I haven't posted for a while - I will post stuff I did for a 'project management @ Microsoft" talk I did last week. However, my wife got me a new camera for my birthday, a Nikon D50. I have used digital cameras for a while - mostly a Canon PhotoShot - I use them for taking photos on trips & specifically snowboarding (the film thing is really fun). However, I have had the desire for a 'real' camera for a while - especially after hanging out with dorky photo geek friends like Phil & Christian - both of whom have been putting crap on me for not having a real camera for a while. Having an SLR is a different kettle of fish having an normal camera. The number of options are astounding & i kept finding myself going back to the automatic mode (after really screwing up a bunch of photos using the night time mode) - i am a long way off understanding this thing, but it's fun so far. We went to San Diego for the weekend. I took a bunch of photos at a party we were at on Friday & again when we went to watch our hapless Seattle Mariners play the Padres (at least they won Friday night). This allowed me to get a good mix of trial photos & learn stuff about how simple it is to get one of these things going well. I am now looking forward to borrowing my photo geek friends lenses & playing around with them. I love things like you can go snap snap snap & take ~15 photos about .8 of a second apart. with digital, you can then just delete the crap & keep what is ok. All in all, if you are looking at stepping up to a digital SLR, the Nikon D50 is one to look at. i am sure there are some Windows vs Mac/strat vs les paul equivalent people who think the same thing about nikon vs cannon... /i Posted using longhorn 5096. i gotta find a better posting thingy...