Three years ago today my Nikon D5100 arrived in the mail. Not coincidentally, it’s almost the same age as Nicole. I wanted a large canvas print of Nicole the newborn, and my D60 just didn’t have the megapixels to print the size I wanted.

I remember the first time shooting with the D5100, how overwhelmed I was by the different interface and controls. The D5100 had more options and more buttons than my D60. For a girl just learning to go off auto, it was a little intimidating. I was both amazed by the image quality and frustrated I didn’t know how to adjust the focal point. It took some time before I became comfortable with the new camera. Now the D5100 is second nature. So second nature that using the D60 to take the above photo of the D5100 required a learning period again to find the right controls.

In the past three years my camera has had 107,178 shutter actuations, which is just shy of 98 photos a day. In contrast, my D60 has just 28,354 actuations including today’s photo! It was my sole camera for 3 and a half years before the D5100 came into my life, and the camera I took to Europe and Asia! The D60 may have been my first DSLR, but the D5100 was the one I learned on.

I’ve been thinking about my next camera a lot lately. I considered a full frame, but have little desire to repurchase my lenses. I was super excited about the D7200 announcement this past March, but something has been holding me back. I used the move as an excuse to put off purchasing it. I didn’t want it to get lost in the transition, and knew I wouldn’t have the time to learn a whole new set of controls. Now that we’ve moved I still haven’t followed through with the purchase. My current camera is nearing it’s end of life but it’s not there yet. Nikon tests them for 100,000 shutter actuations. After that the physical components can start to go. My shutter may stop working tomorrow, or it may last for a few more years. I kinda want to see how far my D5100 can go. It’s my baby after all.

Posted in Photography