Photography: how I started

My first digital camera was a Fujifilm Finepix F401 which I got back in 2002.

Fujifilm Finepix F401, image credit: www.dcresource.com

It was a simple 4 MP shooter that I thought (and still think) beautiful when compared to the popular Canon Ixus range.  Incidentally, I got it while accompanying a friend who wanted to get a Canon Ixus.

I really loved the photos that F401 produced; the even dynamic range and vibrant colours left a lasting impression as a first camera.  However, the sharpness was not something to hoot about as the 4MP is actually an extrapolation from 2MP. While colours, dynamic range & ISO performance were excellent, sharpness left a lot to be desired.     

Then after nearly 2 years of usage, problem came in, the lens got stuck and wouldn't extend when switched on.  It was quite frustrating as the warranty expired and fixing it was going to cost half of what I paid for it.  So I decided to get another camera with more manual functions & control.  I thought I outgrew my F401 and needed more advanced functions.  That was when I got my next camera the Canon Powershot S50.  

Canon Powershot S50, image credit: www.dpreview.com

It was a no nonsense, ergonomic 5 MP camera.  The build quality was much better than my F401.  It was a dependable workhorse.  But I was sorely missing the colours & dynamic range of my old F401.  The Canon photos are undeniably warmer with higher contrast.  Nevertheless, I learnt quite a lot of photography basics using this camera.  The camera lasted well from mid 2003 to around early 2008.    

Soon I graduated from university and started working.  There was budget for another camera and I splurged on another Fujifilm Finepix, an F40fd in 2007.   

Finepix F40fd, image credit: www.trustedreviews.com

It was back to the colourful world of Fujifilm for me and the timing couldn't be better as I was sent on my very first business trip to Tokyo.  The build quality of this camera was not quite good compared to my Powershot, but slightly sharper with more vibrant colours and even dynamic range.  It also lacked the manual controls of the Powershot.  The camera finally gave up on me in around 2011.   

After the Tokyo trip I wanted another Fujifilm with better zoom and build, this time I got my hands on a Finepix S2000HD.

Fujifilm Finepix S2000HD, image credit: www.trustedreviews.com 

It was a superzoom camera with 15x zoom capability.  I was very excited with this camera.  The only problem was at the telephoto end, my hands were quite shaky and it was hard to get a decent clear shot.  But the camera had great build quality, the best among all Finepix I had owned by that time.   

But after owning it for a year I decided to get serious with my photography.  My Powershot S50 was already dead by that time and I didn't want to have it fixed either due to the cost.  Rather than spending each time for a prosumer which will break down after a few years, I decided that I needed a camera with sturdy build quality.  So I sold my Finepix S2000HD and decided to go for beginner APS-C DSLR. I was not considering Canon at that time as I was not satisfied with the picture quality so my choices were limited to Nikon (D40/D60/D80/D90) and the only Fujifilm SPro 5.  After much deliberation, I decided on the Nikon D90 with AF-S 18-105 mm Kit.  

Nikon D90, image credit: www.imaging-resource.com

And so began my journey into large sensor photography by end 2008.