DSLR Cameras

After two years of dreaming of a full frame camera, it took the expected birth of our first child and a commitment to drown my fears of portrait photography and document the once-in-a-lifetime moments to take the plunge and pick up the very popular Canon 5DMKII. From the first shoot, my wife’s baby shower, I fell in love just like I always knew I would.

While baby chasing will be my primary use of this camera for my first few months of ownership, I’m also looking forward to getting it out into a hockey rink and see what that full frame sensor can really do. Not to mention bringing it out under the stars when we try to get back up to Door County in the spring, or for (hopefully) a Maui reunion in August ’11.

The Canon 5DMKII has been very popular and blogged about since it was released in 2008. You can scope out the customer reviews at Amazon for just a taste of what folks are saying.

I knew earlier this year that the Rebel XSi was going to be my next DSLR, even though was also tempted by the new 50D (mentioned here). Over my existing 20D, the XSi adds four more megapixels to it and offers up everything from a larger LCD display, Live View, a newer Digic processor, and a host of other in-camera features. One of my favorites points is that it will still work with my existing lenses.

I did have to matkek a switch in storage media from from CF cards with my 20D to SDHC cards for the XSi and the SD890 (below). I suppose it’s for the better, but it’s just another purchase. My laptop does have a built in SD reader, so that’s a plus. And I’m looking forward to having two DSLRs with me when I’m on vacation so I don’t necessarily have to switch lenses all the time, I’ll still need those CF cards.

Originally, this was supposed to be my Christmas gift, but after it was featured as one of the Deals of the Day on Dell.com, and with a 10% coupon from Dell, I saved over $120 that I couldn’t pass up. It was even $100 less than Amazon! It’s been great having it earlier because I’m getting a lot of practice with it before our next Maui trip in February.

Find out more with the official specs from Canon and customer reviews at Amazon.

Read my first impressions of the Rebel XSi at the blog, as well as my photos on Flickr taken Rebel.

My first Digital SLR and still in my arsenal today. As it was my first SLR, it took me quite awhile to learn all the controls and features and when to use each. But after about a year, I was using it without my cheatsheets and getting some pretty good results.

It was originally introduced by Canon in 2006, and with the advances in technologies and all the new models that have come out since then, it’s not that prevalent in camera stores any more. It is still a great camera, and I’ll be using it even after I get my next upgrade.

Official specs from Canon.

View at Amazon to read customer reviews.

View photos I’ve taken with my Canon EOS 20D.