Impulse purchase (sort of)

When Ed and I visited my brother in Edmonton last March, I got to play around with his Nikon D80 SLR camera. So beautiful and I immediately wanted one for myself. I thought the D80 was too big for my hands but there are smaller ones that I was sure would fit me quite nicely. Then my friend, Jay, told me to wait for the Canon EOS 450D that was coming out around May or June. In Canada, it is marketed as the Canon Rebel XSi. I went to dpreview.com to read about the camera and when I went to the mall, I would always check it out in the camera shop. But the cost was stopping me from buying it and I have a perfectly good camera, a Canon Powershot S3, that made me feel guilty about buying another camera.

When we were in Turkey, I got frustrated with the S3 for various reasons. At one point, I told Ed that I finally got it why people spend thousands on their cameras. It isn’t just about the pictures you end up with. It is equally about the experience of taking those photos. And during one of my frustrated moments, I blurted out “That’s it! I’m buying an SLR”.

Yesterday, Ed and I went to Future Shop to buy an HDMI cable for our TV. We walked out of Future Shop with the HDMI cable and a new Canon Rebel XSi. The XSi kit (the camera body and a 18-55mm lens) was on sale for $699.99. I have never seen it at that price! It was around $1200 last June and I just could not let this good deal pass me by. So, totally unbudgeted, I bought it. I do feel buyer’s remorse but it was such a good price. I’m sure it will be $500 by this summer and I’d feel like a fool. But then again, after taking a few pictures last night, it’s hard not to fall in love with it and feel happy that it’s in my hands now.

Now I need to learn how to actually use it properly!