Really Nice Digital Age Progression

I guess other than if it could have happened before our trip to Alaska instead of after, my DSLR upgrade couldn't have gone smoother. As I was saying in the last post, I really liked my Nikon D70 and felt like it did a great job for the year and a half that I had it. I would certainly recommend it to anyone who is (or would like to be) a serious photographer as a first DSLR. It took nice pictures pretty much every time I held up my end of the bargain. However, it went to a new home today, and not only the transaction (locally through Craig's List), but my progression in it's use went well.

It was a great camera for me at that time since I was in the process of learning what the difference (in a photographic sense) was between an SLR and a DSLR. It's main attributes being that it was competent at virtually anything, didn't cost too much, allowed me to get started in one of the 2 "big time" DSLR systems (Nikon), and was able to retain enough value that I got out of it, what I paid for it. I can't tell you how HUGE that is in today's world of break-neck technological upgrades making things obsolete in short order.

As far the the nuts and bolts are concerned, I ended up getting the money out of it that I put into it, which is not something you can say very ofter regarding electronics! After studying Craig's List for a few days, I came to the realization that a lot of people are upgrading and selling DSLRs. The bulk of them are Canons and Nikons (as the retail sales numbers would indicate). What happens in these sales is that they show up with a very terse ad, with either one very poor picture or no picture at all, and no lens. That is what I think is the killer....NO LENS! Basically, the clientel that you are marketing your product to is someone who is serious enough to buy a DSLR, however not some one willing to run out and pay full retail (in neighborhood of $400-800) for an entry level camera with lens. The reason someone is looking on Craig's List instead of going to Best Buy is that they would prefer to save a couple of hundred dollars, so when you present that person with a camera (which might be very good), but then they have to run out and spend possibly several more hundred dollars to buy a lens; that's just not very smart salesmanship! However, if you give them a "package" that's "turn-key", that have a fixed figure that is a KNOW quantity. Even if this figure is relatively high, they KNOW for a fact that they can run out with that camera and take pictures....RIGHT NOW....without spending one more dime!

So what was my solution, to this issue? As you know from my previous posts, I love my Nikon 18-200mm VR lens and built my "system" around it. I ran out (figuratively since I did this on eBay) and bought 2 complementary lenses that would do a good job on that camera and allow me to sell it as a package. One was a Quantaray 28-80mm/f3.5-5.6 zoom that covers a 35mm eq. of 42-120mm, and the other was a Quantaray 70-300mm/f4.0-5.6 zoom that covers a 35mm eq. of 105-450mm. So this person knew they'd be able to take their "new" camera out and shoot pictures of everything from indoor party-pics to a kid's sporting event. I spent a fews extra days to find those lenses at a reasonable price, have them shipped and they did exactly as I intended. Within 1 day of my listing the ad, a teacher (oddly enough) from the other side of Dallas drove over and bought it from me. I believe they were instrumental in the sale going quickly and well and they paid for themselves.

And so this little extra bit of "due dilligence" has enabled me to get everything I could (in a financial sense) out of the D70 and allow me to pay for my upgrade to the D200 with a minimum of extra cash to fund the difference. Can I just say right now that: I Love the D200!!! It's "pro" build quality is evident immediately on picking it up. Since it's been here for a couple of days while I was selling the D70, I've been able to compare the differences between the 2 side-by-side, and it's not close. I really liked the D70 and it did it's job for my transition into DSLRs as well as taking excellent pictures, but it just doesn't have the same feel. It's like trying to compare our Honda Civic with the BMW M5 that I once owned. One is utilitarian and the other is....well.....special.

Next time- the D200.