Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Soon enough

Soon enough I will have my new DSLR. I think Sejin got sick of me asking when we could order it (only he can do all the online stuff in Korean, especially when dealing with large amounts of money). This is what I bought:

Nikon D90 body
Nikkor 35mm f1.8 lens
8GB class 10 memory card
Lowepro sling DSLR bag

I think I made smart decisions. I'm glad Sejin made me wait so long to make the purchase, because over the last month and a half, I changed my mind many times about what to get. I was going to go with a D5000 body. I changed my mind several times about lenses. I settled on the 35mm after thinking hard about my needs and shooting conditions. Most likely, I will be taking lot of pictures of Grace, possibly indoors. This lens is supposed to be fast and performs great in low light. I am not too worried about feeling limited by the lack of zoom right now. First I'm going to focus on getting to know the camera. I will probably purchase another lens next year. I still have my heart set on that Tamron 17-50 with VC, but that's nearly double the price of the 35mm.

Another good thing about waiting is that I've had a chance to fool around with some photoediting. I've learned a lot just by using Adobe Photoshop Elements 8. Someday I will learn Photoshop proper, but I'm afraid my time is too limited right now. Photoshop Elements is very new-photographer friendly and still has great results.

One thing I've been doing is practicing using some old photos. It's amazing what some bump in saturation, contrast, sharpness, and a bit of retouching can do!

5 comments:

Mama Seoul said...

Congratulatons!

Chris in South Korea said...

Nice choice regarding the camera. I have the Nikon D70 (about two generations older) and have had few complaints with it. Regarding the lens: recognize its limitations (fully open, that lens lets in a LOT of light, but the depth of field is tiny). You should have an action setting on the knob that 'follow-focuses' - automatically refocusing whenever the subject moves. I guarantee Grace will move :)

Next lens? Consider an 18-105, something with some range. I have an extra 28-70 lens I could sell you on the cheap if you're interested (just e-mail). Best of luck :)

Sarah said...

Thanks!

Yes, it's a bright lens, but I'm looking forward to grappling with it! I have so many photos of Grace with a full-blown flash in her face and black background. Most people say this lens needs to be stopped down to at least f2. Excited to learn!

I may just contact you soon about that 28-70!

Amanda said...

On the flip side, I shoot on 1.8 most of the time and almost never use my zoom lens. It really depends on what you're shooting and your style. I love, love, love shallow DOF.

Sarah said...

Amanda....I love it too, but so far, when shooting at 1.8, my focus is off...I'm assuming this is due to toddler than doesn't top moving. I put it up to 2.8 or above and I can get sharper pictures of the little devil.