I've been sick this week. I'm still not quite right. Just a bad cold. When you have kids there seems to be a domino effect. One goes down, then another, then me. Because of that I've been out of touch with this blog thing.
So here's the deal. Last week I ordered gravel for our driveway. I went down to the rock yard and picked out some nice river gravel. Since delivery was going to be 65 bucks for $130 worth of gravel, I wanted to see what else they could throw on the truck to make it (in my little mind) more worthwhile. How about a boulder? The kids and I picked out a nice 1400 pound Sonoma field stone that they'd deliver for 5 bucks more including a forklift. So for a little more we get a show.
They came this morning and I wanted to take some photos of the "show" to post for all those boulder enthusiasts I know. Jane got the Sony DSC-S85 out but I noticed that it needed a charge so I set it on top of the Jeep... and went to work spreading gravel. Now you're beginning to see where this is going... and if you haven't by now, you are now... Later Jane took off to get some flowers and we haven't seen the camera since. It's probably road-kill. Thousands of Sony pieces nicely scattered across the pavement of Branciforte Dr. I didn't think about it until later. But what can I do?
Nothing.
After the pain of losing a friend for the past 3 years was gone, I looked at it this way... I finally get to put myself through what we have (as an industry) put so many people through in our user studies over the years. The task of researching and buying a Digital Camera online. Just when I was going to write about how I'm tired I am of that particular use case, here I am in the market for a Digital Camera. Go figure.
It looks like a good time for this. I definitely want a D-SLR. I'm tired of the clunky form factor of off-balanced point and shoots. And I have no need to put my camera in an Altoids box. I don't care how small they can make them, they're not for me. I want a camera to make a real click sound, not play a recording of one. I want a shutter. Interchangeable lenses. Depth of field. And most important, when I press the button, that's when I want the photo to be taken, not 1 or 2 seconds later.
I'm looking at the Canon Digital Rebel. I've loved it since I played with it at CES last year. But I just saw that Nikon is releasing two new D-SLRs at the end of the month. Including the Nikon D-50. It's a Nikon UK announcement, so will it be released here anytime soon? This puts me in a dilemma. Do I get something now, or do I wait? I'm not good at waiting for things like this. I have a tendency to fill the void as quickly as possible. If I get something now, I could be taking pictures right away, of what, I don't know, but I could if I wanted to. If I wait, I could have something really new. Like the first kid on the block with an Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle.
I'm leaning toward waiting. This way I'll be able to explore all the online options for researching and buying a digital camera. Just like we make those poor folks do behind the mirror.
-beach
