I have a confession to make: I’m totally that person that takes a pictures of everything and documents every meal I ever ate. Regardless of all the groans coming from those who dine with me {because I’m sure they secretly love it and will one day appreciate it}.
I occasionally get questions about the camera I use and I’m always curious what others love/hate.
As far as my gear goes, I have a Canon Rebel XSi that is several years old now and has gotten a TON of use. As in 1-2k photos every trip I take, in addition to all the blog photos, etc. It has been a great camera for me and I see myself keeping it another year or two until I upgrade the body. Particularly since I still don’t maximize it’s abilities and until I force myself to take another class to learn photo basics, there’s no sense in upgrading.
It came with both a 18-55mm lens and the telephoto lens (I believe it’s the 75-300mm), but I stopped using those about a year ago unless there is a specific need. I now strictly use a 17-50 mm Tamron because of the smaller aperture and the good reviews I had read about it.
I also have an older Canon PowerShot ELPH 310HS that I used to use when I didn’t want to lug around my DSLR. It still gets used {especially for blog photos when I don’t want to deal with manual settings on the Rebel} but isn’t nearly used as often when I got out thanks to my iPhone.
The last few years {basically since I got an iPhone and with the creation of Instagram} I find myself taking a LOT more photos on my phone. My Christmas wish list this year included the olloclip and I can’t wait to use it further on vacation next week. Basically, it is a clip on set of lenses including fish eye, wide-angle and macro. The quality is rather impressive! This is a macro shot of Henley’s fur that I posted on Instagram a few weeks back.
Recently, I purchased the Olympus Tough TG-820 for our upcoming trip. It can go under water up to 33 feet {we plan to use it for snorkeling}, can handle extreme temps and is shockproof up to 6.6 ft drops. This is the camera I plan to use when I fear my “nice” cameras could get wet, dropped, etc. I know nothing about these “tough” cameras so I had my husband research Consumer Reports and I read through reviews online. This one was a little higher than our desired price point, but we also wanted to ensure we bought something that wouldn’t shell out in a year or two. This turned out to be a good middle of the road camera. High on quality but lower on the price scale.
I am by no means a photography expert and I have so much to learn – in fact, I still consider myself very much in the beginner stages. I have only taken one formal class on my camera but would like to take another one this year to up my game a little.
So my questions for you. What camera and/or lens do you love and could not live without? Are there any amazing online classes you have taken before?
And a big congratulations goes out to Leticia Irwin from Indiana for winning the $325 HomeGoods giftcard and the Lallitara tote giveaway. Enjoy!
disclosure: some affiliate links used
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