A long awaited upgrade

Last weekend I finally upgraded to a SLR by buying Nikon D80+ 18-200 VR lens at Yongsan market(Seoul). The decision was not an easy one. It required more than 6 months of analysis and research. The upgrade was on the cards from the time I was getting saturated with my current camera S2 IS. The limitations started to get highlighted one by one. And because of this I was gradually started losing enthusiasm in my one of major passion ... traveling.


Before talking about limitations, let's talk abut some pros about the camera which I have been using for last 3 years.

- Video Mode - capability of recording VGA clips at 30 fps was an amazing feature. The video recording can be started in any mode. And while shooting videos one can shoot photographs too. The feature which helped me to be capture various signature moments from Phooljhadi fest at my office to most recent Seoul Fireworks festival.
- Supermacro Mode - the mode to capture objects less than 25 cms was very helpful in capturing macro shots of Neelkurinjis while trekking in Mullyangiri to different kinds of flowers in last four editions of Lalbagh flower show.
- Swiveling LCD: The feature useful while talking macro shots and while photographing in crowded places.

Limitations experienced with S2 IS
- Neither small nor powerful. Being so bulky it didn't had performance as good as entry level SLR and being point and shoot it was not as convinient as small cameras like Canon IXUS.
- High Noise even at ISO 200: The maximum ISO level was 400 and noise was very evident at ISO 200. It had very tough time while capturing snaps at stage shows and even street photography
- Tedious Manual Focus: While doing street phtography getting the right picture was troublesome.

Things which I did over months before buying.
- First thing was participating in Kalyan varma's workshop. I got to know basic fundas i.e. relation between exposure, shutter speed and aperture. Also got some tips regarding camera equipments and the trade offs associated with body and lens.
- Participating in Bangalore Photowalk: This was major a real time self learning event. It gave oppourtunity to talk to people who were involved in serious photography from years and to people bought a SLR recently. Comparing my pics with the uploaded pics in flickr-photowalk group got me an idea what really a SLR can do and can't be done in point and shoot.

After doing several online readings and considering my budget I decided to go for D80+ 18-200 VR lens. But after owning the costly stuff shooting has been pretty difficult especially getting the right exposure in a pic. However here a few snaps from my new cam.