My 200th Post

If anyone would have asked me years ago when I started writing this blog, whether I thought that I'd go 5 years writing this thing, or better yet, have 200 post; I'm not certain that I'd have answered, "yes". Yet here we are. Last week, when I wrote posts, #198, and #199 on the various considerations associated with B.Y.O.D., I briefly thought about what topic I would focus on for this landmark post. I didn't come up with anything. Then as I sat down this morning, I figured that a "day in the life of" would be good. It's a cloudy dreary Sunday morning. The donuts have been eaten. The children are happily playing on an "obsolete" gaming system (GameCube) in my son's room. My wife is reading, while listening to her favorite radio station on the big A/V system in the living room. Here I sit in front of my desktop computer with my cup of coffee, doing what I've really come to enjoy. 

Our technology is pretty much ubiquitous, but it's also largely seamless. That's as it should be. Even ducks on the pond sometimes get to just sit, and float. Yesterday turned out to be one of those days that just worked. I started out driving into Dallas to meet a buyer for the Nikon D50 (Plastic Fantastic). We met at the big "buying club" sized Half-Price Books. The sale went without a hitch...once we found each other inside that place! On to my other "to dos". Up to Plano to the Chinese grocery to pick up the necessities for cooking dinner for the family. Down to Garland Camera, not surprisingly in Garland to pick up the, 55mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor with the super stiff focusing my brother sent me. They did an excellent job returning the lens with a firm focus, but nice and smooth making it perfect for macro work. 

While waiting for the guy behind the counter to find my rear-cap, I spotted this in the used case. Yup, that's a Nikon D40 (Plastic Fantastic 2.0). Yup, I bought it. Here's what happened: I asked to look at it, and fitted my "chipped" 50mm, f/1.4 Nikkor to it to get a sense on how it felt. Should never have done that with the $175 from the sale of the D50 in my pocket! They had it sticker'd for $200 with the kit 18-55mm "kit" lens (VR version). At this point, my brain goes into high gear! "What can I get them down to; for cash." "Will they sell it without that lens (that I don't need)". "What would that price be?" "Should I buy it with lens and then sell that to help defray the cost?" Yes: I ran through all that in head in the 30 seconds it took while rummaging through my bag for the lens and putting it on the camera.

After holding it and admiring it's very compact size compared to my D300, I knew I was hooked. Well, look at it! In the end, I got the guy to come down to $175 "out the door" (meaning he swallows the tax), with lens included....for cash. Of course, that's exactly what I just sold the D50 for an hour before. I think I must have walked into there with a "has $175 in cash" written on my forehead. If I decide to sell off that lens, it should go for about $75-100, which would make the body itself cost roughly $100, maybe less. I'd have been pretty darned happy to get that price on eBay, much less, in town, "in-the-flesh" that I could hold and see the condition for myself! As you can see, if you know that you are looking for, and know the market price, you can often get a good deal pretty much anywhere! 

Here's another image I shot this morning of it mounted with the relatively large 18-70mm lens. Good gosh; compare it with the D300 with the 18-200mm. The difference in mass is astounding! And that's with no MB-D10 battery grip or flash mounted, which is how the D300 is often equipped when I'm out shooting with it. I know, the D40 only has a 6Mp sensor compared to the 12Mp of the D300, and that it's a 18-70mm vs. an 18-200mm "super-zoom" lens, but this is how each camera is most likely to be configured "in use". Furthermore, look at the previous two images and see what that camera could very likely be configured with the even smaller lens! On top of that, I'm now going to be in full "bird-dog" mode looking for the "E Series" 28mm lens to fit this body which is significantly smaller than the 50mm in those pictures! In actuality, now that I have it in hand to compare, the D40 isn't much larger than the Panasonic GF-1. 

So, to finish my story, I completed my swing through the Dallas burbs, by going to Costco in Rockwall to gas up, and top the tires with nitrogen (we've had a major temperature drop the last day or so here in North Texas). Then it was off to the bank and the dreaded Walmart on the way home. I know all that doesn't have a lot to do with the D40 or technology, but can I just say that how much more enjoyable the morning was after my little find in Garland!

Before I close out today, let me just put this little picture out there. Yes, that's most of my stable of Nikon equipment. Even though, the SB-600 flash is out on loan, the 55mm Micro-Nikkor hadn't come back from repairs and my wife's Coolpix 8100 is at school; it's most of it. Also, I wanted a "family picture" before I sold the D50. NO: I am not a crazed Nikon "fanboy" since much of what I have came by accident or gift. At some point in the future, I'll get into what-all this stuff is and what role it plays in our world. Until then; have a great Thanksgiving break!