Today I went on a little mission. I woke up this morning and looked over my ad-related email (special account for that), and saw that Circuit City had the Nikon D40 available in store, and even locally at the Gastonia store, so I had to go check it out. When I got there, I was surprised to find that they not only had the D40, they also had the D60, D80 and D40X.
Upon touching the D80, I fell in love… and then I fell over from how unbalanced it was. The D60 on the other hand, was much more balanced and something that seemed to be a sensible camera. The thing I think I love most about SLR cameras is the ability to focus and zoom from the lens assembly itself. It just feels more natural than using a button to adjust such things. The weight of the SLR cameras is a bit intimidating, and the number of controls is absolutely insane, but still… they are very cool devices.
So… for a third time, I will revise my opinion of SLR cameras. I think they are great, and perhaps one of the best tools for artistic photography, but they have drawbacks in that their sensors and mirrors are easily exposed and that there are moving parts to them. On the upside, control is more absolute and there is a great amount of flexibility.
I personally don’t think I am ready to go pure SLR just yet, but I think one day I might be… depending on how much I like photography after my summer course.