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I Want To Save But I Want To SPEND, SPEND, SPEND!!
Posted on December 4, 2007 |
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The Holidays are here and I have a growing obsession. I want to buy a new digital SLR camera! I really want to be frugal and save but the desire to get a new camera keeps gnawing away at me. It wouldn’t be so bad if the two cameras I’ve been researching weren’t so expensive. I’ve been looking at the Nikon D40x 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens
A few years ago or so I bought a digital point and shoot. I still have it and it works fine. It’s just that I want a camera that does more! The one I have is too slow to start up and there’s not many options to change settings.
So let’s look at some Pros and Cons here:
- I’ll be able to take better quality pictures (better lens, better zoom, better depth of field, etc…).
- Camera start-up time is quicker so I’ll miss less potential pictures.
- I’ll be better able to manipulate the pictures (cropping, red-eye removal, general editing).
- There will be better memories remembered since I’ll take more pictures of good quality.
- I can upgrade lenses as I understand the media more/it can grow with me.
- We have the money for it in savings so we won’t go into debt to buy it. In other words, we can afford it.
- It will be a fun hobby.
Cons
- It’s expensive. This one’s the biggie. There’s no way around this. It’s a nice chunk of change to throw down to take some pictures.
- I may not use or understand all of the options.
- Might find the camera is too bulky and end up taking less pictures.
- Extra lenses for the camera can be as or more expensive than the camera itself.
- Since it’s digital it could become obsolete in a few years.
- Though we have the money for it the money could be put to better use.
- Will I really use it as much as I think I will?
- It could be annoying to the family to have me always tinkering with the camera or with pictures.
I look to you the reader for advice! Let me know if I should fulfill my desires and buy the camera or if I should refrain and find a more productive use for the money.
I’d also love to hear from anyone who owns either of the cameras and what you think of them.
Update 01-08-08: Just before the new year I purchased the Nikon D40 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens as well as a Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor Lens. I got them as part of a package deal that had a $100 instant rebate for the VR lens. The camera is awesome! To say the pictures are better than my point and shoot is very much an understatement! In the past couple of weeks I’ve taken over 200 pictures. The price was a bit steep but I think we’ll have pictures that we can put up around the house for a long time.
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I am an budding photograher as well and have have been shooting with a crappy digital camera that distorts images whenever I use the zoom. So frustrating!
I am currently burried under a mountain of debt and have no business buying something this pricy for a “hobby”. My solution? I am adding the Canon you have pictured here to my wedding registry. Hopefully a benefactor guest will take pity on my poor soul.
@ms. d&d - That is a great idea! It’s just the type of gift that a few people might chip in to get. Also, if you get it before the wedding you could have a trusted friend use it to take pictures! Shoulda thought of that a couple of years ago for my wedding. Good luck on your nuptials!