New Toy - Canon EOS 1000D

After my recent 'big' purchase, this post has been long overdue, so here goes,...

Being in a design profession, I think it's only obvious that one day I would eventually venture into this new 'serious' hobby- photography.Why I said 'serious' ? Because one have to make 'serious money commitment' to go far in this hobby (boleh bikin deposit beli kereta satu la or...:) ). So, after months of consideration (including window shopping balik2 depan kadai kamera..sampai itu tauke pun malas suda mau layan... :( ) and when coincidentally I got my big bonus earlier this year , I just go for it and bought my 1st DSLR camera ever ( I only have my cheap yet realiable sony dsc-s650 compact camera to carry around before... :( ) and it's the Canon EOS 1000D with the 18-55mm IS kit lense..Still considered cheap though in DSLR realm since it's an entry level DSLR camera but for amateur like me (budak baru belajar ba ni), I think should be sufficient enough for me. (for nowla...:))

Initially wanted to go for the Nikon D60, but finally I settled with Canon instead. Why? It's mainly because of lenses compatibility and range that Canon has over Nikon and maybe 'poisoned' by my Canon 400D friend also on that day...silaka & thank you to my friend Steve... :) . Do you know that entry level Nikon D series DSLR camera like D40, D40x up until DSLR 60 can only auto focus with AF-S and AF-I lenses? Whereas the previous and now obselete entry level Canon 400D (being replaced with 1000D already) and its bigger brother 450D can auto focus both with Canon EF (old) and EF-S (latest) lenses and its cheap EF 50mm/f 1.8 II prime lense that really got me there. I bought mine at a recommended shop in KK Plaza for around RM2k with some freebies- canon bag, LCD screen protector, tripod, 4G SD memory card, UV lense filter and 1 year free website registration from ximplify.com (Tried to get free umbrella also but no more stock... :( ). I'm not going into all the technical mambo jumbo about this camera here as you can find plenty of them at this all round review here. So fell free to check them out if you're interested in this camera as well.

Buying this camera has been one of my biggest investment (apart from my geek custom white Sxi Myvi), but unlike car which decays on you over time, you eventually improved your skills in photography (kalau rajin balajar la ni kan) and I'm looking forward into taking and producing great pictures with this camera. So, macamana,..tempted to buy one? Here's a few pointers from an amateur (if you don't mind) if you're thinking or planning to get one soon:

1. Budget - Set a budget for yourself on how much you are willing to spent and maybe a little bit of extra allowance for the critical decision. Unless you're sure of your choice then it's an easy decision but like me, I was torn between Nikon and Canon when I actually tested the two cameras. Biasakla sakai jugala once you try the real things all at once, unless you already familiar with the cameras (pinjam, try, cuba, test la ni dari kawan-kawan lain) then again it's a different situation. At most you would be tempted to buy one with a higher specs and this is where the extra allowance is handy. Then again, it's a matter between buying a slightly higher specs DSLR camera or put the extra money into your budget for better lenses. It's very confusing and tempting at the same time kan?... :). Luckily I've done my homework on all the available entry-level DSLR cameras that within my budget, so I've kinda know the pros and cons of these cameras. So, I made peace with myself with its available features (plus after asking my friends several times..hehehe) and then decided to go with Canon with the reassurance that I've stick to my initial budget and I can invest the extra money on better lenses.. (or perhaps buy a video camera?..mmm)

2. Brand - When buying things.. inda kirala apa-apa saja.. most people would looked into the brand 1st and Im also the same..because good or famous brand normally has the best quality and so on..but for some it's define your status la kenen... poor people can only afford buy cheap stuffs whereas rich people buy expensive stuffs only something like that la...I'm not into these kind of things though I wished I have all the money in the world to spent on all the best things out there...hahaha...and in photography no exception, that is brand dominance. That's why you have hardcore Canon and Nikon fans out there in a never-ending war over who's the best camera manufacturer in the world?.. Anyway, a wise advice I gathered from my own research is that it's always good to stick to the these two top leaders in the world of photography due to their vast experience and good track record in producing good cameras over the years. Depending on your needs and preference, buying into any of these two brands won't be a disappointment. I guess, I'm officially a canonian now...so any nikon user wanna argue?..joking only... :).

3. Features & Future Expansion - Choosing which DSLR camera to buy is like buying into a system. So make sure that whatever camera that you buy now has all the features that you want and most importantly would allow you to expand in the future. Expansion here would mean your choice of future additional lenses that you would eventually going to buy when the kit lense is no more able to fulfill your creative urges... :). Seriously, photography can become very addictive and actually I've recently bought two more lenses after I've bought my camera just 3 weeks ago. (will talk about it in my next post). This is equally important as it can saves you a lot of money in your future expansion plan. For a start I'm going with Canon, but if my budget permits or my passion rule over my judgement later on, I might switch to D80/D90 as people say Nikon camera/lense is sharper than Canon's...betul ka ni?.

I think that's it for this entry or else I may sounded like a pro pula banyak-banyak kasi tips sini...Till then chiaoo...