So maybe 11 PM isn't the best time for painting your toenails.

[ase]

Tomorrow I'm doing the restaurant week thing and going to Poste with Perky K. I am wearing a skirt and strappy black sandals, so someone better appreciate the non-denim lengths I've gone to. (Things I love about my job #57: "well, you're cleaning your workspace with bleach solution" dress code! This leaves me with very little motivation to upgrade my clothes.)

Pursuant to shirts, this weekend I walked into Macy's looking for a camisole-type thingie and walked out with... a blue v-neck t-shirt. Yes, I know: you are all shocked by this break from tradition.

Also, shopping appeal: I'm breaking down and buying a digital camera. I'm soliciting opinions. HOWEVER, comma, I am on a budget. I'm looking in the $200 - $250 range, with an absolute limit of three hundred fifty dollars ($350) for the camera and basic accessories (second battery, larger memory card, etc). I really would like a digital SLR, but it's not happening this year. CNET has a real crush on the Canon Powershot series; does anyone else have nice or nasty things to say as I reach for the sales papers? I want instant gratification at high resolution, but I'll settle for decent warmup and shot-to-shot time, good picture quality, 7+ mpix, and an optical viewfinder.

Comments

[wizardoffoo.livejournal.com]

Nikon D40 brand new from B&H Photo (reasonably respectable place which you can bring your wrath to in person if you're willing to make a trip up to NYC) will set you back about $470 plus tax. Add whatever memory card you want/on sale/etc. If you really want a DSLR there's not much that can go wrong with that. On the plus side, a used D50 (older than the D40, go figure) can handle the older style AF lenses which the new D40/X/60 series can't.

On a side note, I would suggest holding off on getting a second battery until your shooting patterns dictate that you blow through an entire battery in a single day. In the whole year and a half since I got my D40 I haven't needed a second battery. Even on heavy shooting days (ex. Anime Central) I'd be closer to running out of card space before running out of battery. Again shooting styles may vary, I'm a natural light fiend (no flash = less battery consumption). Also, w/r/t the megapixels, you will get diminishing returns the higher you kick up the MP count thanks to physics and sensor noise. Go with whatever you think will be the largest print size you will need. And yes Virginia, you can make a 20x30 inch poster with a mere 6 megapixels. Looks fabulous to boot.

This does break your hard limit, but as others have noted, you really do want to save up to make a DSLR happen if that is your end goal.

If you're willing to cheat a little on the "digital" part, you might want to consider getting a nice used film SLR and getting your film digitized at the local Costco.
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/free-digital-camera.htm

Other than that, I'd go with the suggestions on this page - and yes the PowerShots are really popular for good cause.
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/recommended-cameras.htm

[ase.livejournal.com]

Nikon D40 ... $470 plus tax.

Please go back and read the stuff in bold.

[wizardoffoo.livejournal.com]

True it breaks your budget today but I am trying to save you from buying two cameras - buying one now plus the one you want later will inevitably be more expensive than just waiting until you can be content with the one you do get.

W/r/t your aversion to AA batteries, you can use rechargeable AA's in most digital cameras that take AA's. Big advantage in that replacements are cheap and plentiful and likely to be in production for as long as the floppy disk which is more than I can say for my D40's battery when/if they decide to discontinue it. Second bonus - left the charger at home? Nothing a short trip to the local inconvenience store can't solve. For both AA's and custom packs, as long as you play smart with turning off some of the more battery consuming parts of the camera you probably won't need a second rechargeable pack right away.

And if you can deal with used and eBay, there are some decent looking D40's out and about in the $270 price window... caveat emptor though.

[ase.livejournal.com]

True it breaks your budget today

Yep. This is $250 I shouldn't be spending. However, replacing my (camera)phone after its unexpected mechanical failure from being thrown against a wall for its unacceptable photos is also money I shouldn't be spending.

Apparently I didn't express myself well; I've been using rechargable AA's for years. I'd actually be more annoyed with a proprietary battery, as harder to replace on the road; however, if the batteries needed charging less often, I could totally get behind them.

[wizardoffoo.livejournal.com]

Keep forgetting to mention but if you do manage to snag a deal on a Nikon SLR body I have an extra lens I can lend you for a while. Nikon AF 50mm f/1.8 - fabulous lens, especially in low-lighting, if you can deal with 'zooming with your feet.' Used to be bolted on the front of my D40 (where it doesn't even autofocus due to lack of old-style motor!) all the time, even over the also very fab 18-55 lens the D40 comes with until I snagged a Voigtlander 40mm f/2 (still manual focus but actually designed for it). Will shave a few bucks over having to get yourself a lens.

[yi-sen.livejournal.com]

My two major problems with the d40 is that it feels small in my hands and that the focusing seems slow. How is it for action shots?

[trolleypup.livejournal.com]

An acquaintance uses a D40 for advanced amateur sports work with good results. The D40 is small and light, but it is a amazingly good and useful camera for the price.