At long last I've got my new camera! I've been hankering after one for about a year, ever since I started to appreciate the limitations of the compact S40 camera I've been using. We're off on a long trip around the world next month, and cameras are one of the those things the Australian Government gives the tax back on when you leave the country - as long as you purchased it within 30 days of departure. So I waited until the appropriate date passed and got myself a Canon 20D digital SLR.

I spent ages - many many hours - looking at reviews and asking people what lenses they recommended I buy. I finally decided that I didn't want to start off with low quality lenses which I would end up replacing within a year or so anyway, so I went for one decent lens as a starting point. I tend to take photos of wide angle subjects most of the time, so I got a Canon 17-40mm F4.0 L lens with a body-only camera pack.

I got the camera from Quality Camera in Albany, Western Australia. Apart from being close to local (what's a 6 hour drive anyway?) the guy there was incredibly helpful. He had the camera/lens package I wanted, plus he sent me a camera bag on approval and even offered me his own 17-40mm lens as a loaner when he thought he wouldn't be able to get stock to sell to me. No need as it turned out, but the offer was there. Excellent service, I'd recommend him to anyone.

First impressions of the camera are that it's an excellent piece of kit. It feels really solid and has that "proper camera" mechanical noise when you hit the button. I've never had a camera that does that!

I downloaded and read the manual while I was waiting for delivery so I pretty much knew how to use it when I took it out of the packaging. I didn't however, know how to use the lens. I knew in theory - open the aperture for less depth of field, etc. - but since changing the aperture on a compact camera basically does bugger all, I had a learning curve to start going up.

I took the camera out the first night I got it and took some photos of Trigg Beach around sunset. They aren't great, but I put them online here. My Photoshop methods also need some adjustments given the greater image size - this camera gives me twice as many pixels as the S40 does. Cropping down to 800x600 loses a lot more data with this camera, and sharpening needs much higher values to get the same effect. I'm working on those things though. Oh, and it's not 800x600 - it's 800x533. This camera produces 6:4 ratio images, whereas the S40 produces 4:3. Time to add some more presets to my Photoshop tools...

I also felt I had to do some proper research into how the lens works. I really didn't have a clue how to get the best from it. So I had a fiddle about and compared the images I get from various settings. Now I have more of a clue. :o)