Semi retiring cameras

You know how it is - or perhaps you don't. You look longingly at the idle years ahead in retirement only to become a little frightened as you actually creep up on them. Perhaps I should continue to work just a bit .. keep my hand in ... avoid feeling irrelevant ... head off boredom ... keep fit .. stay mentally active etc etc. I know!! I shall go and shoot pictures for realtors marketing properties on the web and in glossy magazines. In truth I had been doing this on and off for many years. This time it would be the main game.

It began as an occasional outing but gets to be pretty full on at times. My retirement is really only SEMI retirement at best. Nonetheless I have presently struck a pleasant balance. As for the future? We'll just have to see, I suppose.














At any rate I needed tools. My D100's were sold while they still performed well and continued to be worth something, my D40 couldn't be expected to work for a living on a permanent basis. The choice seemed to be between the incoming D300 (a handsome beast indeed) or the outgoing (but handsomely priced) D80.

Back when I was using Minolta SRT101s, you could expect a well built body to last 10 or 20 years. Film was the same no matter what you loaded it into. The gear was unlikely to be made obsolete from genuine technical innovation affecting the end product.

Digital is different. After 3 or 4 years of use, one can expect a DSLR to pale before the onslaught of the latest models, offering more pixels, less noise, better metering, larger screens, clearer viewfinders, more effective sensor cleaning, faster operation and sexier features. Some of these things can represent savings in time, greater efficiencies in operation and just plain better product. Moreover the risk of circuit failure grows larger with time along with shutter problems and the need for pixel re-mapping - all of which represent expensive servicing. The cost of modern gear must be written off against the earnings from no more than 3 or 4 years and when you're in a lower tax bracket (part time income only), deductions for depreciation, lease payments or service costs are correspondingly less helpful.

At the same time it was undeniable that the new tools would not be asked to work flat out every day, they would not need to offer super rapid operation, would not require the last word in low light performance and (given that they would mostly operate from tripods) should be less likely to suffer falls.

In the end I got two Nikon D80 bodies for less than the cost of one D300 body and haven't looked back. They are very suitable work horses, do a more than adequate job in every respect, offer back up should bad luck befall me and will each owe me a lot less money when they themselves come to the end of their working lives.

See some of my real estate work at: www.pbase.com/davidhobbs/real_estate