I’ve been needing to get some new source photographs for my artwork. I wish I had the ability to just work from life, but my schedule doesn’t really permit that. I’ve been using the same DSLR that I bought back in NYC in 2005 for a while now and the technology has moved on significantly since then.

I’ve been doing a lot of research about the newer cameras and trying to optimize for what we could afford and still get something that would be worth investing in. I ended up buying a Nikon D5200. The D5300s just came out at the beginning of the year so it’s possible to get big discounts on the 5200s now.

In order to keep the cost down I bought just the body and I’m using the lens form my old D40. I actually had a nice 50mm 1.8 Nikon lens. Which would be perfect. Unfortunately they’ve change the technology of lenses a bit in the last decade. It used to be that the focusing motor for the lens was in the body of the camera. Now they’re in the lens itself. So the net result is that the old lens still works… but I have to focus manually.

That’ll be okay for a while and I can pick up a new lens in the next month or two. I did spring for a nice lighting kit though so I should be able to get some nice photographs now. Here’s a couple of shots I got tonight with the new camera and lighting kit.

You’ll notice that they’re not quite in super-sharp focus. I’m still trying to get the hang of the manual focus. But they’re pretty close. These are significantly reduced from the 24 mega pixel originals.

So far I’m really happy with the new camera, can’t wait to get a new auto-focus lens.