Going Digital

I’ve had an interest in photography ever since the early 1980s. Back then when film was the medium, I had a Petri viewfinder camera and a Rolleicord twin lens reflex. Sadly, when the cost of film and processing became prohibitive in the early 1990s, I had to turn to other, less costly hobbies.

From a seaside resort in Tabuelan, Cebu

Fortunately, low-cost digital cameras have made photography affordable again. In 2007, I bought my first digital camera, a Sony Cybershot S650. I have also made use of various phone cameras. But I have never owned a single lens reflex (SLR) camera, let alone a digital one. So when I came to buying a digital SLR, I wanted to make sure I got a camera that I could enjoy and actually use.

The good news was that, when it came to capabilities, the big names were generally even in each given skill level. Neither Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Sony, Pentax, and so on had any huge advantage. That realization pretty much helped me avoid long hours of going over technical comparisons and reviews (although I did read some). What was important now were certain subjective preferences.

With film, I used to experiment with long exposures (10 seconds to a few minutes). The time allowed me to play with flash, ambient light, and various colored lights to get interesting effects. So I naturally wanted to be able to do the same with my new camera. That meant that the camera should be capable of fully manual operation. After all, what’s the point of getting an SLR if you intend to stick to presets and automatic exposure? Part of the creativity — and certainly much of the fun — lies in controlling the important parameters that can affect your photos. Manual exposure lets you play with light and motion, and that’s something I really like to do.

I also like shooting at night. For quick shots or for documenting an event, a built-in flash is important. I also had to make sure the camera had an attachment for an external flash unit and maybe a remote.

Using a camera shouldn’t require a degree in rocket science. I do not like poring over manuals of consumer equipment. The on-board menu system had to be easy to use and understand. The camera also had to be easily connected to a PC so I could move files without the need for proprietary software.

I found myself drawn to the vivid colors I saw in both entry-level and professional Nikon SLRs. I had used a friend’s D40 and it seemed easy enough to handle and care for. So when I went shopping, I was already leaning towards a Nikon. A Canon could be in the cards as well since I had also played with a friend’s EOS 450D and had fun with it

Finally, I had a budget to think about. I have no intentions of ever becoming professional photographer so I would never have the chance to recover the big bucks that I would have to spend for a high-end rig. I would have to choose among the entry-level SLRs.

The Final Buy

In the end, the budget factor, availability, and my previous experience with Nikons won out. I got myself a brand new D60 with the standard kit lens (18-55mm), a UV lens filter, hard LCD protector, and upgraded to an 8GB SD card and a nicer camera bag. And I got it for only a grand more than what you would pay for a new D40 in SM. Using my credit card hurt a bit, but I guess I still got it cheaper than most.

So how good is it? The camera meets my requirements. It works for me!

NOTE: This article originally appeared in Bliss at Cebu Daily News on October 8, 2009. The FaceBook page of that issue is here.

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Update to this post (2009-10-15)

Now that I’ve had the camera for over a month, I’ve discovered some things about it, both good and bad.

First, the camera isn’t automatically detected by my Linux system which runs CentOS 5.3. I installed Picasa 3.0, which easily detects the camera, but can be slow when downloading a lot of pictures. So now I use gphoto2 to download files from the camera and Picasa to preview and perform minor batch editing.

I also found that after the credit card company got through charging me using a very high foreign exchange rate, and having to make an international call to them because some numbers on the card were not legible, the camera effectively cost quite a bit more than I expected. To top it off, it turns out that a Nikon D60 sells for about the same (cash) price in the Philippines. A Nikon D3000 is only P500 more.

Hmm… maybe I should have gotten my camera at that nice store in Parkmall (North reclamation Area).

Ah well, a lesson learned!

The pictures in this article were taken using the D60 in manual mode. They have been re-sized and one was cropped. No other post-processing was done.

Nice interplay of color and shadow

Power lines somewhere in Penang