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I haven't written the release notes for my version delivery tomorrow. I'm already behind on writing minor new functionality for a version due next week. I haven't started writing the design for the major new functionality due in three weeks. I haven't started writing the six cartons worth of documentation due in six weeks.

So, I'm going to talk about my new camera!

Our little Canon SD400 is pretty awesome for a point and shoot, but I just felt like I wasn't getting the pictures I wanted. We've had so many great picture opportunities here in Belfast, and I knew I could take some really spectacular shots with a better camera. So, I decided to get a decent entry-level DSLR for myself (umm, I mean the family) for Christmas.

After lots of discussion with colleagues (thanks Chris, Josh, and Paul!) and family (thanks Tracy!) I settled on the Nikon D40. This article helped a lot, and certainly confirmed what an old optics hand like me really knew all along - pixels don't matter as much as glass. Amazon had a pretty good deal on a D40 kit with the stock 18-55 lens and a 50-200mm zoom, so I still had budget left for a Sigma 30mm f/1.4.

This is our tree, taken with the Sigma at dusk - no flash, handheld, so it's a little blurry. The reflections kind of mess it up too, but I think overall the feel is very nice.

Here's one taken with the zoom, along the Chattahoochee River by Cochran Shoals. I really like the way the colors turned out - at first I thought I'd made it sepia on the camera itself, but it's untouched (or maybe un-re-touched is a better term).

Another with the zoom. This one is cropped, and I just love how close I can get with the long lens. I can't wait to do some astrophotography with it this summer. All the rest are taken with the Sigma.

I just love this picture of Paxton at the Bangor Harbor playground. Shutter set to 1/60, and followed him down - I could never have gotten this with the Canon.

Another fairly candid shot, this one at the playground at the Silent Valley (where we have Starbucks, the Irish apparently have playgrounds). I thought the composition turned out well.

The bellmouth at the Silent Valley Reservior, in the Mourne Mountains outside of Newcastle.

I can see myself using the Sigma a lot, unless I know I'm going to want the zoom (animals, kids, or stars for now). I get to take the FOV variable out of the picture, and for the most part, get to take the flash out also - this thing is a photon bucket, for sure. The whole camera is definitely a different beast than the Canon; the good pictures seem better and the bad pictures seem worse (of course, I'm pushing it pretty hard on the bad ones, usually because I don't want to use the flash).

More pictures of our Bangor and Silent Valley excursions, and maybe even more words, to come soon - it's better than working!

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