You guys get extra credit for being especially perceptive, because as some of you have noticed, we got a new camera (we weren’t paid or perked, we just bought it with our own benjamins for reasons I’m about to explain).
It’s a Nikon 3200 that we purchased on Amazon (here’s an affiliate link to the same model we bought) – basically the latest version of our previous DSLR, the Nikon 3000 that we got back in early 2010. The reason for the upgrade? Well, let’s just say the resident klutz around here (that’s me) finally klutz-ed it up a bit too much for our poor camera to handle. Can I get a womp womp?
It actually happened back when I was working on the deck. I was cutting my stair stringers and in a heat/sawdust induced haze, didn’t realize that I had set the camera down on the other end of my 2 x 10 board. Long story short, the vibrations of the saw subtly shook the board until the camera shimmied right off the edge and onto the concrete (I was looking down at my cut, so I was completely surprised by this turn of events). Here, allow me to reenact it for you.
It was not my finest moment. In fact it was up there with failing inspection when I had to tell Sherry the camera had fallen on the ground because of some dumb cutting incident.
This is not the first time this camera has been dropped. Considering the activities that we photograph regularly (we’ve taken about 300 photos a week for the past 2+ years with this guy, which adds up to over 39,000 photos!), it’s had its fair share of bumps, drops, paint splats, dirt smears, and sawdust-ings. But I guess this particular incident was too much for it to handle and suddenly we could only take pictures in manual focus mode. Awesome. Just kidding, it stunk (auto focus is amazingly helpful for us since we often grab pics of things in action- like Clara & Burger, and don’t have time to auto focus each time).
I called our local camera shop and learned they’d have to send it off to Nikon to repair it. And assuming it’s a fixable issue, our max cost would be about $150. Not too bad… except that it’d take 6-8 weeks to complete. And since we quickly realized we couldn’t survive (aka: blog) for two months without a camera, we thought about:
- renting a camera while ours got fixed (it turns out that renting one for two months would have cost more than just buying a new one)
- getting a cheap point & shoot camera for the next few months (but we decided that cheaping out on a just-for-now camera would be money down the drain, instead of putting it towards something we’d really want, like an updated DSLR with more capabilities)
So ultimately we took it as a sign from above that we should get ourselves a new one after over two and a half years of faithful use of our older one. We’re still going to get the old one fixed though, just to always have a backup DSLR on hand (so that if we should ever break the new one we won’t feel the same we-have-a-blog-and-can’t-be-without-a-camera-for-two-months pressure to buy yet another camera ever again). Hooray.
We decided to stick with Nikon (we’ve been very happy with our first DSLR) and go with something in the D3000 series (since we weren’t looking to relearn everything and it meant the 50mm lens we bought last summer would still work on our new camera). Of course our new camera wasn’t cheap (we got it for $699 on Amazon – it was about $250 more than our previous one) but at this point we’re looking at it as a necessary business expense. And the D3200 offered some nice improvements – like better shooting in low light, a more accurate auto white balance, and my favorite: HD video (hence the improvement some of you have noticed in our latest videos).
Yep, the image above is a video screenshot, not a still photo (which is a huge improvement from our Flip cam’s capabilities) and it gets me all hot and bothered. And not just because of my sexy wife.
So as much as we’re excited by the new features, we’re still definitely getting the hang of it. But overall we’re really happy with the new camera. Here are a few of the photos we took (all without white-balancing or worrying about lighting like we did with our prior camera):
It’s definitely a great upgrade for our blog (hooray for less time spent white balancing and worrying about low-light photos – and of course upgraded wider-angle videos are a big plus) and it’s also a nice little upgrade for our family (we shoot a ton of photos & videos of Clara and Burger). It almost makes that whole John-dropped-and-broke-something-again thing seem like a good thing. Right Sherry?
Psst- On another subject entirely, Sherry wants to talk about the finale of Bachelor Pad. So to anyone who saw it… what did you think? Honestly, I wish I had secretly taped Sherry’s reaction.
Mesha Kendrick says
With the old camera needing adjustments – is it something you are willing to sell and have the buyer take on the cost of the repairs?
YoungHouseLove says
We thought about selling it but want to repair it and keep it as a backup so we don’t have any other two-months-without-a-camera panic attacks :)
xo,
s
ARLmom says
The comparison shots are amazing. Makes me want to get a new camera too! Side question for you that came up in looking at the pics posted here on your deck. I saw your metal tulip chairs and I’ve been thinking about getting a set for our brick patio. Reviews I read indicated with more than one season use that the chairs started to leave rust on wood patios. I remember reading that yours were painted with some sort of extra heavy duty outdoor paint. Any recos for some waterproofing type clear spray for legs so to avoid the rust?
Bachelor Pad Review – the whole thing makes me so sad! I get the whole 15 minutes of fame and money part, but what will their future spouse and children say?! That’s why so many of them end up in a relationship with someone else that’s been on the show so they don’t judge :-) To be truthful, I can’t get enough of the Bachelor and Bachelorette.
YoungHouseLove says
I would keep an eye on them and if the paint is rusting resort them with Rustoleum paint in any color of your choosing. You could use a clear seal of you’d like, but paint will probably do it :)
xo,
s
Heather [Diapers&Divas] says
I’m totally jelly of that camera! It’s been on my Christmas list for at least 2 years running. Great video, John. I’m a nerd like that and love side by side comparisons. My point & shoot just isn’t cutting it like it used to, so it’s definitely time for an upgrade. If only I can convince the Hubby… I’m sensing a camera-tastrafe in our near future… ;)
Megan Geneva says
Did John use the autofocus during the video tour? I have the D3100 and the autofocus squeaks and wheels constantly, making all our autofocus videos pretty much useless.
YoungHouseLove says
Yes we used the auto focus in the video, but we attached an external mic (poor quality though, so it’s not perfect) which we heard helps. Sure enough, there wasn’t much camera noise, but we’re still trying to figure out the whole audio thing.
xo,
s
Casey says
Ooh great upgrade! I think it was worth the drop, John. :) We upgraded from a Canon xTi to the T2i a couple years ago and it was worth every penny. For awhile I still insisted on holding on to our old video camera because I was afraid to rely on the T2i, but it won me over and we sold the camcorder about a month later. I mean… between the T2i and two iPhones… who could ever need anything else? :)
Sarah says
I’m bad and read the BP3 spoilers online before last night’s episode so I was emotionally prepared for the shock :) I think Nick has some really bad karma coming his way. However, my fiance LOVED the end result and thought it was hilarious. I told him it was NOT FUNNY!
Kim says
Bachelor Pad- I wanted to give Nick a standing ovation after that speech he gave! He was 100% right, no one helped him get there. Bravo!
Elisa says
This almost-exact-thing happened to me (dropped camera = no autofocus) *right* after I had gotten a new lens. So, upgraded the body to a D5000 – mostly because of video! It’s totally awesome, right? I noticed some pretty sweet bokeh in your train video… hurray for feeling fancy!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw man, that stinks! But congrats on the new camera!
xo
s
Lesley says
Do you shoot in auto or have you learned to ‘switch’ the dial? Just curious b/c I try so hard to learn manual but witha toddler and a dog I just miss too much if I am playing with settings.
YoungHouseLove says
We shoot in A mode since we like to control some things but not all of them…
xo
s
Amber says
Wow, the new camera is awesome! My hubby actually just got me the Nikon D3100 for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been playing with it a bit, but I’m still so overwhelmed. Any tips on the web you can recommend? I read over your post on your Nikon D3000 tips. Even still, the pictures I take with it without even trying to change the settings are way better than my iPhone or point-and-shoot camera!
YoungHouseLove says
If you scroll back in the comments I listed a few tips that hopefully will help:)
xo,
s
Christen says
Well, since you brought it up….
* Nick= horrible person, hard to watch the finale because he’s so mean-spirited
* Chris= manslut
* Jamie= what was she wearing on her head?? and the makeup????
YoungHouseLove says
Yes John couldn’t get over Jamie’s “look” haha!
xo,
s
Kelly P says
I know – Jamie’s look was nuts. Ok, maybe you can pull off the hair jewelry OR the giant earrings OR the flapper dress OR the strange bejeweled makeup situation. But all of that? What? I actually felt bad for her. Why didn’t anyone tell her to take AT LEAST two of those things off?
Jane says
Not related to this, but I saw your “new” kitchen barstools at our local Salvation Army today. :)
YoungHouseLove says
No way!!!
xo
s
Tasha says
I splurged on the warranty for my crummy Sony Alpha a33 about a year and a half ago. That means I’ve got 6 months left of protection…unless I got the 3 year warranty. I should check that, haha! You’ll still need to wait for the repairs, but warranties are a good thing to have (remembering that they will only cover up to the value of the camera when new, so if you destroy the whole thing, they might just give you a check instead).
jesser says
We had almost the exact same situation at our house recently, though our camera was still technically usable, we could no longer transfer image via cable (had to use a card-reader, not the end of the world, but pain in the butt). The bigger problem though was that after 6+ yrs of use, the thing needed cleaning and maintenance, BAD and it would put us without a camera for 4 wks and we could not abide that. So we decided to upgrade as well. We did have our old body cleaned properly, however, and now we have two bodies that we can use with all of our lenses. It’s brilliant, especially when my husband and I are doing separate things. Might be worth it if you would ever use a second body, like for example if you had to have the new one fixed or cleaned, but just something to think about if you haven’t. Cheers!
Bob says
A Nikon 32000? Must be a fancy prototype or something. Couldn’t have been cheap! This blog must me very, very profitable.
Bob says
You’re welcome.
Jae says
How ironic, my 4 year old Nikon D40 had an unfortunate LCD screen accident a few weeks ago and I used it as an opportunity to upgrade as well. I got the Nikon D3100 (since I like Nikon and the D3100 is cheaper since its at closeout price because the D3200 was just released – $499 vs $699 on Amazon) The good thing is very little changed between the D3100 and D3200. For anyone doing camera research, I have found Ken Rockwell’s site extremely helpful. I used it 4 years ago when I bought the D40 as well. http://www.kenrockwell.com/
As for the old camera, I ordered a replacment part off of amazon and my husband watched a YouTube video and fixed it himself. I’m planning to sell it to recoup the cost of the new one.
megs & bacon says
Ohmygosh Bachelor Pad was amazing. I mean, like, I felt like I got burned by Nick and I was like *slow clap* Well played, Dude. Well played.
The proposal was hilarious. I mean, who drops the F-bomb when a guy is proposing? And Blakely had also doubled in arm tatoos since the end of the taping.
Jamie is cray-cray. Chris’s parents have clearly disowned him. And yet, all I wanted was more about Jacqueline and Ed.
Honestly, I thought the meanest person there was Michael. You can mess with people’s money as that was the game, but not their hearts. Karma is gonna get that dude.
Erin C. says
I only saw a couple episodes this season, but I watched the finale. I felt SO BAD for Rachel. Nick was acting like such a jerk. Yes, he “won”.. he “played the game.” But geez! I wouldn’t be able to live with myself after doing that to someone else.. especially someone who had already been through so much sadness/disappointment. That guilt wouldn’t be worth it to me… and he was just so proud of himself. ew.
Christen says
Exactly! I was kind of shocked how the TV audience was all about it… I didn’t even mind him not sharing, but the way he acted about it was so mean.
Katie says
Thanks for the video comparison – we don’t even have an HD Flip so I’m sure ours owuld be even more drastic of a difference if we were to ever upgrade to a DSLR with HD video!
As for Bachelor Pad — OMG – how did he act so mellow that whole show and then all the sudden become so mean and callous — I mean, if only he’d at least said something more like ‘Well, I just saw the opportunity and took it – easiest way I could see to make an extra $125k..’ or something other than pretty much giving the finger to everyone there at least he wouldn’t have seemed like a total jerk, just greedy… Crazytown. Poor Rachel.
Katie says
(We just have the regular Flip)
Jenn says
I think you mean Nikon D3200 (says “D32000).
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the heads up. Got it fixed!
-John
Courtney says
Hi guys! So happy you brought up Bachelor Pad…the hubs and I were divided last night. He thought Nick is an evil genious but I am thinking he is just evil! He looked pretty silly running away from Rachel backstage tho…loved that! Bottom line – he couldn’t have won without Rachel. Shame on him!
Leslie R. says
The video difference is amazing. I bought the d7000 about a year ago for Etsy and blog photos. Sadly, I’ve never really used the video portion.
Dude, I’m going to get on that, already!
Megan says
Awesome! It looks pretty swanky and the video was great this morning. Honestly though, I’m impressed that you made a picture diagram of how the camera fell and broke. Nice skillz!
steph says
gorgeous new camera!
This is TOTALLY unrelated to this post.. but since I am thinking about it. Have you guys ever thought of doing a sort of “office decor” inspiration post for those of us that are stuck with boring, standard offices at work? I know I would LOVE to get ideas about how to jazz up the grey carpet/beige desk/beige wall looks with simple “decor” upgrades- since you can’t change the other things!
I’ve googled around but no one has your awesome sense of style!
YoungHouseLove says
That would be fun! I love that idea!
xo,
s
MicheleLouise says
I am such photo nerd I was hoping you had gone for more of an upgrade (like a full frame body!) but still a good upgrade.
I would guess looking at the side by side that the FlipHD didn’t have any type of VR/IS (Vibration Reduction (Nikon)/Image Stabilzation (Canon)) built in. That makes a huge difference in the stability of your video capture. Try taking a video with that turned off and you will see a huge difference! :)
Gabriella @ Our Life In Action says
I don’t believe it was an accident…not for a second!! I think John planned this all along.
On second thought…maybe it was an accident…I’ve been wanting a new dryer, perhaps a similar “accident” may happen to my old dryer…hmmmmm ;-)
Kim says
I was so torn about the finale. On the one hand I haven’t liked Rachel very much ever since she wasn’t a very nice person to some of the other girls on the Bachelor, but on the other hand I felt so bad for her because not only did she get screwed over by TWO guys (one romatically and the other financially) on national television, but also her cellulite was crazy on display the entire time she was sitting on the couch. Maybe she shouldn’t have worn such a short dress, but I felt really bad for her. Like Kalon said, they are fortunate to even be able to compete for $250K and so it was kind of silly for her to cry that much, but it was probably more out of embarrassment from what Michael and Nick did to her. It was crazy.
So I guess the general consensus is that Blakely and Tony are the real deal? Do we think they are going to make it to the altar? If so I hope ABC does a little special on their wedding. I would definitely watch it because they are such an interesting/unlikely couple!
Liz S. says
Nice camera! But more importantly, Bachelor Pad! I felt so bad for Rachel! Although when they had to decide who to take with them to the finals, Nick seemed pretty pushy, so maybe that could’ve been a clue that he was all about the money. I’m happy for Blakely and Tony though…as long as he can handle her (wasn’t a fan of her dress though)!
Kelly P says
The camera is awesome, but I’m really here to talk Bachelor Pad. I thought Nick was dead on – I loved his speech! I have nothing against Rachel, but seriously? It’s a game and he played it well. He doesn’t owe her anything and she doesn’t deserve anything. Sidenote: I can’t believe I actually agreed with Kalon but he was totally right that no one “deserves” to win or be there. That is my biggest pet peeve about all the Bachelor/ette/Pad shows – when they’re like “so and so doesn’t deserve to stay.” What does that even mean???? It’s such a ridiculous thing to say in the context of that show.
Ok, I’m going now before I come across like a crazy superfan :-)
Christina says
Love the flying earrings in the screen cap of Sherry
Ashley@AttemptsAtDomestication says
Gah! I’m totally lusting over your new camera! AMAZING!
Kat T says
Just FYI, you can get insurance on your camera under a personal articles policy for a small yearly fee. You can also put your wedding ring on it as well. There is usually no deductible and, at least in MN, it covers everything: theft, fire, accidentally dropping it in e driveway.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip. So smart!
xo,
s
Patti says
I can’t get over the difference in your videos. The flip video looks like your underwater or something…strange I never noticed that before. Also, hope you don’t mind a typo mention…in the beginning of the post you call it the D32000, made me do a triple take!
YoungHouseLove says
Oops! Thanks for the heads up. All fixed!
-John
Keri Beth says
I do occasional photography work, and I have an Inland Marine policy on my camera equipment that covers any kind of accidental damage or theft, and it’s really cheap. Like, maybe $50/year for $3000 worth of equipment. (These policies are called Inland Marine, but they don’t have anything to do with marine equipment. You can get them for camera equipment, jewelry, whatever.) Might be worth looking into.
YoungHouseLove says
Really smart!
xo
s
Jas says
Man I wish I could afford a camera like that… gotta save my pennies!
(Looks like there’s a 0 too many in the second paragraph, with the link 32000 ;))
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the heads up. All fixed!
-John
Bailey Fleming says
I have been watching the entire season of Bachelor Pad, and it never fails that my husband whines when I turn it on. But last night he was glued to it! Anytime you turn something in to a competition he’ll watch! He was cracking me up.
Kim says
Camera talk: I guess those Nikon commercials that they say are filmed with the camera itself are forreals! I can’t believe the difference!
BachPad talk: Everytime I saw Nick I was like, who IS this guy? But after yesterday, I love him! I’ve been waiting for one person to pick Keep! I loved Chris and Sarah’s faces when he revealed his choice. I bet everyone wishes they had voted for Chris and Sarah instead!
Seriously though, Nick did skate through the game but the other contestants didn’t even think to consider that he could just take it all so he just used that to his advantage in the end! In other shows (Big Brother, Survivor) I feel like people who skate through win in the end (deservedly or not) because they were given credit for being undetected so well, so I don’t see how this is that much different.
I felt bad for Rachel for the whole Jaclyn thing too, but seriously they would not have gotten the votes if they were up against Ed/Jaclyn and I wish Jaclyn understood that. Otherwise Nick/Rachel would’ve gifted them the $250k (though Rachel didn’t get any of it anyway).
Holly says
Awesome new camera! We have a Nikon (not sure the model, but it’s a lower end DSLR) and I dropped it while it was in the camera bag and it still broke it. Luckily, it was just the lense and not the camera. It was doing the same thing you described where it wouldn’t auto focus. I have the worst luck with cameras. I will not touch it anymore. My husband makes fun of me. LOL
I’m dying to talk Bachelor Pad! No one I know watches it. I had cheated and read the ending online in advance. I was still holding out hope that that would be wrong though. I kind of see Nick’s points, but you can’t get there without a partner. I could never do that to someone and he was so mean about it. I felt horrible for Rachel.
Dani Meyer says
Thought your photos had been looking particularly nice over the last few posts! Glad to see that a new camera can make a difference….my older Nikon just kills me trying to get the indoor photos in low light.
Stephanie says
Awe, the pictures of Burger are getting to me right now. We had a dog that looked just like him for 12 years (Buster) but he was killed yesterday by a random dog that wandered into our yard. Sad day :( I might have to give YHL a break for a couple weeks or I’ll be a sobbing mess every time I visit. Hug your doggie for me!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh Stephanie I am so so sorry for your loss. How terrible! Your whole family is in our thoughts and Burger sends you lots of licks.
xo,
s
Sarah@SBrandesDesigns says
I’ve been looking into getting a dslr (specifically want a Nikon) and am interested what tipped you in favor of the 3200 over the 5100????
Sarah@SBrandesDesigns says
Oops reread & noticed that you wanted to stick with the same series to avoid a new learning curve…
Reenie says
WOW…what a diff you can see in the side by side. You were due for an upgrade ;)
Bach Pad ~ I caught parts of it here and there…. but I was shocked at the outcome. I felt bad for her :(
meghan shadrick says
Sorry to hear that happened to you too! (but nice upgrade) My Canon rebel broke when it fell off a table as I had lunged to try to save my 2 year old daughter from falling off a booth at a restaurant. Both the kid and camera got banged up! I waited 45 days for the camera to get fixed, and in the mean time missed photographing a vacation, 4th of July, and her birthday. It was a bummer!
Julia @ Chris Loves Julia says
We are Canon folks, but I gotta say–your pictures and videos are gorgeous lately so you definitely have me thinking. About 5 months after we got our camera, I put a UV filter over the lens just to see the difference and I have YET to be able to get it off!!! It has been maybe a year? It drives me crazy and there is a dust particle under the filter that I pick up in every photo.
Susie says
Hooray for a new camera but Bachelor Pad was insane! I hate to say it (becasue i don’t think i could do it myself) but yeah for Nick. Seeing the clips at the end it doesn’t look like he made any lasting relationships so he took the money. I think this sounds like a “Young House Life” post?!
Bromeliad says
I dropped my DSLR two days after I got it. It popped off the battery door. The camera would not turn on. I became physically ill. (After I popped the door back on the camera was fine.) I feel for you.
Corey Ann says
For what it’s worth, I’m a photographer and I have to send things to Nikon to be fixed ALL of the time and I’ve never have had a repair take longer than a month, and that was due to a part being in Japan during the tsunami so it was completely understandable. I’ve even got things back the same week!
If you like the 50 you may want to check out the 35 1.8DX lens. It’s about $200 and will get you a similar look to the 50 but a bit wider, which is massively helpful when shooting in rooms :)
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip… and the good news about Nikon repair turnaround!
-John
Kerrie says
Hey, so here is my typo alert.. In the first sentence south of the the first photo, there is a link that says “Nikon 32000” when I assume you meant, 3200. I read this and was thinking DANG! What an upgrade!! LOL. Love the new camera – I should really invest in one!! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Ha! That would be a pretty sweet upgrade. Thanks for the heads up. All fixed!
-John
Life In Yellow says
Congrats on the new camera! I’ve always been curious – especially as impromptu as you said some of your pictures are – do you typically shoot in manual or in a priority mode and does it change based on what you’re photographing? I’d love to hear about it, and what you think of the video capabilities as you learn more about them down the road. Thanks!
Liz
YoungHouseLove says
We shoot almost exclusively in Aperature Priority mode. We’ve found it gives us just the right amount of control without leaving us up to our own devices too much. :)
-John
Rebekka says
Great photos!!! I’ve been wanting to get a DSLR and I’m thinking about asking for this as a wedding gift! One question though: how’s the battery life when in camera mode? And does the video function suck it dry? Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Video mode does eat up the battery more but so far we’ve been really happy with the battery life. I can’t say what the exact length is in hours though. Sorry!
-John