Yup; that's the one. You guys bear with me while I digress and take a trip down memory lane. Going back to the 4th post on this blog, I've spent a fair amount of time talking about my odyssey into the world of digital SLRs. That was back in the summer of 2009; right after we came back from our "10th Anniversary" Alaska trip. At the time, I was describing how I ended up with a Nikon D70. Then a couple of months later; how I was able to convert that camera into a Nikon D200. Obviously I'm not going to repeat that whole story here since anyone who haven't read them can go back and do that.
It went in that particular progression because I had a specific amount of money to used, and no more. Plus I had decided on the strategy of getting the lens that I wanted and spending what was left on however much camera I could buy. This of course turned out to be the Nikon 18-200mm AF-S/VR lens. At the time, I was coveting the D200, but I had $350 left and it was out of my price-range.
However; the whole time, the understood "Holy Grail" made of unobtainium was the Nikon D300. It had just been release that winter/spring and it was often selling for well above the $1800 list price. It had ALL the "gee whiz/holy crap I want it" features that were brand new at the time; like the "Live View" display through the LCD, sensor self-cleaning, not to mention the gigantic 3" LCD with 3 times the number of pixels of the D200's, 2.5" version. Obviously there are innumerable other things, but this isn't a review, so I'll leave that to the professionals. Here's a couple of good ones if you are interested:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond300/
http://www.bythom.com/nikond300review.htm
Most readers will probably know that I'm a "build-quality" lover; hence, ThinkPads, Nikons and the like. Though this camera's selling price, at $1800 was closer to the high-consumer ($800-1000) end of DSLRs as opposed to the full-on professional ($4-5000) end of things, but its build quality is obviously closer to the professional models.
You can see here in the first image, is the full-on magnesium shell/chassis (vs. all plastic or magnesium "frame" only). The second image is of a D300 which fell down a canyon at Yellowstone and was retrieved 3 days later....fully functioning. This is why the professional grade DSLRs cost so much! Not in any way a shot at other makers, but Nikon is the company that NASA chose to send up into space since before the moon-shot days! Coincidentally, so are the ThinkPads.
So, on to the actual reason for this Frugal Propellerhead post. This is a case of SERIOUS long-range planning! If you go back and look at post #9, I described how I got into a D200 (complete with MB-D200 battery grip) for about the price that I sold the D70. About a year later, based on what I was seeing in the market place, D200 prices were starting to drop. Several things were going on: the first D300 update came out, the D300S (with video), causing the price of the D300 to drop, thus forcing the price of the D200s to do likewise. So I needed to get rid of that camera before I lost market value. I found that I could sell my D200 and battery grip separately for more than I paid (around $650 total), and I had some other projects going that needed funding. Also, I came across a D70S being sold cheap ($200) because it had an issue: it wouldn't shut off. Not a big deal since I could just pull the battery when I needed to get the memory card out. Around that time, I was given a 18-55mm with a broken mount. I replaced/repair that mount for $9. I've been using that camera for over a year now with no ill effect other than that its old and has a pretty low resolution (6Mp) by today's standards.
Now the stage was set for scene two. Theoretically, I was at a net $440, plus the D70s camera and lens. Of course that money has been spent on other projects since then. So, what's the point then....and where am I going with this? A few months ago, I traded one of my project computers for $100 and an old manual focus Nikon camera lens (20mm/f4). The $100 bought me the computer case, motherboard and CPU which has become our HTPC. The lens sold last week for $250, which leads us to scene three.
In less than two weeks we're going to Taiwan (nephew's wedding) and Hong Kong (because), so I really want a higher resolution camera for what is probably a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Now I have the $250 in hand from that lens, plus I'm fairly certain that I can get right around $250 for the D70s and repaired 18-55 lens giving me $500. I've noticed from my eBay research that on rare occasions a D300 can be had for around $700. So, now I've got a $200 potential deficit. This is one of those rare instances that I need external intervention, meaning that I needed to convince my wife that despite the financially horrific year its been so far (new washer/dryer, Tonsils & adnoids out for Moma and boy, months of 100 degree weather, Taiwan trip), I needed my birthday (Oct) and Christmas presents right now....in a lump-sum.
All this reached the cinematic (on the Frugal Propellerhead channel) climax last week when not only did the lens sell, but got the wife's grudgingly approved AND I scored a D300 with MB-D10 battery grip for the magic $700!!! I'll admit it now: I was lucky. I was randomly surfing a little bit on Saturday while waiting for the kids to get ready to leave and go somewhere. There was a horrifically written one-line ad on eBay with a "stock" picture that nobody was bidding on. It had a $700 starting price; I put in my bid (for $700 only) and that was it! It almost never happens this way! Maybe it was the hurricane and much of the East coast was off-line, but I really couldn't care less.
Not only was it the D300 camera, but it also the battery grip, and for somebody that shoots a LOT of portraits, it's a big deal. These things allow you to shoot vertically much more comfortably giving you another set of controls for that and therefore don't have to wish for another joint on your right arm. That's an accessory that I consider almost mandatory and would have spent the $150 or so to get eventually. Sure, it's a little scuffed up from use and is missing the tray for using a second camera battery, but it had the all-important AA tray that allows me to use my stock of rechargeable Nimh AAs. Also it allows the camera to shoot at 8 frames per second, vs. the mere 6 of the regular battery. Yes, I understand that for somebody like me; 8fps is ridiculous.....but just sayin'.....!!!
Cliche' time. Clearly: you can never plan too far ahead and you have to keep your "eye on the prize". Two years ago, I couldn't dream of owning an $1800 camera with a $1000 lens attached not to mention the grip. But through a series of planned transactions and research (plus some luck), I was able to put myself in the position of taking the camera that I really wanted on a trip of a life-time. Now I just have to get the picture!
So as the great Sean Connery said in "The Untouchables": "Here endith the lesson".
