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UPS delivered my DSLR to my house yesterday about an hour after I had sat down to my desk at work. I was very good and resisted the temptation to tell my boss that I was suddenly feeling under the weather in order to rush home and play. I even set the box aside in the evening until after I'd walked my pup. While making dinner I set the battery charging. After we'd eaten I finally got to play a little.

First impressions of my 300D? Actually, I was prepared to be under-whelmed. I played with a digital rebel before but that was a couple of years ago. Of course I've seen many fellow photogs and photobloggers carrying them so the camera seems commonplace to me, however, it's all very different when you examine a camera knowing that you own it. The main thing that I was prepared to hate was it being silver and plastic. Neither properties were as bad as I'd feared. For a start off, it's way less silver than my Sony F717 - now that's a shiny, silver camera. As for being plastic, it's obviously not as solid as my beloved OM2s; on the other hand it is no where near as creaky as my Minolta 600si (soon to be sold if you're looking for a good example of this cult film camera).

By the time I got to take a couple of shots it was almost dark so I've got nothing to show you yet. I did go through the manual and I have the basics committed to memory at least. Things that still confuse me:

  • setting a custom white balance looks way more complicated than it was with my Sony.
  • knowing what kind of light meter reading you're taking - the Sony was simple (one of three symbols in the viewfinder let you know what you were measuring) but the 300D seems to depend upon which mode you're in and if the * button has been pressed.
  • RAW - this is a whole new subject for me and there is a lot to learn - I only got as far as installing Elements 3 this morning.

I can't wait to play more this weekend.