The day I went digital...

...was a relief indeed. I have been shooting slide film for many years, preferrably Fuji Velvia on my EOS 50E. Being a system developer in my full time work and having computers as a hobby for more years than I have been photographing I saw the potential of digital imaging. And I dont only mean image manipulation, but more about tweaking colors and cropping to get that extra finish. Well, I realized I needed a slide scanner, and soon realized a good one would cost me $800 or so. I borrowed one from a friend and immediately felt that working on my pictures in a computer produced very satisfactory results. I just had to have a slide scanner. Well, some time earlier I had bought a small pocket digital camera, the Canon S40, which I used mostly for "holiday shots". Although it had all the manual operations available, it wasnt exactly an SLR. But I realized one thing, I could shoot for free! And I could shoot until I got it right. Moreover this little camera enabled me to experiment with my photos, especially long exposures where I could paint with light. So I got hooked, and thought, I need a digital SLR. Amazingly, Canon released the 10D and 300D just around then, and having Canon EOS lenses in my backpack I dropped the idea of the slide scanner and chose the Canon 10D SLR. Although quite expensive, the sum of pictures I have shot since then would have set me back at least the equal amount in slide film. And it has definitely got me some shots that I would never have gotten with the slide film. In tough light conditions when I dont have a tripod available, I often shoot a series of 3-4 pictures. The chance of one of them being sharp is greatly increased. I also experiment more, since its free, and I get the results instantly on my computer screen. The processing time from image shoot and working with them in the computer is also incredible low compared to all the fuzz with development and slide scanning. So, you might ask if I am satisfied with image quality, and I just have to say a definite yes to that. I am more likely to get better results in total from my Canon 10D than my film camera. The resolution is just enough to produce 300dpi A4 pictures, which will satisfy magazines or similar publications. Do I want higher resolution? Yes definitely. If I could have afforded it, the Canon 1D Mark II would have been in my backpack instead. I will say more later about the pros and cons of the Canon 10D. Until then, happy shooting and dont be afraid of going digital!