I always wanted to take on photography as a hobby. The problem is with the expense.

I bought a prosumer Canon S5IS about two years ago. I opted to get it  so as to curb my inkling to go with a DSLR. I knew that the moment I get a DSLR, it would open the floodgates to expense. I’m pretty obsessive as a hobbyist and I know I’d go into a GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) rampage.

It was a decent beginner’s camera. Its zoom and macro capabilities (thanks to its 6mm to 72mm lens) were enough for me to get around unlike with a DSLR where I’d probably have needed to buy lenses to fiddle around with those kinds of shots. Took quite a lot of decent pictures with it ever since having it. Learned about the basics and observed pitfalls (my tendency to use weak composition and let the horizon line slant quite a lot of times).

However, the S5 was just that – a beginner’s camera to photography. As I got to learn more about the technical side of photography (exposure, lighting, etc…), I started to feel limited by it. The sensor was too noisy and while it offered a decent 12x zoom, its inability to manual focus meant I was pretty limited to the types of shots that I can do. It sucked at indoor shots especially since I wanted to mostly use it to shoot portraits (something you can do if the people you hang out with are camwhores).

Too bad that camera took a pretty nasty bump (fell from a tripod and landed right on the lens) and ever since that drop, the camera was never the same. It still turns itself on but it had a problem spitting the lens out, developed a nasty whirr when zooming, and now had trouble focusing.

Now that I’ve dealt with several monkeys on my back, I really wanted to get a hobby just to have something to escape into when the going gets tougher (which, these days seem unavoidable). Things still in my list – learn programming (PHP and Actionscript), learn gourmet cooking, and learn automotives.

I want to get back into photography but I’m simply turned off by the expense. Getting all the gear (a camera body, a kit lens, an entry level zoom lens,  a short lens for portraiture, and an external flash) I want to start out meant a pretty hefty tab. That’s simply not something that I can afford these days.

Especially since I need all the money I can scrounge for later. 😀

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