I consider myself to be "
Techy". I know about
TVs, computers, car stereos, home theater systems cell phones..... But, there was one item I never researched, cared about, or even thought about....The Camera.
It all started with blogging. My wife, Mrs. Frugal B advised me she wanted to start blogging and take nice photos to place on her blog (we all know it's all about the pictures). I had no idea about the ins and outs of cameras, the aperture, shutter speed, and flash. I thought, just get a camera and "point and shoot", the camera does everything else. Well after looking over her shoulder a bit while she viewed blog after blog, my interest PEEKED.
So I started my own research. First thing on the agenda was which brand to buy.
There are a ton of models of
DSLR camera's. Kodak, Sony, Olympus, Pentax and so forth, but the big "Apple" and "Microsoft" of the group would be Canon and Nikon. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the other brands. It's just this -I'm a guy and it matters to me.
So for months we (really me) have researched and stalked a number of models from both Nikon and Canon. I talked to everyone I saw with a camera and went to every store in our area that sold them. What I found is between these two brands it comes down to a personal choice on which brand to go with. It was all about comfort.
Above are two comparable models, Nikon D3100 and Canon T2i. Notice how button placement is different. Seems small but it was a huge difference maker. Also check weight, imagine holding X lbs around your neck and in your hand for hours and X lbs. Might not be a difference maker but just a thought.So at this point there were many comparables. So I moved to picture quality. Again, not much difference (remember I am a novice) until mirrors, lenses and sensors were explained to me.
This portion was explained to me I am regurgitating
Canon has been one of the leaders in the DSLR camera business because of a small but important part of the camera, called the sensor, to be exact the cmos sensor. Canon had the patent on the sensor until recently, now Nikon uses the same sensor. The mirrors and lenses are great on both the models I was looking at so I was still undecided. UNTIL...I starting pricing.
Everything up to this point is about personal choice. Again I am not a photographer and this is very very new to me so this portion was the driving force. How do I get everything I want, Mrs. Frugal B wants at the best price. To me it is all about getting the best product (Canon or Nikon) for the least amount possible. Now to a pro DSLR's have become much more affordable, but the price was still scary. So we initially purchased the Nikon P100 (top of the line point and shoot), however we were still not happy (so we returned it) and went back to the drawing board. I resumed my stalking, it almost always pays off, and boy did it!
While eating lunch at Costco ($1.50 hot dog & chips) I saw the Nikon D3100. Now this camera was not carried by Costco normally, I literally bumped into a display that had a bunch on it. Price $699 (not for the faint of heart). We had been saving for this purchase and had the $$$ but we try to avoid paying sticker price (bet you thought that term was reserved for cars), not to mention the 24 hour rule (no purchases over $100 without sleeping on it). Then it hit me, hhgregg has a 110% beat the competition policy. So I took the camera box and the Costco ad over to hhgregg along with a 30% off coupon (yes I said coupon). With 40% off the camera price the Nikon D3100 won hands-down.
Not as scientific as you thought.
We purchased the;
Nikon D3100 with a 18-55mm Zoom VR Lens &
55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR DX Zoom Lens.
DSLR Camera Bag
4gb Memory Card
