That and it was cheap, lol. $139 with a $109 lens. :-)
About what I paid for my replacement freaking S200EXR P&S. :-)
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What lens? 18-55?
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Correct. Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR DX LENS Refurb.

I thought about getting the tele, but in the end, if the
camera is going to be a 'fixed lens' camera, I want the
good wide end. I don't HAVE to never change lenses,
its just that I have an addictive personality, (along with
Type A, lol) and I can't get caught up in buying a bunch
of lenses. That's mostly why I bought advanced P&Ss
with manual controls. I wanted to have it all without
opening myself up to the quicksand of chasing better
and better lenses. That and sensor dust.
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Went to the Zoo yesterday. The sun was brutal so it was had to get some good pictures. Here are a few I took there.

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IMG_0284 by emopunker2004, on Flickr

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IMG_0235 by emopunker2004, on Flickr

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IMG_0209 by emopunker2004, on Flickr

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IMG_0206 by emopunker2004, on Flickr

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IMG_0159 by emopunker2004, on Flickr
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IMG_0119 by emopunker2004, on Flickr

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IMG_0110 by emopunker2004, on Flickr

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IMG_0095 by emopunker2004, on Flickr
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The lion saved the day....I was gonna rag you on your hoidy toidy DSLR and how it can't hang, :-) but after
25 years of shooting video for my supper, I know where you are coming from. They don't have a term like
"the golden hour" for nothing. NOW, you shoulda brought along your Neutral Density Filter, lol. But what
would that REALLY change? Get you a circular polarizer, too, THAT coulda helped.

I'd be happy just being able to GO TO THE ZOO on a weekday.

Photoshop that wire out. :-)

After checkingt your photostream, I actually like all the lion shots...granted, looking right at the cam has to
make the chicken dinner, but the other ones also have some kind of appeal to me, just the WAY she's not looking
at you in those is also good.
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:P
:-)
I have to wait to get my tax return before I touch any of these is post process. Shouldn't be too long. Couple weeks. Alot of the pix I took were near noon and it sucked cuz everything but the subject would be blown out, or I could have the surroundings be good but the subject dark. Next time I go when they open...we have an annual membership after all.
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You don't have to explain it to me, when camera owner goes to zoo, he takes pictures.
It doesn't matter what the sun is doing. Conditions are conditions. I am only glad you shared.
Animals are about my favorite subject matter. My other favorite kind of photography is
when a girl shoots a photo of herself naked in a mirror and posts it on the web.

I don't know about art, but I know what I like. :-)
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Keep Calm and Chive On
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Nice pics Justin! That baboon (Or whatever it is) is hilarious.
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That's one of those monkeys that sleeps on a cliff face at night I think.
I need to figure out what kind of monkey that is. AHHH, its a FEMALE
Howler Monkey, that's why I didn't get it right off. Howlers are usually
Black, so it threw me, now aware the female was brown....like a gibbon,
they are two different colors. Monkeys are fascinating.

Now which one sleeps on the cliff?? Hmm, gotta look for more monkeys.
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:-) the tangents my pictures cause you to go off on are amusing Brad... :-)
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Some of the Cat.

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IMG_0020 by emopunker2004, on Flickr

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IMG_0027 by emopunker2004, on Flickr

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IMG_0057 by emopunker2004, on Flickr
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The Ef-s lenses will not work on full frame. She should sell the Ef-s to fund Ef mount lenses when the change happens. Sigma has started making some really well regarded lenses if she doesn't want to pay the canon premium.
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This is why I hate you people with your fancy DSLRs. I bought one new camera in my life.
It was a little Canon SD200. To call it old insults old people. But it takes pics. Once I began
buying a lot of gear for my work at B&H, I started perusing the Used section there in case
I could save the boss some money. In the end i couldn't buy used gear for HIM, I couldn't take
the abuse should it come up short. But once I got used to checking out the used gear, I thought,
"Hmm, I wonder what kind of Point and Shoots i could get used. I had priced DSLRs, I never even
looked at the used ones, they were probably too expensive even used. And I often found STEALS
there in the point and shoot section, like the day I got THIS camera for $189.

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I knew that DSLRs were expensive, but I thought as long as I continue to only buy real steals, I can come
pretty close to the quality of shots that these 'snobs' get. The ones that are always on about how the
sensor and the lenses and the blablabla are so great. it became a badge of honor that on a good day,
I could take a picture I found just as good as the 'snobs'. Now keep in mind, the snobs were RIGHT about
the abilities of their cameras, but to me a great photo is never about the gear, anyone can BUY a great
camera and shoot crap, and a person who sees great pics can take one with a LOMO camera or a Holga.
So I never out and out called anyone a snob, but it made me ever more determined to get great Point and
Shoots so that I could shoot good photos and 'show those snobs' and feel good about my sour grapes.

I STILL BELIEVE the basics of that. It's not the gear, its the photographer. But great gear shure helps.
So flash forward to me perusing the used gear as I always do when I get bored. I had priced DSLRs many times
and knew that I was better off just sticking with the good P&S cameras, I wasn't gonna sink a mint into a camera
just to make a pretty picture. But one day out of curiousity, I looked at used dslr bodies and saw a OLD Nikon D70
for $139. I thought $HIT, I could afford that. Sure its OLD, but it has a large sensor and I am basically a photographer.
I don't even have to get a great lens. I could get this zoom here for 69 bucks and be out the door for $200!!
WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING TO MYSELF??? DAMMIT.

So I picked it up, cranked a lens onto it and went and sat out in the BY and watched the birdies.
NOW, this shot is NOT a Nikon D70 shot, I shot it with a full frame D700 that I fell into as a result of my
newfound love of used gear. I can't go into it, but it was cheaper than I could ever expect to get it.
And the camera felt like I am sure a rabbit vibrator feels to a woman. I couldn't SHOOT the thing hard enough to
piss it off, and I felt a sexual charge as the shutter fired away effortlessly, and the camera wrote to the card
so blazingly fast. I was not in Continuous drive, but it fired like an AK in semi with a fast finger. I GET IT now.
granted I ain't spending $2000 to get that feeling, I am going to wallow in the shallow end forever. For me it
is not about the age or specs of the camera, provided I can meet a standard that I am comfortable with, which
in the case of the D70 is a sensor a bit larger than a postage stamp. I don't NEED the speed of the D700, but
damn that felt GOOOOD. ANYWAY, the reason I insulted all of you DSLR owners was to post this pic I took today.
The finch couldn't be bothered to FLY to the feeder, it hopped off the branch and onto the feeder. And I love the
way I was able to not just freeze him in mid-hop, but to see his EYE looking at me through that suet cage was something
i got a charge out of.

This was not a drive shot, just a few fast singles that got me more and more charged up the more I fired the shutter.
I always curse and mutter at those arabs that fire all the bullets we send to them off into the air whenever a cameraman
is around, to show their enthusiasm and readiness to face the enemy. But I'll be damned if I didn't want to just keep
firing the shutter on that D700. My apologies to the snobs. I don't mean that term to be TOO derogatory. I just
hated that you were basically right and I was basically damned to eternal noise and poor dynamic range with my bag
of point and shoots. i still intend to keep the one above and my Canon S5 IS. But making room for my cheap little DSLR
is going to be a pleasure. I hope you can accept my apologies, even though they aren't very convincing, lol. ONE DAY
I will be free to tell the story of the D700. From my cold, dead hand, as they say, lol.

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I guess the Finch is actually ABOUT to pop out his wings and fly the 10-14 inches to the cage feeder.
But here it looked like he was just going to hop over. But man does that camera lock up a focus fast.
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So wait, D70 or D700?
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Thanks, SG. I had been told that was the case, but didn't want to completely believe it. For Christmas, I bought her a used Canon EF-S 10-22 from a guy on Craigslist. Rather scary transaction for someone who knows absolutely nothing about cameras or lenses. But I did a little resarch and the guy made me comfortable, so I pulled the trigger. (He's the one who said that the only reason he was selling the lens was because he'd upgraded to full-frame. I thought this a little strange and couldn't validate on the interwebs.) Somehow I rationalized that the $200+ savings was worth the risk. Turns out it was and she's extremely happy with it, having placed in a couple competitions with it already.

OLS, I hear what you're saying....however, the message is twisted in my head since I can't see the pics, when reading this on work computer... :-) Guess it comes down to shoot with what you like....like what you shoot with :-)
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I can only tell you that story once you are sworn to silence forevermore.
Well, no that is only half right. I HAVE a D70. And that's all you get for
free.
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One never has to see MY pics, its all BS and drivel with me. You are right,
people always feel best about their work when they just do what they think
is best. My bias against the price of DSLRs almost 'cost me everything' lol.
I never dreamed I could find a body of a one-time world beater that still was a
capable camera and pay less for it than I would a lower-tier Point and shoot.
I still like the convenience of never changing lenses, but to discount the DSLR
completely was a mistake. And I mean FOR ME. I do not discount nice cameras.
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