The whole yesterday morning, I did on-line research on current digital SLRs, thinking to buy one. I also bought a couple of photo magazines to get some idea. I know many amateur photographers are crazy to buy Nikon D90 or D5000, regardless of their income. To be honest, I am not really a fan of trying and testing new expensive development at the expense of my monthly investment.

I found out Nikon D-3000 with a reasonable price and acceptable specifications for a casual photographer. So I decided to get that one, which was introduced in July 2009 in Britain. Not too long ago. I drove to the town centre. When I got to Jessops, I changed my mind to take Sony alfa 230 instead. Sony is rather new in digital camera world, I think. My friends normally prefer Nikon and Cannon. But I think it is attractive, extremely compact with very light weight. Moreover, the quality of image of Sony camera is excellent, according to the several independent reviews. Next thing is that it is cheap (only £345) and I don’t need to worry too much if it is under performance. So I took it. . I did also purchase 70-300mm zoom lens. It was nice to take test photos instantly at beach once I came out of the shop.

But I found out that there was no live view mode. LCD screen was only for setting and viewing the photos taken. I must admit that I have a poor knowledge in Digital SLR camera although I used Nikon and Cannon SLRs since I was 18. I wrongly assumed that all dSLR had got live view as its compact counterparts. In fact, my friend Vista talked about “live view” yesterday morning that Nikon 3000 had no such mode, but in Nikon 5000. I neglected her statement. The whole evening, I tried to take photos using view finder, leaving me with some eye ache.

This morning, I went back to Jessops and I did exchange with Sony A330. I had to pay extra £50 as it was £399. Now I am happy with new camera. It has got quick AF live view. That means that unlike some other live view systems, the A330 can provide rapid camera performance without any delay for capture and it has an impressive resolution. Hopefully, photos will be available on my picasa web album shortly.