After a week of GAS-ing, I gave in to my wanton desires and got me a digital camera. Call me crazy but I did spend a lot of sleepless nights thinking of whether I buy myself a camera and if I decided to, what type would I get.

I decided that a camera’s a good investment since I am solely dedicating a large part of my time to my blogging endeavors (Oh yeah, a side announcement, I am not a full-time faculty of UP anymore, though for some reason I still am operating at some capacity in the department). I have been wanting to provide more creative pictures for the blogs that I handle and getting a decent camera should do the job.

Next came the harder part – whether to get an entry-level DSLR, or a good-enough prosumer camera. That left me with two options given my budget – a Nikon D40 (the DSLR) and the Canon Powershot S5 IS (the prosumer). For many hobbyists out there who would be stumbling upon this, one ready quip would be, “I bet you went for the D40.” Probably 90% of all forum threads I’ve read would say that the decision’s a no-brainer and that the DSLR trumps the prosumer any time. But you might cringe on what you’re going to read next.

I got the Canon Powershot S5 IS.

Blast my decision all you want but I think I will be able to sleep at night with my decision. Here are 3 reasons why I got the S5 IS.

• Upgrades for the S5 IS are limited. Unlike with the DSLR (which many say, is the dark side for the hobby photogapher), my OC nature would prompt me to buy all the good things that the DSLR “requires.” No avenues for upgrade means I wouldn’t be making unnecessary purchases any more given my photo needs.
• I have no plans of being a pro or semi-pro photographer. I won’t be able to maximize the potential of the DSLR so why even get one? I don’t have time to learn photography formally too.
• Video function. I might not be shooting movies but being able to get a few minutes of video can surely come in handy for my blogs. Now, I think I could feature some more multimedia. This functionality, I think, proves to be the clincher in the decision.

I got the camera pre-owned with 6 months left on a legit Canon Marketing Philippines warranty. And to boot, the guy who sold it was happy to sell it as a package. Aside from the camera body, the guy who sold it to me included a lens adapter, a UV filter, a petal lens hood, a 1GB SD card, all that came with the box, plus a camera pouch.

All in all, if I’m to calculate everything buck per bang, I think I got a good deal. The cheapest brand new S5 IS with a 1-year Canon warranty costs around 24K. I won’t be naming the price but I got the cam still way cheaper than that amount. It was a good thing that my UP payroll account suddenly gave me a miracle. I was able to buy it before some other bastard got hold of that sweet deal.

A photo blog, perhaps?