Choosing our Camera

To take pictures I'll need a camera.

I figured I'd share how we picked the one we did, just in case anyone else has as much difficulty as I did making this decision, lol.

One of my good friends who is an actual real life photographer was selling one of her cameras because she got a fancier one. They call it a Canon 40D, and it has a 17-85mm lens on it (it's fancy). It's pretty much an amazing fantastic professional camera if you've ever seen one.  Heard it was for sell, thought maybe I'd just buy it...

See Kyle and I were looking into getting a nice camera to take pictures with. And I was looking into becoming a professional photographer who can capture any image she wants and has a big fancy camera and wears hippy-like clothes and shoots all the town's Christmas cards. Maybe I was dreaming a bit.

So it was time for a decision... or it was the beginning of the decision on what DSLR camera to buy. I know she was only selling one, but when I looked online for the reviews on that one camera I started getting carried away. Remember how I can't make decisions.

I am not kidding when I can tell you that I've probably read every website that reviewed the 40D (that's on the first 2 pages of the Google search, lol) and read every forum about the differences in the 40D and the 60D. I've read about how Canon names their cameras, about ISO and aperture and crop sensors and all these things that just recently I knew absolutely nothing about. I could estimate that I spent at least 2-3 hours a day (every day for the last 3 weeks) reading about or talking to Kyle about cameras. It's kind of crazy.

So I decided I was going to buy my friend's camera. The Canon 40D was released back in 2007 but is still known to be one of the best intermediate DSLRs Canon has made. Like those camera people on the camera people forums keep raving about it. And my friend only used it like 3 times before she got a newer fancier one, so it's practically brand new.

Here's what I learned. Canon had essentially 3 levels of DSLRs (DSLR means they have this mirror or prism but in reality you just need to know they're the really good kind):

 - Beginner: Which is what they call the xxxD line. The cameras are numbered 450D, 550D, etc. Mostly though they call them Rebels, like Rebel T2i (same thing as 550D). Confusing, I know.

 - Intermediate: Still intermediate is the wrong word, because these are great cameras, tons of professionals use them. It's the xxD line like the 40D my friend is selling, 50D and the 60D I read so much about.

 - Elite: Like the best of the best, like they filmed the TV show House M.D. on one of these. They're the xD line like 5D Mark II and stuff like that.

BUT. Then they came out with this 7D which seems like it would be in the xD line, and then they made the 60D a little more like the Rebels and then everything got confusing and it's like the 7D is now the Intermediate-Elite line!? I know.

So I thought maybe the 40D was perfect for me, then I thought the 60D looked great because it also shoots HD video in addition to pictures. Then I saw that the 60D was maybe a downgrade from the 40D for pictures but still more expensive, and then it got crazy. Then I realized I really wanted the video option and I decided we would buy the 60D.

I called my friend and I told her. She had someone lined up to buy her camera if I didn't (so don't think I'm a bad friend or anything). I was all "I'm going to buy the 60D... although I know I'm out buying myself" (AKA buying more camera than I need right now) and she said:

"Yep you are."

In the nicest and most helpful way anyone could ever say that. I was about to drop $1000 on a camera when I don't even know if I like taking pictures yet?? A THOUSAND dollars for that 60D (and that's the used price). Was I insane?!

And so I thank her, and then I tell my husband I think I had gone crazy. And I realized that the Rebel line has some really, really great cameras and they can be professional too (like they have a lot of the same specs as some of the fancier ones). And they even do video...

And the most recently discontinued Rebel is the T2i, which all the reviews AND specs say are exactly the same as the newer T3i except for a wireless flash adapter (which you can buy separate if needed) and a screen that swivels. That's it.

Oh and if you can call all the Walmarts in your area and hunt for it. Then you can walk into your local Walmart and buy it "going out of stock" on clearance you can get it Brand New! for like $200 less than the T3i. Yep.

So that's what we did. Walked right into that Walmart...

I'm now the proud owner of a brand new Canon 550D/ T2i. Crazy.

Now I just have to wait for the battery to charge. We'll see where it goes.