I can see why photography is so addicting

[jd_1138]

I just bought a Canon Powershot A3300 IS point 'n shoot. It has a 5x optical zoom and 16 MP. I am loving it. Easily the best camera I ever had. It replaced a crappy 5 year old Polaroid 5mp camera. I was going to buy a DSLR so I could take closeups of small things that I sell on eBay. The Polaroid wasn't cutting it on closeups, but I figured this Powershot A3300 should be able to do a good enough job on closeups, and it does. I figured if the Powershot wasn't as good as I hoped it would be, then I'd buy a DSLR and use the Powershot as a pocket camera. But I think the Powershot has enough capability for my limited photography experience. I am taking it everywhere we go and snapping a lot of pics for my Flickr account.

I got it at Best Buy. It was marked down from $169 to $99, so I figured that it must be a heck of a bargain and it must have some nice features, since its original price was so high. Similar PnS's didn't seem to be as feature laden or well built. The PowerShot S100 looks tempting but at around $350, that's DSLR territory.

My other gear is a small Targus tripod and case ($5 as a bundle at Wal-Mart), and a Dynex 50 inch tripod. 16GB seems to be the sweet spot for SD cards for value price per size, so I bought a SanDisk 16GB card for about $14.

Post your gear, even if it's modest like mine. I definitely see a DSLR in my future. My cousin has a Canon EOS Mark 5D Mark II that he just bought, and he's using it to make some extra money doing head shots of beautiful women and models. Lucky guy.

[Edcculus]

Glad you have caught the bug!

I'm afraid I have it worse than you though.

My current main use setup is a Nikon F2 Photomic that I primarily use with a 50mm Nikkor lens. I've also got a Beseler 23CIII-XL Variable Contrast enlarger which I'm still working on setting up in a mini darkroom in my upstairs bathroom. I've been shooting a variety of film, but mainly Fuji Neopan 100 and Ilford HP5 400.

I also have a Canon Rebel Xti, which is a pretty capable lower end DSLR. I've transitioned it heavily to my wife since I'm a little more "into" shooting film right now. Its still a great camera for when I need to grab a quick pic, or to take on trips where I know I'll be shooting non stop.

[ouch]

Click the icon that looks like a flower to engage macro mode. They can take pretty good closeups.

[StillShaving]

I have been through a few higher end point-n-shoots, mostly Canon which have given good service. I've considered upgrading to a prosumer model, but with technology advancing I have not been able to identify the right one. After my last camera got dust on the sensor I recently bought a refurb (i.e. cheap) fujifilm model AV200 to hold me over. Its the worse camera I have ever owned, it takes fine pictures in ideal lighting conditions but otherwise is a crapshoot.

[jd_1138]

Yeah I'd be kinda afraid of buying anything other than a Canon, Nikon, or Pentax these days. I'm sure Sony and others may make a few nice cameras, but they aren't primarily camera makers. They have their hands in a lot of consumer categories.

[xillion]

Yeah I'd be kinda afraid of buying anything other than a Canon, Nikon, or Pentax these days. I'm sure Sony and others may make a few nice cameras, but they aren't primarily camera makers. They have their hands in a lot of consumer categories.

Many of the Nikon DSLR sensors are actually made by Sony.

[jd_1138]

Oh I didn't know that. But the rest of the camera is Nikon? Like the controls, electronics, lenses, etc..

[xillion]

Oh I didn't know that. But the rest of the camera is Nikon? Like the controls, electronics, lenses, etc..

Nikon Lenses are designed and made by Nikon. The Expeed Image Processors are based on are based on the Fujitsu Milbeaut imaging processors.