Camera-derie

We are a Nikon family. My DH has used Nikons for probably going on 30 years and I have had mine for almost 25. I started with a Nikon N2000. I bought it at a photo store in Massachusetts, when the original owner traded it in after 2 weeks to get a slightly bigger model. Because of that, I started out with a Nikkor 50mm 1:1.8 as well as an Underground 28mm 1:2.8. Fairly soon thereafter I saved all my pennies and picked up a Vivitar 35-200mm 1:3.0-4.5, which became my all around, every purpose lens from then on.

I had a decent eye, but technically, I was never really good. I compensated for lack of understanding with decent instinct, but over time the hassle, the weight of the gear and the long-windedness of the process (shoot, develop, evaluate, discard or reprint, repeat) caused me to use the gear less and less.

Then came digital photography and for a good long time, nothing changed. DH and I both love gadgets and technology, but the digital bandwagon was eyed suspiciously for a fairly long time. Eventually, we bought a point-and-shoot to try it out. This camera, to my knowledge the only non-Nikon interloper in the family, a Canon Powershot A620, has served us well and after DH upgraded to a D80, the Canon was mine to use pretty much exclusively.

I have to admit, I started to have DSLR envy. I love pulling things in real close, especially architectural elements and plants (I'm not good at portraits), so the somewhat limited zoom capability of the point-and-shoot niggled me. However, I hadn't taken pictures in a while and didn't seem to exhibit the level of commitment to the hobby that I would have liked to see to justify the investment of a DSLR. Also, I had pretty specific ideas of what I wanted and it wasn't really anything that was available yet. Basically I wanted an entry level DSLR that any photo-moron could use, but one with enough oomph to last me trough the growth towards a possible later upgrade, but at a good price.

When I initially saw the D5000 I got pretty excited. It looked pretty much like the camera I "ordered", except that it still had features I didn't want or need (video, for example) and the price was still not where I wanted it. I continued to ponder...

When I realized there was now also a D3000 I started to research it and read the reviews and I realized that this was exactly what I had been looking for. Last Saturday DH and I exchanged our birthday presents (3 weeks early, but we knew we'd have time to play with them then, so why not) and I got my new baby.

I got the kit with the 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 Nikkor lens and I am probably going to add the other lens often available in the kit (a 55-120mm I believe) fairly soon. My old lenses work, of course, except that I have to figure out how to use them (they are manual lenses). Since practice is supposed to increase skill, I am going to try to participate in my own little 365 project. who knows, it may actually prime the pump and get me back into photography the way I hope it will.