hong Kong trip, I ended up going tripod shopping.  Although I tested out many tripods ranging from Nikon to Manfrotto I settled on the Digipod based on the recommendation from the knowledgeable guy at the camera shop.  The things I like about the Digipod tripod is the twisting leg adjustments which allow you to quickly extend the entire leg with a single turn.  The coin tightening, sliding medal plate is also far superior at attaching to the camera body than the finger twisting quick release plates of other tripods.  This allows me to shoot portrait orientated long exposures without the weight of the camera/lens moving under its own weight ruining the shot.

One of the Few Mistake-Free Shots I've Taken

General Photography Tips:  Learn from my Mistakes

Just because I’m not a “professional photographer” doesn’t mean you can’t learn some helpful tips from the numerous mistakes I have made.  If you are just starting out with a digital SLR you will initially make mistakes but if you keep these basic ideas in mind, you can minimize your mistakes and be taking cool travel photos soon.

Always Take the Shot

Your camera does no good if it is sitting in your camera bag or hanging around your neck.  Whether you are tired from a whole day of tourism and taking photos or simply aren’t 100% sure if the shot will be cool, there is no point to not taking the shot.   When I say “take the shot” what I really mean is “take a bunch of shots.”  Take a few shots of each subject from different angles and vantage points so you increase the likelihood of getting a pleasing photo.

If people are involved don’t be timid.  If it really bothers you, ask the subject if they are okay with being photographed.  Owning an SLR gives you the advantage of being able to take hundreds if not thousands of shots so don’t be afraid to use them.  Sure, there will be some that you will not use, in fact I would probably say 90% of your shots will end up in the recycle bin on your desktop but if you never take the shot, you will never know whether or not it was good and you will not learn from experience.

Keep Going

This tip goes along with the above “take the shot” tip.  When taking photos of landscapes and cityscapes there is no worse a feeling that getting home and realizing that you should have walked a little further down the street or hiked a little further up the hill to get the shot you want.  If you want to use your DSLR to its maximum potential and be completely satisfied with the photos you take go as far as you can go when trying to get a shot.  Whether this is leaning a little further over the edge of the cliff, climbing up a few more flights of stairs or simply walking around, trying to find a better vantage point, keep going while shooting photos until you hit the proverbial brick wall and you will be happy with your photo shoot.

Try not to Fall Victim to the ‘All or None Principle’

One reason for the popularity of point-and-shoots is because carrying around a camera bag is often a burden.  I can’t count the number of times I’ve complained to myself or friends about carrying around my camera bag while profusely sweating in the extreme heat and humidity of Southeast Asia.

There have been times I wish I had a point and shoot and there are times I wished I’ve had my digital SLR gear but I can honestly say EVERY time I was without a camera I felt like I was missing out.  Whether you leave your bulky digital SLR at home and pack your point-and-shoot it is always better to have your camera than none.  My thinking in the past was “all or none” meaning if I didn’t bring my whole camera bag I would bring nothing.  Just because you have a whole camera kit doesn’t mean you have to bring your entire set of lenses everywhere you go.  Taking a small prime lens such as a 50mm f/1.4 out will significantly lighten your load as well as force you to be more creative which will improve your skills as a photographer.

Always Reset Camera to Default Settings

About an hour before writing this I was served a painful reminder of this.  I had my D700 with the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 d lens hanging out my Bangkok taxi’s window on the way to the airport to fly to Phuket and took a few shots of a large group of a few hundred Thai soldiers before they were to invade a fortified protester encampment.  What I didn’t realize is I had my ISO set on 200 which caused all the photos to be blurry and I had to delete them.  If I had did what I’m recommending I would have had some once in a lifetime shots.  Every time you change the settings on your camera most importantly ISO and exposure compensation make sure you reset them back to your desired default settings so you don’t miss an important, once in a lifetime shot.

Conclusion

I will reiterate.  If you’re not a professional photographer who gets paid for your work you likely don’t need a Nikon D700 or even any digital SLR.  Most casual photographers probably don’t want a digital SLR as point-and-shoots and even cell phone cameras get better every generation and are far more convenient.  Those of you who obsess about taking the very best photos and are constantly looking for that perfect shot can rest assured the Nikon D700 is one of the best digital SLRs in its price range.

View a Stream of my Most Popular & Interesting Photos (according to Flickr) on Flickriver

Because I am not a professional photographer I am not biased by years or decades of prior experience, changing technology and times. I do not take pictures of brick walls or test charts and critique lenses for fun. I travel anywhere in the world and I take photos of things I think look cool.

Almost everyone has a digital camera these days. Point-and-shoot cameras are the most popular because they take great photos, are small, light and cheap. For those of you who like to carry as little as possible gear, don’t like to spend that much money and value having a camera that can go with you everywhere with very little hassle and cost, a quality point-and-shoot is everything and more than you need. My favorite is the Canon S90 which is not the tiniest point-and-shoot but has a great interface, lots of cool features and takes tremendous photos.

For those of you like myself, who aren’t satisfied with getting a great or even excellent photo but want a PERFECT photo, you will likely have to go through a trial and error process to develop a camera kit which suits all your needs. This camera kit will no doubt have a digital SLR camera body and an assortment of lenses.

Benefit from My Obsession

Use my painful and expensive method to finding the right camera gear for my bag to help you. I spent a better part of 4 months literally spending all day reading about lenses, buying them and testing them in real world situations. This was a good and bad experience for me. The bad was instead of traveling and going to new places I was inside reading about the lens options I had and taking photos of the same things over and over again.

The good was I learned a lot about photography, experienced quite a few lens and camera options and found a kit which I am 100% completely satisfied with. Testing lenses inside camera shops wasn’t good enough for me. I just went out and bought the lenses I read about and used them in real world situations.

My Experience with Camera Bodies & Lenses in the Past Half Year

Nikon D90 Camera Body

I loved the D90 when I had it and I still love it when comparing it to the Nikon D700 which I upgraded to. I actually miss the D90 on a daily basis when I’m shooting with the D700! First of all, the D90 has everything you need and then some. The buttons seem to be all in the right place and it is light but not cheaply built. I bashed the video recording capabilities when I first blogged Nikon D90 Digital SLR Camera but I would like to take that back!

The video lacks autofocus which renders the camera useless for things which move in the vertical plane but it also allows you to control depth of field which is what really differentiates amateur from professional film! Watch any movie or TV show and you will see focus shift from the foreground to the background almost every scene. The D90 allows you to achieve this professional effect which is virtually impossible on all camcorders. Of course if you’re shooting anything other than small scenes for a commercial or movie such as sports or your kids playing you’re still going to want to get a camcorder but the D90 video capabilities can create some professional looking cinematic moments from your digital SLR.

Of course 99% of people, myself included buy a digital SLR to capture still images. In order to get the still images you desire, choosing the correct lens and knowing when/how to use it is crucial. I had a chance to work with a number of popular lenses with the Nikon D90 and here is my experience with each of them.

My Lenses with the Nikon D90

Nikon Nikkor 18-105mm VR

The Nikkor 18-105 mm VR was the first lens I ever used which came with the Nikon D90 kit. I liked the lens performance initially as the focal range was good for a variety of uses and the photos turned out nice and sharp but as I started reading about the many Nikon and 3rd party SLR lens I decided to ‘upgrade’.

While I was almost 100% satisfied with this lens I figured I could get more out of a longer focal length or wider angles.  The lens is great for any Nikon SLR because of its built in motor which makes it a perfect lens for anyone on a budget who is just getting into SLR photography.

Users of the D40, D60 and D5000 will like this lens a lot more than the standard kit lens (18-55mm VR) simply because it is just as sharp and has that useful extra 50mm of zoom to work with along with the same valuable VR (Vibration Reduction).

Nikon Nikkor 18-200mm VRII

Like many people who have used the internet to find information about lenses I read the glowing review by Ken Rockwell about this lens.

I researched it and determined that the optic performance was likely the same as the kit lens I wanted to be able to cover more range and this popular lens covers 300mm equivalent telephoto.

I will admit I didn’t know enough about DSLR photography at the time I had this lens to get the most out of it.  I believe this lens is a great pickup for almost all photographers who have DX  (Nikon cropped frame) sensors.  Like Mr. Rockwell says, this truly is a do-it-all lens that can get almost everything the average travel photographer shoots with the exception of the super-wide angles.

Nikon Nikkor 50mm F1.8

Another glowing review by Ken Rockwell caused me to purchase this little lens. It was probably the easiest choice to make as it costs around $100USD and auto focuses with the D90’s built it motor. The lens is simple, light, cheap and gets great performance in even the lowest of light.

You can expect VERY sharp images when taking shots of people or animals within this range. Being a prime lens, the drawback is you have to move your feet rather than twisting a zoom ring.

Nikon Nikkor 10-24mm

Even though the D90 was giving me great images I still desired more. At the time I thought it was the camera I needed to upgrade when comparing my shots with the D90 and 18mm (27mm equivalent) and people with the new, expensive full frame cameras.

It turned out what I really was missing was the wide angle from an ultra-wide angle lens. This Nikkor DX lens was expensive and while the range 10-24mm (15-36mm equivalent) was nice, the performance didn’t meet my satisfaction after spending over $900 USD on it. While images in good light looked pretty good, when the light wasn’t there, the images almost never looked sharp, even when mounted on a tripod.

Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8

I was hesitant to buy a 3rd party lens for my Nikon D90 but I read many positive reviews on Amazon and flicker about this Japanese made Tokina ultra wide. The main knock on the lens from reviews was there was a sample variation with some lenses having issues. It cost $300USD less than the aforementioned Nikkor so I decided to give it a try and I’m glad that I did.

The Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 quickly became my favorite lens for the Nikon D90.  Everything about the lens was impressive from the quality of build, to the very smooth zoom ring to the great low light performance and topped off with almost perfectly sharp wide angle images.  Although some reviews criticized its focusing ability, it focused perfectly on my D90 although you should take note if your SLR body has a focusing motor or not because this lens does not have one.

Sigma 18-50 mm f/2.8

After experiencing the vast difference between a lens with a standard (f/3.5+) aperture and the professional Tokina 11-16mm with a f/2.8 maximum aperture I decided to give this Sigma a try. As I planned to sell my Nikkor 18-200mm VR I chose this lens for 3 reasons including the one I just mentioned.

Another reason was the Nikon equivalent lens cost several times more and finally this Sigma had very close focusing capabilities. I thought the macro abilities would make this a great “walking around” lens and it did, well kind of. I found when I used this lens I would only use it for close up objects at 50mm. I originally bought it for the versatility but found it wasn’t versatile at all for the kind of shooting I like to do, especially ultra-wide angles.

Part II:  Upgrade to the Full Frame Nikon D700

Buying the Camera

In the previous post I explained the marathon of  choosing a digtal SLR camera and now it was time to find the best price.  I pulled an unusual maneuver for shopping in Bangkok and called camera places over the phone to get a general idea of the price I would be paying for the Nikon D90 Kit (lens included).  I called places in the expensive mall Central World and in the cheap mall (my favorite) MBK and the price quotes I got were all in the same ballpark.  They consistent prices I got over the phone ranged from 43,500 baht ($1,300USD) to 46,500 baht ($1,390USD) which is around what I saw in stores.

The next day I made up my mind I was going to buy the Nikon D90 although I was still doing some last minute research.  I ended up heading to MBK around 6pm and I was going to try to find the best price and if all else failed I was going to go to a recommended camera shop called Photofile.  Unexpectedly I had 2 friends who were at MBK and wanted to see a movie and they already had tickets.  The time was around 6:50 and the movie started at 7:00 and I just had the itch that I had to get the camera that day so I told them to go grab a seat while I bought a camera.

I walked down to the 4th floor and walked in the first camera place I saw and asked how much the Nikon D90 kit was expecting it to be something what I was quoted over the phone .  To my surprise they wanted only 41,500 baht ($1,240USD) for it.  The place was called Digilife and they had the usual suspects of beginner to mid-range SLR cameras so I figured I was getting a legit product.   I got the Nikon factory warranty for the new product which was distributed by Nikon Netherlands interestingly enough.  Their website is DigilifeThailand.com but is unfortunately not available in English.  I snatched the camera up for a good $100 cheaper than I was expecting to pay then ran back upstairs to catch the movie.

My Past and Present Travel Pictures

Taking Pictures:  HELP!

Since I hadn’t had any formal photography instruction in over 15 years I knew to get the full benefits from the Nikon D90 which is considered a “mid-range” digital SLR I would need some instruction.  I scoured Google for some helpful photography links and I found two which I really like and refer to quite often.  The first one is called DSLRtips.com and it is ran by the same guy who does CameraLabs.com which helped me choose a camera.  On DSLRTips.com there is some great videos in their ‘workshops’ section explaining the basics of night photography, motion photography, sunsets and much more.

The second website I refer to is a site that has been online for a very long time (in internet years) KenRockwell.com which has information specific to the Nikon D90 along with other cameras.  Another resource is the camera itself!  It has a ‘?’ button which provides an explanation (although not very detailed) for whatever setting your are browsing through.  I plan to get a book about taking digital pictures as well.

Low Light & Night Pictures

With the point and shoot cameras I’ve had I was always majorly disappointed with the night pictures.  I remember taking a bunch of pictures in Rio De Janeiro during Reveillon (New Years Eve) which is likely a once in a lifetime experience and having very few come out.  I remember taking pictures from the roof of Sao Paulo’s tallest building and they did not come out.  As I brought the camera home from the store I was hoping that a digital SLR like the Nikon D90 would help me take night pictures that were worth looking at.

The first picture I took with the D90 right out of the box was the Bangkok skyline right outside my apartment window and I was immediately astonished.  I used the factory settings and didn’t know how to use the camera at all and the clarity and colors were far better than anything I had taken before.  I took a picture of a friend in my apartment in very dim lighting and the picture came out looking like the room was in daylight without a flash.

When you see city lights night pictures the sky is usually black and that is what I would strive for on my pictures but a lot of times the sky appeared gray and I wondered if my settings weren’t right in the camera.  It turns out (I think) that the camera is picking the mixture of smoke, clouds, fog and smog which is constantly hovering around Bangkok.   In the first couple weeks of owning the D90 I think I have taken some very good pictures of Bangkok at Night and Bangkok Nighttime long exposure pictures which stream car lights together.  At the time of writing this, my next task is to figure out how to take motion pictures, specifically pictures that show movement by blurring backgrounds or subjects.

Typical Bangkok Night Exposure with Nikon D90

Video:  Unnecessary Feature?

First of all in this context a feature is defined as:  1.  A prominent or distinctive aspect, quality, or characteristic, 2. An item advertised or offered as particularly attractive or as an inducement.

When I first heard about the Nikon D90 it was mentioned that it was the first Digital SLR to record video.  My question was why?  Just as the limited still camera built in camcorders does not hold a candle to digital SLRs, the video recorder mode which claims to be HD does not even come close to even the average camcorder.  This being said, it could still be handy for situations where a video is more telling than a picture although I would have much rather the D90 had an extra feature, a higher resolution, or anything else which could help improve picture quality than a video recorder.

Video Examples

This video demonstrates the shortcomings of video on a digital SLR like the Nikon D90.  Keep in mind that unlike camcorders, there is no autofocus during video mode so if you are trying to record an object which is moving towards you, it will become out of focus and you will have to manually adjust the focus which is clumsy at best.

Here’s an example of something that the video could be good for. I took a bunch of pictures of this odd mask clad Thai rock band and none of them really showed the on-stage antics and look of this odd couple of singers so I decided to take a short video.  You can see since the band is not coming toward or going away from the camera, they are in perfect focus for the duration of the video.

The message I’m trying to make is for anyone interested in the Nikon D90.  If you are buying this model specifically because it is capable of recording video you may want to reconsider your purchase as the video may not even be considered a “feature” at all.

Impression so Far

In the first couple weeks I love the Nikon D90!  Even though I paid the equivalent of 4 months of rent in Bangkok for the camera plus another month of rent in accessories I am fully satisfied.  The only thing I am slightly disappointed with is the camera is slightly too small for my (average sized) hands and the compartment where the SD memory card slides open accidentally too easily.  The picture quality has been amazing and I can see myself using this camera for the next few years to come unless I can comfortably afford a semi-pro model like the d700 or a professional model such as the D3.  Since the price tag of the D3 body only is around $5,000USD I doubt I will be looking through it’s viewfinder any time soon.

Check for the Best Deals on the Nikon D90 at Amazon.com

Less than Impressed = Time for a Change

Towards the end of September, 2009 I took a trip to Vietnam from Bangkok where I live armed only with my Canon HG 10  high definition camcorder.  I had been using the built-in still camera for the past few months after I lost my last point-and-shoot camera’s charging cradle which rendered it useless.  It was actually very handy to have the still camera built in the camcorder because I love taking videos too.   I think I got some good pictures of the Petronas Towers when I went to Kuala Lumpur with the HG10′s still camera but it wasn’t until I got back from Vietnam when I decided I needed to get a new camera.

I saw some beautiful scenery in Vietnam and thought I got some amazing photos by looking at the camcorders 3 inch viewfinder but when I finally uploaded them on my computer I was less than impressed.  The pictures were always either washed out, too dark or too bright and even though I know if I knew the settings on the camcorder better I may have taken better pictures, but that wouldn’t fix the underling issues.

One of the problems with the camcorder’s built-in still camera (as with most point-and-shoots) is it takes a while for the camera to load and focus after each and every picture.  Not to mention that the automated settings are usually unreliable and the manual settings are usually complicated and slow if not difficult to access.  These two issues makes it difficult (with a point-and-shoot camera) to take enough shots of a subject to get one which is just what you are looking for and I thought  a digital SLR would be the solution.

My Photography & Camera Lineage

My Pictures with Multiple Cameras

When I was a youngster my father was an amateur photographer who routinely had his photographs placed in exhibitions and won awards.  One photograph of his was even displayed in the California governor’s mansion for a period of time.  Naturally I wanted to take pictures and I remember using those square cameras with the plastic cartridges when I was little.

Fast forward to high school and I took photography class for a few quarters because it was fun and it let you leave campus and go anywhere to take pictures.  There I learned about ISO, aperture and shutter speed as well as the chemical process of developing film and making prints.  By the time I graduated high school in 1997 digital cameras were just coming out to the consumer market.

My first digital camera I purchased in college was a Fuji Finepix model which was mid-range at 2 megapixels at the time.  For the occasional snapshots and Ebay auction photos the Fuji digital camera lasted me all the way up to around 2005 when it finally died from being old.  It actually died just before I was supposed to leave on a trip to Costa Rica so I had to find a suitable replacement fast.  I didn’t do much research so I just found the smallest, newest and most popular point-and-shoot camera which happened to be one of the first 10+ megapixel digital cameras the Casio Exilim.

The Casio lasted me numerous trips from Asia to South America to New York and back to Thailand.  While I got some good pictures with the Casio Exilim, they were mostly when the lighting was perfect like in the bright sunlight.  Even when I used the manual settings the pictures with the less-than-perfect lighting turned out to be grainy at best and sometimes just plain bad.

I had purchased the Canon HG 10  high definition camcorder f for my website’s exercise videos and I had not used it for still pictures until I moved to a new apartment in Bangkok and lost the charging cradle which was a flaw of the Casio Exilim model I had, because without the cradle, the camera was useless.  Instead of immediately buying a replacement cradle I transitioned into using my camcorder’s still camera.  Finally as I described at the top of this post, I was disappointed with the quality of the pictures I got in relation to the scenery I tried to capture so I decided it was time for a digital SLR.

Help Along the Way

A professional photographer friend of mine who helped do the pictures for the redesign of my San Francisco Personal Trainers website FitSF.com recommended I get the Nikon D90 the week before I left to Thailand.  I was amazed at the pictures he took as they showed me how great photos can look when taken with an SLR.   Since he recommended the D90 it was always on the top of my list even though the price tag was pretty hefty.

I wanted to get the best camera for the money so I spent the most part of two or three days shopping around for the right digital SLR for me.  I did some research online then went to every camera shop in MBK to check out my options on 3 separate occasions.  I had narrowed down my camera to 4 models including the  Nikon D90 and  D5000, the Canon Rebel T1i and the Pentax K20D which was weatherproofed.  They were all mid-range Digital SLR cameras.

How did I know they were mid-range Digital SLR cameras?  I used this wonderful website called CameraLabs.com The website had great videos reviewing all major camera models explaining everything you needed to know.  CameraLabs has very comprehensive reviews and all the information you could want to help you.  The editor/narrator Gordon Lange explains everything in very understandable terms and give you the option to decide.

Making a Decision

I never have an easy time making a decision especially when it comes to buying something  Like I said before, CameraLabs.com gave all the helpful information but they didn’t make a decision for you.  There were four primary models I was considering and it really was between the Nikon D90 and the Canon because I’ve used a friend’s Canon SLR before and love my Canon camcorder.   I still had to find a place to buy it and bargain hunting is not as easy as it is in the USA.  Most high-end consumer electronics are just as expensive as retail products in the USA and mail order involves a lot of extra charges.

I made my decision that I wanted a digital SLR and I wanted it soon.  I wasn’t willing to order it or have a friend buy it in the states and bring it here to Thailand.  After tons of research and debating I was leaning towards getting the Nikon D90 which was my first choice but the Canon was still on my mind until I was finally influenced by the oddest of things.  I was watching Fashion TV which is this channel where they play 1/3 fashion shows, 1/3 fashion parties, and 1/3 fashion photo shoots 24/7 to house music when I noticed that every photographer was using a Nikon.  Not that Canon have inferior optics or just because the photographers on Fashion TV use Nikons means that the D90 will be a good camera for me, but it was a spur of the moment thing and I was going to the mall the next day and buying that camera!

Read about Buying & Using the Nikon D90