I've always been interested in photography, but I have never taken a serious run at it. The best camera I've ever owned is a Lumix snap 'n' shoot, so that says it all. Since I can remember, I've always had a camera at my side and taken loads and loads of pictures but I've never had a great camera.
Obviously, it's hardly "photography" - they're more like just pictures without any real thought or composure; That's where my recent purchase comes into play...
Last Thursday, after much research and deliberation over Canon VS. Nikon, I got a 600D as it was £150 off, making it only £50 more than the 550D.
The guys in Jessops told me they were having a £50 cash back scheme from Thursday onwards. So, I figured they would put the prices up when the cash back came into place and I pre-ordered on Wednesday to pay and collect on Thursday.
Come Thursday, they had ramped up camera price by £30 like I had guessed. However, my invoice wasn't showing this and because my collection was on Thursday I was entitled to the £50 cash back as well as the initial reduced price.
I also used a voucher code for 12% off FILTERS which was clearly broken, as it took another £30 off my entire order lol.
This confused the staff and they weren't prepared to honour the deal. So I told them a competitor store was and they soon did me a "managers special" haha. (This was actually true BTW - I was playing two stores off each other for the duration of the week, knowing they would need the sale before the end of month figures or something like that lol.)
Finally, I used a website called topcashback.co.uk where I am due another 4% of my entire transaction back which is another £36ish.
On the day, in store, I also did a sh*t tonne of bartering as they tried up-selling me things, to get myself a free tripod bag, a polarised lens, a tripod for a tenner, etc.
All in all I got a 8GB HD SD, a spare battery, a bag, a polarised filter, a UV filter, a cleaning cloth, a tripod, a tripod bag and 3 years insurance.
Total list price: £913
What I paid £694
Skillzzz!
As for the camera - it's amazing. There's a massive learning curve involved, but I aside from the occasional frustration, I am really enjoying it. I want to learn everything there is to know and then some!
I've really enjoyed playing with the manual mode and that's where the dial tends to stay. I have a lot to learn, as many of my shots are coming out over or under exposed. It's not been a week yet though, so I've got a long way to learn.
Since Thursday, I've taken over 800 pictures - most of them crap (as you would expect) but I absolutely love it! All I've got to do now is get practise.
Here are few crappy pics that I've taken.
The last one is WAY too over exposed, but the first part of the problem is identifying it!.. As I said, I've a lot to learn and I'm very keen.
My biggest issue at the moment is adjusting the light balance and exposure and knowing where to begin (ISO / Aperture / Shutter Speed).
But I have already ready many of the photography advice threads around here and will keep reading/posting.
Here's my Flickr: www.flickr.com/itomcash/
Tom.
Obviously, it's hardly "photography" - they're more like just pictures without any real thought or composure; That's where my recent purchase comes into play...
Last Thursday, after much research and deliberation over Canon VS. Nikon, I got a 600D as it was £150 off, making it only £50 more than the 550D.
The guys in Jessops told me they were having a £50 cash back scheme from Thursday onwards. So, I figured they would put the prices up when the cash back came into place and I pre-ordered on Wednesday to pay and collect on Thursday.
Come Thursday, they had ramped up camera price by £30 like I had guessed. However, my invoice wasn't showing this and because my collection was on Thursday I was entitled to the £50 cash back as well as the initial reduced price.
I also used a voucher code for 12% off FILTERS which was clearly broken, as it took another £30 off my entire order lol.
This confused the staff and they weren't prepared to honour the deal. So I told them a competitor store was and they soon did me a "managers special" haha. (This was actually true BTW - I was playing two stores off each other for the duration of the week, knowing they would need the sale before the end of month figures or something like that lol.)
Finally, I used a website called topcashback.co.uk where I am due another 4% of my entire transaction back which is another £36ish.
On the day, in store, I also did a sh*t tonne of bartering as they tried up-selling me things, to get myself a free tripod bag, a polarised lens, a tripod for a tenner, etc.
All in all I got a 8GB HD SD, a spare battery, a bag, a polarised filter, a UV filter, a cleaning cloth, a tripod, a tripod bag and 3 years insurance.
Total list price: £913
What I paid £694
Skillzzz!
As for the camera - it's amazing. There's a massive learning curve involved, but I aside from the occasional frustration, I am really enjoying it. I want to learn everything there is to know and then some!
I've really enjoyed playing with the manual mode and that's where the dial tends to stay. I have a lot to learn, as many of my shots are coming out over or under exposed. It's not been a week yet though, so I've got a long way to learn.
Since Thursday, I've taken over 800 pictures - most of them crap (as you would expect) but I absolutely love it! All I've got to do now is get practise.
Here are few crappy pics that I've taken.
The last one is WAY too over exposed, but the first part of the problem is identifying it!.. As I said, I've a lot to learn and I'm very keen.
My biggest issue at the moment is adjusting the light balance and exposure and knowing where to begin (ISO / Aperture / Shutter Speed).
But I have already ready many of the photography advice threads around here and will keep reading/posting.
Here's my Flickr: www.flickr.com/itomcash/
Tom.
