An Englishman in Dubai

I have mentioned before that since arriving in Dubai the number of photos I have taken has increased at a dramatic rate. This has also peaked my interest in photography. I was previously very happy with a combo of my little Canon 850IS as a “carry everywhere point and shoot” and the Sony R1 for anything more serious. Then I handled a friends Digital SLR in this case a Canon 350D….it was nothing short of a revelation. The sheer ergonomics of a camera that does everything instantly and a real viewfinder was marvellous.

The Sony R1 has an excellent lens and is capable of taking stunning photos – but it simply can not compare to the flexibility and speed of a Digital SLR camera. I was sold. After a lot of research on the web and more importantly going to a store and physically handling all the cameras with various lens options I chose the Nikon D80.

I wanted a camera with some “idiot” features which rules out the higher range such as a Canon 30D or Nikon D200. The Canon 400D felt a little small to handle for me compared to the Nikon D80, so it was a fairly straightforward choice. The downside of Digital SLR is the lens choice and sheer amount of accessories that are available are not only bewildering but become very expensive very quickly.

Over the last few months I have accumulated a good collection of gear. While no means complete meets most of my needs today. For those interested you can see the list of gear over at amazon.com here.

I had fun last weekend playing with excellent Nikon 18-200mm zoom lens. Here is a photo of a nice boat at 18mm:

Here is the same boat, moments later, with with the lens at full 200mm focal length – or “Extreeeme close up”- At 11x optical zoom this is more than twice the reach from my previous Sony R1

In the full resolution images it is actually possible to discern the cell phone and type of soda the passengers have. Remarkable.

It is quite rare to see many boats cruising around the Marina when last week there were suddenly three at once all looking to dock at the small jetty near where I live. Rather reminiscent of London buses:

It is a really fun hobby and I am now an ardent follower of the Digital Photography School blog to help improve my photography.