Into the DSLR zone

This week while I was working away from home I saw a second hand camera that looked like it was in good condition. It was a DSLR, a type of camera that I have not owned before. I have been considering getting a DSLR for a few months now. We have been framing pictures around the house, including a few in our bedroom that are colour photocopies. So I have been wanting to take photos that I can print out in a large size for the walls. My travel compact camera (a Lumix TZ40) is still a brilliant camera but if you dial up the ISO in low light the amount of noise is very noticeable.
So I had been thinking about getting a Nikon DSLR because it is the best make of camera in my opinion. Canon are also a good brand, so too Sony, but in DSLR photography they are not quite as good as Nikon in my opinion. My last Canon camera was an EOS SLR and I really liked taking photos with it. I hope I enjoy my new camera as much. After saying that though, it is about the time you spend and care and attention you take with each shot that counts, the camera is an extention of the photographer's imagination.

So, I saw the camera in the window of CEX in Manchester's Arndale Centre on Tuesday evening and left it a day while I did a bit of research. The price was about right, it was just down to the condition. When I took a look at the camera the next day, it was in great condition for a camera that is not only second hand but 6 years old. I get the feeling that the camera was in some person's cupboard for a long time and had not been used very much. So I decided that I would buy it.
However, while I was being served I couldn't help but overhear what I thought was an altercation with a shop assistant and another customer. Now, I have noticed that sometimes CEX attracts a few unsavoury characters and they have to be sure that the goods they take in are in good enough condition to sell and guarantee for a couple of years. I thought at first it was someone who was angry that their phone wasn't being accepted but it turned out to be a guy who was on the phone to what must have been a woman. They way he was shouting aggressively at her though was very abusive. He was really going for it and it was very intense for everyone else to have to hear him effing and blinding down his phone as he walked out the shop. Even the assistant apologised to me even though it was nothing to do with the shop.
The Nikon D5000 was the first Nikon DSLR to feature an articulated screen that has the hinge at the bottom so that the camera can be used low to the ground and high in the air in combination with Live View. When it was released it was the next step up from the D60 and cost between £450-550. It cost me less than half that 6 years down the line.