My blog camera- SLR to point and shoot to DSLR

As the “what camera should I get?” question is a recurring question asked in blogger forums, I thought I’d ask a couple of bloggers in the my blog and vlog camera series.  

Let me introduce Mary from Over 40 and a Mum to One  She’s been running a parenting, lifestyle and travel blog for the last two years.  She shares the adventures she has with her 5 year old son – enjoying life and having fun.  You can find her also regularly sharing snaps on Instagram, covering nature in all it’s forms, my cheeky son and places of interest.

My journey through cameras began as a child when I first got my hands on my Mum’s ancient Brownie camera.  A love affair began and I never looked back.  Over the years I worked my way through a Kodak Instamatic, a 127mm slim line (why were they ever invented?!), a Konica Pop, before finally buying a Minolta SLR camera some years ago.  My camera has always been attached to my side, I can’t imagine life without one.

I used the Minolta SLR with my ex for years, it went all over the world and I got some amazing shots.  I loved it, I had a 17-50mm and 70-300mm lens for it and life was good.

I’ve always had a love of nature and architecture, so the lens options worked well for my needs.

Finally, I was persuaded to join the digital age, but couldn’t afford a like for like replacement for my old faithful.  Deciding to start small and I bought a Sony Cybershot compact camera.  It was a revelation for this prolific snapper and saved me an absolute fortune in developing costs! Being lightweight I could take it anywhere without having to think about weight allowances.  For a small, compact camera I really couldn’t fault it.  It may not have had a great zoom, but for day-to-day photography it worked well and it was my faithful servant for nearly 10 years.  I loved the fact I could just pop it in my pocket and go.  No need for extra baggage!

Then I began blogging and soon started to realise its limitations.  My own needs were changing too.  I wanted crisper shots. I wanted more flexibility.  I really wanted a DSLR.

Being a stay at home mum, however, I didn’t think I could justify the expense.  So after much deliberation I went for the Nikon Coolpix L820 Bridge Camera.  It was obviously bigger than my compact, but still a lightweight model.  I had a better zoom facility, better picture quality and generally more options.

Downside, it ate batteries, so I soon invested in rechargeable ones.  I could still pop the Nikon in my handbag and I was quite pleased with my photos, initially.  But I soon discovered it wasn’t really giving me the macro results that I wanted, and was pretty useless when trying to capture anything at speed.  It really didn’t like motor racing.  I used this camera for a year, I started having issues with the zoom, it didn’t always work, it wasn’t reliable.

I never really fell in love with it.  Yes, I could get some lovely shots, but my heart was always longing for more.

It was time to earn some pennies and buy what I really wanted.  So in March this year, after saving for an eternity I finally bought my Canon EOS 70D.

Love at first sight!

It’s big, it’s heavy and I have so much to learn and remember from my SLR days, but I love it already.  I may not be coming off Auto much yet… but I will.  I want to find a local photography course and really get to grips with it.  The DSLR camera is a long-term investment and will grow with me as my skills improve.  I’ve got the basic 18-55mm lens which is suiting me just fine at the moment.

Yes, I am already yearning after a Macro lens or Extension Tube (tip from BlogCamp) and one day I may well get a long lens for my motor racing photography.

This camera gives me flexibility. It’s going to be a long romance!

So what ‘s your blog/ vlog camera?  

Is it love at first sight?

All images courtesy of Mary Proctor. All rights reserved.