An Unexpected Gift - A Canon EOS T3i

Yesterday, after work, Shira hands me a note and stands back. The note read something like: "Here's a gift you don't want. But, I know better, so here you go. Don't be too annoyed." She then handed me an Amazon box. This, of course, wasn't making any sense to me.

I opened the Amazon box, and it all became clear. Inside was a Canon EOS T3i - a digital SLR. Wow.

I'm usually into the smallest, lightest, camera I can get my hands on. I've always written off Digital SLRs as being too clunky. Clunky means not bringing it along, and not bringing it along means no photos.

In many respects, my Lumix TZ50 is a fantastic camera. It's tiny, has a great zoom, and a number of funky features. Yet, compared to a DSLR, it's sloooooow. Capture action with it is painful. Shira obviously noted my continued frustration, and took matters into her own hands.

She tells me she did quite a bit of research and arrived at the EOS T3i because it would be a good fit for me. And I think she's right. My first impressions are thus: it's relatively lightweight, has every feature I could ask for and more and most importantly, it's blazingly fast. You press the shutter button down, and snap, a photo has been captured. No agonizing delay as the subject gets away.

There's a 300 page manual, of which I'm about 60 pages into, so I still have quite a bit to learn. But as cameras go, it's definitely a game changer.

My only concern, as you might imagine, is that I'm not sure how practical it is to walk around with a DSLR hanging from your neck. True, I went through high school that way (ahhh, shooting photos for the high school paper, The Trapezoid - good times!). But, I'm not sure I'm ready to be Mr Tourist everywhere I go with a camera. I can stash the camera in a camera bag, but if there's one thing I've learned, it's that storing the camera in a case is the best way to *not* get photos. I typically carry my Lumix in my front pocket, ready to be pressed into service at a moment's notice. I'm sure I'll figure something out with the DSLR.

I definitely know I'm in the honeymoon phase of this relationship. I'm trying to remain skeptical about schlepping this big camera around. Shira's promised me that if I'm not totally sold on the camera, it can be taken back.

Here are a few inaugural photos from the camera. Nothing special, but I figure I should at least publish a few shots.

I guess the moral of this whole episode is that it pays to be married to someone who knows you better than you do.