This is one of the first photos taken with my new camera, which is a Canon EOS 100D.
The reason for buying this new camera is that I have grown increasingly frustrated with the results I've been getting with my compact camera. In particular, it is a real challenge to get photographs of my fast-moving four-year-old son. Low light levels are another challenge.
I know that good photographers can get impressive results with compact cameras, or even mobile phone cameras. But I am not a particularly good photographer, so I need all the help I can get.
On Saturday I went to John Lewis and Jessops to hold a few 'high end' compact cameras in my hand and see what they were like, and they didn't feel like proper cameras. I couldn't get a proper grip on the Sony RX100 for example, and disliked the fact there was no viewfinder.
As with any big purchase, I discussed this with my husband, and he suggested I should consider a DSLR. He argued that even an entry level DSLR would produce better results than a compact camera, no matter how 'high end'. This is because compact cameras tend to be inherently slower than DSLRs, and they have smaller lenses and smaller sensors.
The main reason I hadn't considered buying a DSLR before was because I assumed that they would be too heavy for me. I already have access to my husband's Canon EOS 300D, which was the first sub-£1000 DSLR, released in 2003. When I have used the Canon EOS 300D in the recent past, the results have been better than with my compact camera. But the weight of it has put me off taking it with me on overnight trips.
The Jessops catalogue featured the Canon EOS 100D, which claims to be the smallest and lightest DSLR, so on Sunday I went to Jessops and had a look at it. And it felt amazingly light. Even better than that, the controls and the kit lens seemed to be very intuitive. This is probably partly because I'm already used to the Canon EOS 300D.
So I bought it. And on Sunday afternoon I took the above photo of my fast-moving four-year-old. It is fair to say I'm thrilled with both the camera and the photo.
My husband is very impressed too, which is good because it means that both of us will get lots of use out of our new camera. And we have it just in time for my sister's wedding.
I've recorded a short audioboo about my new camera.
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