Yeah, I went ahead and did it. The old 4 mp kodak served me well but I had exhausted its capabilities. I
very nearly bought the canon powershot G9 which is at the extreme high end of the compact camera list. It is 12 mp, has almost every feature you can imagine (most that only the big DSLR's have), and takes great pictures. On top of all of that, its small, which was a big thing for me because a camera you don't want to carry with you is a camera that stays at home.
But I had a change of heart, I finally realised what I was looking for is depth of field, and deep contrast, like you see in the above photo with the coins. Everything fades into the background except for what you want to focus on, the images are smooth and crisp, there's a depth to them. I realised no matter how high on the foodchain I got with a compact there was no way I was going to capture the shots I really wanted because its just a function of the size of the sensor and the distance between lens components. What I really wanted just can't be done in a smaller camera, even one with twice the megapixels, its not physically possible.
So I started looking at the big DSLR's (those big cameras with interchangable lenses) Surprisingly, some at the low end cost little more than an Playstation or the aforementioned G9, really I was only shopping for the very entry level cameras due to cost, the "budget semi-pro" catagory of these things can easily cost you over $1,000. I don't have that kind of dough, so I narrowed it down to two cameras - the Nikon D40, and the Pentax K100.
On paper the Pentax is better, it has image stabilization, it is backwards compatible with all the old lenses, it comes bundled with very powerful software. Whereas the Nikon lacks these features to one extent or the other.
But, I found a great feature on flickr.com. You can view images by the type of camera they were taken with. I viewed the Nikon images and I have to say, there were more than a few that literally made me hold my breath. For some reason the pentax was just underwhelming, the photo's were rich in color but dark and moody and just not as crisp or dynamic. I agonized over whether to go with the camera I had a gut feeling about, or to go with the one that was technically better on paper.
Then I realised - do I even have any lenses that are backwards compatible? No. And I doubt I'll ever even buy another lens in all reality! Scratch that one off the list. Well, what about image stabilization? Good news is, because DSLR's have such a big sensor, they capture the image in a fraction of the time that compacts do, so really image stabilization isn't a big deal when your shutter speed is so fast (it does help in low light though, no denying that). But all in all, its not a HUGE deal in a DSLR like it is in a compact, where shutter speeds are slower and the camera has less weight to steady itself. Scratch that off the list as well.
In the end I decided I wanted a relatively simple camera that takes great pictures. The pentax has HORRIBLE menus and would take forever to learn like reading a technical manual on a universal remote control. The Nikon actually has nice help menus that pop up when your about to take a crappy shot, and makes suggestions in easy to understand language and the menus are simple to navigate. This is a great way for me to learn more about how to work a DSLR. Plus and this is the most important part - I'm genuinely happy with the pictures. I've only just tried it out, I still have only the most vague idea what I'm doing and I'm using just the auto settings but I love the way the photos look already.
The icing on the cake was that on St. Maarten, there is no sales tax. So I got the camera at the lowest price any store had it for in the states, with no tax, plus I was able to haggle for nice free carrying case, and an extra battery that ordinarily runs about $50. I'm quite content, my only regret is that I can't play with my new toy more amidst these finals coming up but I'm sure I'll have plenty of time over the break.
