'Virtual Partner': Gateway to Extramarital Affair.

I swear to you I have gotten better about spending money. I'm so careful now. I watch every cent and I now realize there is no such thing as 'just $20' and I realize going to Target is a dangerous endeavor I should try to avoid.

However, our taxes came back from our extremely [fingers] creative [/fingers] accountant and Logan and I made a joint decision to each take a small amount of money we can spend on whatever we'd like.

Logan's decided to get a fancy GPS/Heart rate monitor for running. "It can tell you WHERE YOU ARE! Babe! I get a virtual partner and that's not cheating since I'm only running! It's so cool!"

Boooooorinnnnnng. But he's into it. It's his hobby.

I'd decided to buy a new storm door for the house and new wood blinds for the kids bedrooms and a long overdue haircut and highlighting. For the love of God a haircut. I need a haircut in the worst way. My hair is currently so bad that the best hair day I've had in a long time was this morning immediately after I got out of bed. When I showered and tried to re-dry it, the moment was gone. Back to ugly hair.

But then, I keep going back to something. Something I've wanted for a very long time. The Digital Rebel 300D. I have always loved taking pictures and I've taken some nice ones with my film Rebel and it's something I've been sad about since I got the SD110. My pictures...suck.

It's like going back to a point and shoot and I hate not having control over my photographs.

I'm not an excellent photographer by any means but when I get a great shot, I'm happy. When I look through our photo albums, there are some shots that are so good they melt my heart and make me ache for the babies I was photographing. With my original Rebel SLR the pictures I wanted to take sometimes showed up on the film as I pictured them when I shot the picture. Of course, film is expensive and processing the film, at $15-$25 a roll was ridiculously expensive. Especially considering it takes me about 10 shots to get one worthwhile photo.

So I decided to go digital. With the SD110, I can see the shots I'm getting and I'm not wasting money on pointless prints of shots taken while trying to get it just right. However, I rarely get the shot I imagined by the time I'm finished. I'm frustrated by my pictures and my inability to catch the image I want. Except at the bar. At the bar the images are exactly as I remember them. But I'm also drunk at the bar so I don't know if that's how I want to chronicle the growth of my family. Through a crappy point and shoot haze.

On the one hand I feel horribly guilty for wanting such a luxurious and selfish item. On the other hand, my kids are only this age once and when I think of all the cherished family images I'm missing out on with my inadequate point and shoot digital. I want to catch all these moments. And honestly, taking pictures is a hobby of mine and I'm willing to skip at least another year of professional haircuts and color for this luxury item.

Besides, it's my hobby and while Logan's hobby involves a 'Virtual Partner', mine involves the chronicling of our family's history. I think it's a worthwhile thing.

In the mean time, I'm obsessing like a maniac. So much so that here's my desktop (courtesy of Logan).

Wish me luck.

Comments

[veg4me]

I have that camera. My husband bought it for me for my birthday last year.

You should get one.

Now.

[hazelblackberry]

Get the camera. Sure, you won't have a haircut but how long does a decent haircut last, really? Besides, will you be able to afford the NEXT haircut. Just be the weird hair photographing mum. Sorry, 'mom'.

[Maia]

The camera is a great family investment. Go for it (she says selfishly anticipating all the photos you will include on your blog ;)

[Bente]

Definitely get the camera. I've got a digital SLR and it's worth the money. I have a different one, the Minolta Dimage7 Hi, but it takes great photos of my 15 month old daughter. Plus you've gotta spoil yourself once in a while!

[Amelia]

I think you'll find you most of your spending is selfless spending on the family - really, that's what I've come to realise I do.

[Bonnie]

Definitely get the camera. It won't matter what your hair looks like, because you will be the one taking the pictures. At least that's how it goes around here. I joke that one day my husband will take my lovingly prepared scrapbooks and mountains of photos featuring him and the kids to prove that I am an uninvolved mother and unfit to have custody.

[Barefootgoddess]

That camera is awesome. I want it so bad. My husband travels 98% of the time for work. The company puts him up in so many hotels, and he is a member of all the hotel clubs. He has enough 'points' to get the camera FREE!!!! I'm getting it for my birthday. And with teh money he saved from not having to buy the camera, I'm getting all the wonderful cool lenes.
I think it's an even trade, a cool camera for my husband.

[robin]

OK, OK, I know I missed most of the post but I'm 1/2 robot too... Tell your robot that he might want to talk to people who have the Garmin and run in the areas where he runs. Although I've heard wonderful things about it (and new model that has a heart rate monitor - I think it's the 301), it didn't work too well in my neighborhood because of all of the trees so I opted for the Polar S625 x (not quite as good for us robots but still pretty fun).

PS You may already know this (since you linked to the camera body only) But, I'll throw it out there anyway... Your lenses from your 35 mm SLR should work on the digital SLR SO, if you're really wanting to save some money, you could just buy the Digital Rebel body and use your 35 mm lens with it. (Although I'd check with the camera store to confirm that the particular lens you have is compatible.)

[SueFromOhio]

Hey, you've got the Princess and the Pauper too! hehehee

I would get the camera, for sure. I hate film camera's now.

This is going to sound weird and I hope you don't take it the wrong way BUTT why are YOU buying stuff for the house? Isn't that the way it always goes? I do the same thing so I'm not knocking it but it just seems like whenever we as women get extra money, that's what we do. But the men, GEESH, the men. I won't even go there. Whatever decision you make to spend your money on will be the right one for you :)

[Michelle]

Get the camera! You know you neeeeed it!

I'd totally get it if I were you. I'm in a somewhat similar situation as you, where I have a vintage Nikon Nikkormat SLR that is so, so lovely, but so expensive when you consider film and processing, and I have a Canon D70, which is pretty versatile for a lower-end digital, but I really lust after a digital SLR.

So my living-vicariously vote is for the hot-cha new camera. Oh, sure a storm door and blinds are nice and all, but camera!

[Sara]

If you get it, I want to hear all about it. I had/have a great film camera - hand-me-down from my dad. I took some amazing photos with that baby. But I was spending a fortune in developing the pics and it was so big - lugging it was a pain. But some of those shots were awesome! I resisted digital because I knew the convenience would result in my never picking up my heavy, clunky film camera again.

Last summer we bought a fairly inexpensive digital camera. I'm amazed at the quality, actually. Great, clear pictures, vivid colors. Easy to use. *Small*. But I miss my "artsy" photos. And I was right - I never pull out the old one any more.

So - $400 seems reasonable - and maybe my old lenses would work on it? Let us know how it performs.

[shannon]

I have that camera and I really like it. I also have this really small cannon powershot I think it's called...that camera rocks! I am also not a photographer in any sense of the word, I just like to take my kids. You can see my pics taken with the rebel on my blog and there is a link to my flickr account where more of them are. The look really good on the internet.

[Shelley]

Get the camera AND the haircut, and hang a beach towel over the kids' windows. Does it strike you that your first instinct for spending YOUR fun money is to buy something for the house? Stop that.

[stillheidi]

Go for it.. I have the Nikon D70 and it is the BEST THING IN THE WORLD... It will be a whole new world from the point and shoot!

[MelissaS]

The thing about buying something for the house instead of for myself is that it truly does give me a lot of long lasting joy to have my house looking nice. I realize it's so martyr-ish, but then a new storm door would look so great.

Oh and yes my rebel eos lense will work with the 300d.

[Barbara A. Warren]

Why on earth do you pay that much for film developing? I get triple prints at Sam's for less than ten bucks - then I have extra to send, to scrapbook with and to stick in frames.

[MelissaS]

Well Barbara, that's how much it costs here.

Will you take my film to Sam's with you?

[Karen]

Let's see, a really cool camera or a storm door...um, that should be a no-brainer! GO FOR IT! (And if you get a good deal, maybe you can squeeze in a haircut too.)

[Anne]

I'm a hair freak, too, but I vote for the camera. We look back at pix of the twins eating dirt, or raiding the liquor cabinet, and howl. Or the time i lost Porter and found him in the bathroom drawer, just sitting there, with one if his Daddy's ties on. Now there's a cute picture, worth 1000 highlights.
Good luck.

[Heatheranne]

Yes! Get the camera. I just got it about a month ago and it's awesome.

[Lil' Sis]

Max & Maddie will never look back & think, "man, I can't believe I never had those wood blinds when I was a child." But think of me, with my complete & total lack of baby & childhood photos, and notice how incredibly sociopathic I turned out.
Please get the camera. And sell me the old one. Then you can afford to get the haircut too.
As for the storm door, just put a new screen in it & repaint it. Nobody's looking at it and thinking "gosh, what a lovely house... if only it had a better storm door..."

miao.

[halloweenlover]

Oooh, I love the camera! If you get it, will you give us reviews? We have the canon s50, and I was so excited for it, but the pictures just aren't as good as I was expecting for the price. I am itching to get a new camera, and have heard great things about the Nikon D70, but geez, $1000? If this canon is good, then I'll get it too!

I feel your pain on the storm door, though. Ours is an ugly white one with this scalloped edge around the screen. Oh so 1930s. Ick.

[elisabeth]

Oh! get the camera!! I have to say you are a much better mother than I am if you let your children USE your iBook!? Or are you the one playing Princess & the Pauper?? My children gaze longingly at my computer, but are forced to use their own PC.

[MelissaS]

Believe me, I didn't want to let her use it. But we bought it and didn't realize it wouldn't work on Logan's very old Mac (OS 8.2!), until the package was open and unreturnable.

Thankfully she doesn't like using my computer that much because I don't have a mouse and it hurts her wrist to use the track pad. That sounds so mean doesn't it...."Thankfully it causes her pain to use the track pad"

[Lisa V]

Haircut and a camera. Find a cheap stylist. There are good ones that don't know what they are worth. I only get my hair cut two or three times a year. It costs $50 a pop and that includes color. It's worth it. I was born blonde damn it and I will stay that way until they quit making bleach.

We just bought a new camera with our tax refund. A Kodak (something something letters and numbers)6.1 megapixels. I looked at the higher end stuff and realized I didn't want to read directions. I loved the pictures I took with our old Canon, I liked being able to focus, but that damn thing was broken all the time. Repairs were always half the price of the camera. So when we went digital I realized I wasn't grown up enough to use a big girl camera. And yeah, the developing was expensive. I wish I had known Barbara. Anyway I am pretty happy with the new camera and all the stuff I can do. I just put my first couple of pictures up on my blog.

Our kids use all our computers. I find the 13 year old hiding in the bathroom IM'ing her best friend on my lap top. Worse though is the seven year old behind the couch on Polly.com. Though I guess I consider myself fortunate I have never found them in the liquor cabinet. (She was talking about cats right?)

Can you tell how bored I am at work?

[Di]

Go for the camera! A kickass camera will make everything better.

[Bari]

FYI - Woodward Camera will meet most internet prices. That way you can get immediate gratification and send us a pic of the screen door so we can tell you it's not so bad! So what lens do you currently have?

[santa cruz carolina]

Hey there...I've been reading your site for a while now and let me just say you are great. But yea, I think you should definitely go for the camera! You deserve it =) Oh and I have one of those GPS things Logan's getting, except mine's a watch. They are so cool! I totally understand!! (and yes I like exclamation marks)

[Texas T-bone]

The price for the Digital Rebel (6.3 megapixel model) is now $799, and it was a bargain at $999 when I got it (don't buy a used one, you never know how deep that puddle it was dropped in was). Your EOS lenses will work with it, as mine do. If you can swing it, go for it; maybe even sell your film Rebel and the crummy digital to help defray the cost. You'll have to buy a memory card if you don't already have one. My external flash for my Canon Elan II film camera would not work, so if you want a bounceable flash, you'll have to spring for that, too. The new 8 megapixel model is $999, but the lower-resolution one has served my personal and professional needs just fine.

[djuna]

My husband was salivating over the same camera. He bought it last week and it does take great photos. Although, after I could zoom that close into my face on the computer I was longing for the days of fuzzy 3X5s from my purple "Le Click"...

[Lisa in Chicago]

cameracameracameracameracamera

[RockStar Mommy]

You won't be disappointed. I only suffered from Buyer's Remorse when I bought our ridiculously expensive digital until I took the first picture. It's so different than a point and shoot digital. And you're right, it's a family investment. And when it's about your family, how can you go wrong?

[Kerri]

My mom has said for years that it was better to spend money on taking pictures of her kids than basically anything else. Looking back, I'm glad she did, because there are some awesome pictures from when we were little.

[Lori]

CAMERA! I love love love my camera! I have a Canon EOS 10D. My step dad has the Rebel. I take my camera everywhere and get the best shots ever!

As for the hair, you can get a highlighting kit for 10-20 bucks...it comes with everything you need and it turns out pretty good. I did mine this weekend and I'm loving it. Also I'm sure there is a hair school in your area...very cheap cuts and the older students aren't scary!

MI BEAUTY SCHOOLS

You are going to love the camera!!!

LORI

[DLG in Mich]

Another vote for you to get the camera. My husband and I bought the Digital Rebel for our anniversary last year. I love, love, love it. (Of course I have five Canon cameras, so I'm partial.) Still, you won't regret it. Splurge!

[Sarcomical]

i have it and trust me. it's worth it. don't feel bad about doing one nice thing for yourself. you will be so happy when you can download those pretty pictures onto the internet and show us your bad hair day. ;)

[Kristen]

I can't comment on the camera - but the Garmin is awesome! I have one and I love it. Our neighborhood also has lots of trees and for a split second, I will sometimes lose the signal, but nothing major. It is the coolest gadget in the world. Nothing boring about it. My husband loads the data on a website and it shows me exactly where I went, what my pace was and the elevation and everything.

So, he got a really cool gadget and you should too! Life's too short to replace doors and blinds before buying GPS and Cameras.

[Joe C]

F the camera, I think you should have gone a bit more Nordic, as in VIKING!

[Robert]

Get the camera, get the camera, get the camera... I love my new Canon.

[Megan]

Camera, camera, camera. It's so lovely. And do get the haircut as well (even if you skip color for now); life's too short for ugly hair.

I'm with all of those who said we women have a terrible habit of putting our desires last behind everyone and everything else. Does your husband really need that monitor? Of course not. Does that bother him in the least? Of course not.

Storm door? Honey, spring is here. Save it for later.

[kristine]

I did the same thing with my tax refund. I teetered between the Digital Rebel and the Nikon D70

I went with the Nikon.

NO REGRETS at all.

[GG]

Take a larger than "small amount" of your portion of the tax return. You've had a shitty year and you deserve it more than Mr. Roboto. Then, get the haircut and color (you'll feel so much better!)AND the damn camera.And the wood blinds, too. It does feel nice to have your home look nice. (On the other hand, just watch, "How Clean is Your House?" on Lifetime and you'll think your house looks fan-freaking-tastic by comparison.)Treat yourself. You really do deserve it!

[Sarah]

I have that camera, and LOVE it. I've had it for a year now and taken some lovely shots of my 2 year old. The kit lens is okay, but if you already have one in that range that will work, skip it. Do google about the flash (if you already have one), some of them can fry the camera.
It is SO, SO, SO, totally worth it. I really can't stand to use our P/S digital now, drives me crazy. You won't regret it.

[Jessamyn]

As I have already told you,

GET THE CAMERA GET THE CAMERA GET THE CAMERA GET THE CAMERA!

Those wooden blinds and storm door are totally a household purchase. Logan gets his fun toy, you should get one, too. Then put aside a little money for the blinds & storm door, if you must have them. The haircut, I don't know, but you'll fit that in somewhere.

YOU WILL LOVE THE CAMERA. Oh, and just to support you and your photography skills, I'll say that my photography teacher (a few years ago, at a community center, not a college class) says that he thinks he's done well if he has one shot that he loves from one roll of 36 pictures. So taking 10 to get one you like is not so bad!

[David Soranno]

Well I'll chime in with the masses that you should get the camera. I have the Canon 20D and love it! I had to convince my wife that we needed this because it is so hard to get the shot you really wanted, just like you said. We have a 8 month old and it takes perfect shots every time. Now that we have it, my wife uses it as much if not more than I do. She even used it for a work project to shoot her company's porfolio (she works in Royal Oak, by the way).

Anyway, the best part is that Canon is coming out with the Rebel XT, which can mean two things to you:

1. Woo hoo, a newer better camera with more bells and whistles!!!

2. Woo hoo, a newer better camera with more bells and whistles that is going to drive the price of the 300D down!!! The 300D is going for as little as $599 online.

Either way, you will be in great shape since you are familure with the film Rebel. So to sum it up, don't miss any more moments with the shutter lag of SD110. We had a Canon G3 and a Canon S400. I sold the S400 and the G3 is collecting dust. If you want to see some of the 20D's handywork, I've got plenty of pictures of our son on Flickr. Everything posted that was taken since early December was shot with the DSLR.

Good luck!!!

[David Soranno]

Ooops, guess I should have clicked your 300D link before I posted with a price. Looks like you already found a great deal on it!!!

[MelissaS]

I need to update. That place is a scam. DO NOT ORDER A CAMERA from that store!