Get a digital SLR camera

I had a blast with the new camera yesterday. Braveheart came out to my neighborhood with her girlfriend, to take her dog to a herding class at a local ranch. We had so much fun watching Lulu the pooch chase the sheep. She’s just getting started.

Discovered that the big professional camera gives you some of the entree that a clipboard will. You look like you know what you’re doing. Janna, the ranch owner, was great. Very friendly.

Had an amazing time clicking off shots. 129 and no stopping to reload film, worrying about getting dust inside, etc.

More pix on my blog

Ooooooh! What a beauty, huh!? The new Nikon D80 arrived! I worked from home in order to be there to sign for it.

Very exciting. But I was sooooo busy that I worked 6am-5pm with just a half hour break to do some killer DVD pilates and heat lunch to take back to my desk. Left the battery charging when I left for my writing group around 6pm.

It’s now Thursday, I’m just now updating my blog, and I haven’t had time to load the software, so still no shots from behind this lens. Something about saying I would update more regularly invited an avalanche of day-job work.

Priorities are such a drag.

I’m working at home today so I could be here to sign for the UPS package.

SO excited! It arrived with a charged battery, bless them. It’s so intuitive that I started setting it up even though the menues were in Japanese. Should have held my horses a bit, because I set the time up before I changed the timezone from Tokyo to Pacific. Now I need to figure out how to get it set right. Hee hee.

So thrilled. Unfortunately, it’s a very busy work day and I just took a break to check that the order’s all there. Whoo hoo!

Later I’ll walk down to the mailbox and take my first photo with it.

Did I say whoo hoo?

somewhere in the middle of the United States, between here and Brooklyn, NY. It’s supposed to arrive on Tuesday the 6th, so I guess I’ll work from home in order to receive it. HOPE it’s in perfect shape. I’m a little nervous about having ordered it from so far away, but it was a very good deal.

“Please, Mr. UPS-man, check it and see… Is there a package? A package for me?”

The camera hasn’t even shipped yet, and I am periodically freaking out about it. This is a lot of money to spend for something I don’t have my hands on yet. Poor Hydra having to deal with my frustration and fears about whether the dealer I’m buying from is legit, whether I should cancel the order and spend an extra $400 to get it locally and with less of a kit. Sigh.

All the old Calvinist naysayers that were implanted in me by my early church are kicking at my confidence. Have I truly overstepped what I deserve by purchasing this extravegant toy/tool? You wouldn’t think that buying a camera could turn into a moral dilemma.

Writing this helps. I was ready to cancel the order today, but the customer service offices aren’t open, so I have to wait till tomorrow. Not sure whether waiting another week for delivery is reasonable or if it will be a mistake.

Trying like a used car salesman to talk me into this and that. Stressful, but I didn’t cave. Well, actually, I did cave and bought a probably overpriced battery, but since I couldn’t price it online with the specs he gave me I called back and cancelled it. Had to call twice to get my sales rep. And then he told me I’d have to pay for shipping insurance, which would have been included if I’d bought anything extra. Yuk. I think insurance is a good idea on these things, but I felt bullied and a bit threatened by the guy’s constant coming up with some way I was going to ruin my camera with the wrong battery or without shipping insurance. The insurance wasn’t much more because they’d already waved shipping costs.

I think I have a good deal on my hands here. Hopefully, it will arrive in 5-7 days.

EEEEEEEE. Big money committment for me. I was all excited, then found that the place isn’t actually open today so I have to call them tomorrw. Ordered it through an EBay shop.

After doing a lot more research about the lenses, etc., I opted for an 18-50 AF-S DX Nikkor with the camera body, along with a pretty nice kit. An aluminum carrying case as well as a bag, etc. etc. There were some good deals on lower quality lenses with the body, but I have a pretty highly rated 80-200 from my 35mm that should work.

I want to get a macro lens too before too long.

But you can’t just buy the camera body in the store. And neither CC nor Best Buy had one that had a battery in it so that I could actually try it out. Sigh. I guess I’ll order online, although they have almost convinced me that I should just get the kit, because the small zoom that it comes with really does look better than the one I have from my 35mm.

The Nikon D80. My old Nikon lenses will work with it. It’s rated fast and it has lotsa’ mpx. Vrrrooom.

Patching together the funds while also saving for the Europe trip that is part of what’s prompting me to upgrade is going to be interesting!

I have these great lenses from my 35mm, which are supposed to work with the D40 and D80.