Welcome to my photo blog!

I purchased my first DSLR, Canon's 20D, on 22nd February, 2005. Although I have had owned close to a dozen of digital cameras before taking the plunge on DSLR, I hate to admit that I have wasted too much money on those "toys" (two of which were prosumer grade cameras, Olympus' E-10 and Konica Minolta's A2). But, of course, the 20D only came out last November. I have already taken thousands of photos before that.

The 20D is so much more responsive than all the cameras that I have owned that it allows me to take pictures that are just not possible with even prosumer cameras, especially in low light situations. I have taken a lot of amazing pictures with the 20D handheld without using flash at night. During my trip to Kansai of Japan last week, I have passed the 10,000 magic number with it. Yes, 10,000 photos in just 8 months. The counter had reset to zero and it is already closing in on 3,000 again. The move to DSLR also means I get to learn a lot of new things about photography and post-processing with Photoshop. I am enjoying the learning process very much. The Internet is just so much full of resources on digital photography, I really have a lot of fun learning from it. Of course, the community of Flickr is fantastic.

I still have a Panasonic FX-7 with me, but I don't use it any more. It is a very good compact camera to carry around, and I am sure its successor FX-9 is even better. But for snapshots, I now use primarily my Sharp SX833. This 3G cameraphone is a real breakthrough in the sense that it can take some really sharp pictures that match those taken with compact digital cameras. But, in order to do that, it does require very ideal shooting environment. But, it's just snapshots, so I am less demanding on the picture quality. I have set up another photo blog at www.flickr.com/photos/49002037@N00/ to host my pictures taken with cameraphones. Please visit it if you are interested to see what I capture during my daily life. If you want to know more about me, you are most welcome to visit my weblog at www.rodkar.com.

The following is my list of current DSLR gear:

-Body: Canon 20D

-Lens: Canon EF-S 10-22mm; EF-S 60mm Macro; EF-S 17-85mm; EF 70-300mm DO

-Flash: Canon 580EX

Everyone is talking about full frame sensor now. But I see a lot people still shooting amazing pictures using 10D. So, unless Canon is releasing a full frame DSLR that matches the price I paid for my 20D, I will be sticking with my 20D gear. The 5D is just way too expensive for a body that is essentially 20D with minor upgrade yet without a built-in flash and weighs heavier. Although it costs more than 2 times the body of 20D, its performance is only 60% of 20D. For me, the 5fps of 20D is barely enough. I like shooting people in action, so the higher fps of 20D gives me more comfort to buffer for missed shots.

Roderick Kar

Hong Kong SAR, China

27th October, 2005