To Be or not to Be............A photographer that is.

I am now well into my 83rd. year. I came late to digital photography and found it was a quite difficult learning curve and sometimes physically painful as I suffer from severe arthritis. Nevertheless, as a hobby, I have found it most enjoyable and rewarding and I do not want to give it up.

My mobility is now becoming an issue. Recent steroid injections in my knees have helped considerably and I am encouraged to carry on. However, the weight of my DSLR camera and lenses that I carry around is working against me. For instance, I now find it extremely difficult raising the D300 + 120-400mm lens to eye level so that my small Nikon P7000 compact is fast becoming my camera of choice.

The P7000 has a 200mm maximum zoom range, not bad for a compact but no good for some of the more distant wildlife/bird shots I would want to cover so next week I am going to buy the new Canon SX30i (30x zoom) equivalent to 800mm. (See, I'm not just a Nikon fanboy). I don't expect anything great (image quality) at the extreme end of the zoom but if I can get acceptable results at around 600mm i will be well satisfied.

Another big plus is that both these cams together weigh about a third less than the D300 + 18-200mm VR) so carrying both should not be a problem. This could well be the way forward for me and the heavy stuff can go on eBay, if not then it all goes and I'll take up knitting. I'll let you know how I get on.

Sorry to hear about your health NS - hope you start to feel better soon (and if you're up for up, my detox helped when I had arthritis )

Well I've been quite impressed with your P7000 photos - quality is pretty decent. I wouldn't get a super super zoom tho, least not until their quality gets better. Do you really need that zoom? Maybe you could try working with the range of the P7000?

I was tempted by the new canon too - except for the fact that it doesn't have RAW capability - which is a major issue for me.

Whatever you decide - good luck - there's nothing more frustrating than wanting to do a hobby like this and not being physically able - I was in the same boat after my hospital stay - and it's only now I'm getting back to full health and physical ability!

xx

NS, I'm a bit younger than you but even I find it literally a pain after a day out with a bag of kit. My D700 with grip and Nikon 28-70 is hell of a weight so i can see where you are coming from. You can have a lot of fun with a compact, but equally you could get a lot of fun with a lightweight DSLR such as a secondhand D40, D70 or D90 and maybe an 18-55 lens, or 18-70. Doesn't cover your wildlife very well, but probably better overall than the proposed Canon. My experience of long zooms on compacts is shakey and poor focussing but I have never used anything that is right up to 2010 so thing smay be improved (although I doubt it).

Anyway, best of luck and hopefully you will continue posting and have as much fun editing and creating on the computer if you can't do quite so much photography.

Don't know if you already have one, but maybe a monopod would help with supporting your gear. You can now get them with little legs spread out at the bottom for stability

http://www.trek-tech.com/products/trekpods.html

Get them from
http://www.premier-ink.co.uk/man/trektech

Bazza

Sorry to hear about your health, but I do hope you find a camera more suited to you, and you continue with your photography xx