Actual cost of owning a DSLR for a beginner (3/3)

A short and comical series of owning a DSLR, part 3 of 3

So, we are now “fully” equipped with our “expensive” toy and the accessories to use and protect this toy that seems to be totaling up to be as expensive as our new toy!  Anyway, it doesn’t matter, we have invested to take really good pictures with our new DSLR!

Errr … we have mainly only invested in things to protect our investment.  So, we go out and take some pictures and … we got all disappointed!  Our pictures are too dark and when we use that magical ISO1600, the images are “not nice, too many grainy stuff on it, how come?!?”. 

Flash: We thought that our camera came with a flash, didn’t it?  It will also automatically pop out when it thinks that it is too dark.  Why is everyone asking me to get a flash then?  I already have one!

It seems that the build-in flash is really only for objects in front of the camera and what more, it gives a very hard shadow.  They say you need a high-powered flash, like the one in the grainy picture above.  It’s just as large as the camera body! (Plus USD300)

Remote Trigger: So, we now have accessories that cost more than the camera and lens! And so, we talk about special effects and things you can do.  Someone says, having a DSLR means we must take extremely sharp pictures, or we are no better than just a high end PnS.  To do so, we need to get a remote trigger for the shutter so that we won’t shake the camera body.  Luckily, this one is cheap … (Plus USD10).

Lenses: So, we have a DSLR that has interchangeable lenses.  This gives us great flexibility, we can get UWAs, Telephoto, Travel, Macro, Prime, Fish-Eye and whatever not lenses.  What the *&%^! Does it mean that I have to get different lenses for different pictures?  Different lenses have different IQ?  DSLR is all about lenses … so beware!  A good lens can cost more than your DSLR + kit lens + all the accessories that I have mentioned in the last few posting! (Plus … infinity!)

Just a gentle warning to those who are embarking on a DSLR.  It can burn a hole in your pocket and that’s even before you talk about upgrading! Have fun …