I am a hobbyist

Having a dSLR won't stop investing in the hobby. That means that I have been collecting and reading photo magazines more or less on a regular basis, while thinking high to participate in local or on-line competition. Obviously, it is not ready yet. Apparently, there is an evening photography class in nearby college. It is a good idea to join it. I could gain new camera skill and new friends. Just thinking.



The gas station is at a convenient distance. Whenever I went down there to grab a bunch of lager, I checked the book shelves filled with a variety of usual stuffs , such as auto magazines, women and adult magazines. What I normally took was photo magazine. I read and tried to take the photos as advised. Unfortunately, weather was not favourable for a amateur photographer these days. Of course, I can get snow photos. But sub zero temperature stopped me going out. Again, my busy life style has a little chance to spend on photography. Hopefully, there will be more opportunity to enjoy out door photos in next a few months.

Camera buying skill

The whole yesterday morning, I did on-line research on current digital SLRs, thinking to buy one. I also bought a couple of photo magazines to get some idea. I know many amateur photographers are crazy to buy Nikon D90 for some reason, even though it is one of the entry level cameras. It would be a copycat phenomenon among a group of people. To be honest, I am not the one who is keen to try a relatively expensive development, at the expense of my monthly investment.

I found out that Nikon D-3000 has acceptable specifications with a reasonable price to me. So I decided to get that one, which was introduced in July 2009 in Britain. I drove to the town centre. When I got to Jessops, I changed my mind to take Sony alfa 230 instead. Sony is rather new in digital camera world, I think. My friends normally prefer Nikon and Cannon. But I think Sony is attractive, extremely compact with a light weight. Moreover, the quality of image of Sony camera is excellent, according to several independent reviews. Next thing is that it is cheap. So I took it. I did also purchase 70-300mm zoom lens. It was nice to take test photos instantly at beach once I came out of the shop.

But I found out that there was no "live view" mode. The LCD screen was only for setting and viewing the photos taken. I must admit that I have a poor knowledge in Digital SLR camera although I used Nikon and Cannon SLRs since I was 18. I wrongly assumed that all dSLR had got a live view as its compact counterparts. In fact, my friend Vista mentioned about "live view" yesterday morning that Nikon 3000 had no such mode, but in Nikon 5000. I neglected her statement which was my mistake. The whole evening, I tried to take photos using view finder, leaving me with some eye ache.

This morning, I went back to Jessops and I did exchange with Sony A330. Now I am happy with new camera. It has got quick AF live view. That means that A330 can provide rapid camera performance without any delay for capture. Hopefully, photos will be available on my picasa web album shortly.



Updated 26.10.09

Please click : Some sample photos I took today

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