I have a new toy!

I actually have something about me to blog about today!

(although, please don't forget my friend Shelley's fundraising!)

When I won the art competition back in May, I decided that I would use my winnings to buy a new camera.

As is the norm, I have been dithering about what to get for ages. Having used film SLR for years, and love it, but also loving the speed and convenience of digital, I was divided: start on a digital SLR (unfortunately I could not get one that would take my original film camera lenses, it is an old Fuji screw mount, rather outdated, even if it is still good!) - with the disadvantages of the higher costs of building up a range of lenses - or buy a "bridge" camera - you know, one of those chunky cameras that look like an SLR but have a fixed on lens. They're good in lots of ways, particularly some models that have a macro focussing right down to 1cm, and up to 18X zoom. I figured that a decent one of these would cover all eventualities.

So today, on a trip to Nottingham to buy a new iron, I went into John Lewis just to see what they'd got. I looked at a couple of bridge cameras, but the salesman took me to the SLR range, and put a Canon EOS 1000D in my hand. It felt so *right* - and it seemed really easy to use. Its a refurb, and over £100 less than anywhere else I have seen (not that I had even considered this model before 1pm today!)

Well, I bought it. Without research. How rash am I? But I figured that my compact Canon A540, which most of the images I have shown on here were taken on is ok. Actually, I've taken some cracking photos with it, as good as some bridge cameras can do - its just that I don't have the super macro or super zoom capabilities.

When I got it home, I got it out of the box, and took a few pics, and no, I haven't read the instructions at all, so I don't know how much better I could get. I have to say I am rather pleased with the result though (and it is with the standard lens, who needs macro?).




What do you think?