First Pics!

Rich Pav General

With the money I just received from my parents for last Christmas (we’re a pretty laid back bunch), I bought a Canon EOS Kiss Digital X camera, also known in other countries as the EOS Digital Rebel XTi or the EOS 400D. It’s the most popular model among users of Flickr.com, so choosing it over all the other cameras on the market was a no-brainer. Also, I already own a set of autofocus lenses from my 20 year old 35mm EOS, so upgrading to digital wasn’t too expensive. For over ten years I’ve been looking forward to the day I finally own a digital SLR that takes pictures equal in quality to 35mm film.

Here are the first pics from the new camera. (Click thumbnails to enlarge.) This is how my family spends every night at home before bedtime.

Rich Pav

Richard has been living in Japan since 1990 with his wife and two teenage sons, Tony and Andy.

12 thoughts to “First Pics!”

  2. Wow. The quality of those pictures is amazing for a consumer digital camera!

    Garreks last blog post..I’s CUBE

  3. I have been eying the Nikon 40D and the Canon Rebel XTi (Kiss X). This post came a great time and it is pushing me towards the Canon. I have no glass, so it has been hard for me to choose what camp to commit to. Either way it will be a major upgrade from my Lumix DCM-LX2 point and get-junk. Can you share how much you paid and if you bought the body only or kit? Also, where did you buy it?
    Looking forward to seeing more pics on flickr.

  6. I agree the pictures are very nice, both in quality and emotion. Nice to see your still on the map Rich! 🙂

  7. oh my god I cannot believe how much older those two have gotten since I’ve been listening to the podcast.

  8. @Steve, I seem to remember that the D40 won’t auto bracket exposures, something you need to do true HDR. My father in law owns a ton of camera equipment, all Nikon, but I don’t want to be over there borrowing his glass all the time. He’s a true artist with a camera.

    @tkyosam: It takes a lot of coaxing to get my kids not to make goofy faces in front of the camera, especially in Andy’s case. He likes to smile normally then cross his eyes and stick out his tongue at the last second. My own father had NO patience for those kinds of antics, but then again he was using a Polaroid camera, and every shot cost money. In every situation which would have made my father blow a gasket, I try to stay calm, so I’m often grateful for the guidance that the memories of him provide me. These days he’s much more mellow, so whenever I talk about what my father was like when I was growing up, it’s like talking about someone who’s no longer around.

    @Darren: I’m still around, but don’t have much to talk about. There are things going on that I could talk about with someone, but they’re too personal for a podcast.

    @Larry B: Kids really do grow up quickly. Sometimes I miss the younger versions of my kids. I’d love another weekend in the park with two year old Tony.

  9. Wow, IMG_0011 is a great photo. I really like the way it’s framed (and lit), showing both parties doing their thing.

    I’ve been thinking about stepping up to a digital SLR myself, but don’t look forward to spending all that money on lenses.. Are the EXIF correct in that those are all taken with a 28mm prime?

    Too bad the olympus OM mount doesn’t transfer so well to modern day DSLRs. 😉 Not that the lenses I have are anything special..

  10. @Mark: Yes, they were all taken with a 28mm prime because that’s the only lens of mine I’ve been able to find. I tore the house apart last night but couldn’t find my 50mm or 70-210 zoom. The focal length of a lens on a digital SLR is longer than a 35mm camera, so it’s roughly the equivalent of a 44mm lens(?) Supposedly you multiply by 1.6.

    After reading a lot of online reviews, tonight I’m going to buy a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8. People who know more about lenses than I do say its optic quality is better than the Canon EF 24-70 2.8 that costs four times as much.

  11. Aw they are just so cute. 🙂 About the pics and funny faces my brother used to do the same thing when he was little. Must be a little boy thing? He used to put his fingers up around people’s heads like bunny ears all the time on pics. At least he didn’t do it though when we were getting a professional picture like for our church directory or a nice family photo thing like from Olen Mills. 🙂 My dad had the Polaroid kind too where you would do the timer and have the tripod and it used to be annoying lol. They’re little heart breakers. 🙂 Oh and yes the quality of the pics turned out great. Amazing how much better the quality of pics are getting with digital cameras. Even my cell phone camera has fantastic quality pics!

Comments are closed.