He surprised me. I really thought this was a further off purchase, but he had money set aside for this for me. So... we went to the NEX (Navy Exchange) and they had pretty much everything. I looked more at the Canon, more at the Sony, and more at the Nikon. BUT... they didn't have any Nikon D40x's ins stock. The Sony felt the best of the Sony and the Canon. Also, the Sony is actually a Konica Minolta - they merged and then Konica Minolta dropped out of the picture. So they have the camera stuff from KM, and upgraded some of their technologies. This camera won Camera of the Year (can't remember which mag - it was a big photography one) last year, too.

Sooo.... I went with the Sony. I also got an 18-200 mm lens so I won't have to change it out at the beach while shooting my son on a surf board. :) That was important to me - not having to change out the lens as often.

So, the battery is going to charge tonight, I am going to look at the manual and try to refresh my SLR vocabulary (dh and I haven't had one since his broke on our honeymoon), and tomorrow, I will take it out and try it out. :)

And Tracey, dh also got Photoshop Elements for me. He read your post and that you recommended it. :)

Thanks ladies. I hope I like this camera as much as you guys love yours. I think I will. An IRL friend has this camera - and I have tried it out a couple of times already - and the older gentlemen at the photo counter (been photographing with good cameras for 40+ years, he said) recommended this camera if you were starting from scratch, which we are.

Now, I am adding filters and a couple of books (thanks for the recommendation of that exposure book, Tracey) to my birthday and Christmas lists.

How exciting! I couldn't WAIT for my battery to charge when I first got my camera. I had so much fun playing with it. And that sounds like an awesome lens to have...you have wide angle and zoom all in one...VERY COOL! You'll have so much fun with it! Show some pics you get!

I know! Waiting for this battery to charge is like torture! lol

But, I'm loading Elements and might get some time to play with a couple of pictures if it loads quickly. It's been a long day and I'm tired.

you sound so excited! i hope you guys enjoy it :D

i'm glad my rec's could help. PE and the Peterson book will really help as well.

:D

Kelby, too, right?

Have fun with it! I can't wait to see the results :D

more torture:

it uses a compact flash card, but it said on the box that it has an adapter to use memory cards. Well... we ASSumed that it would use the SD cards we've been using... NO! WAH! They are a INTY bit too big. So, dh is going to the store in a little bit to get me a disk to use. lol

I want to PLAY!

hahaha..that's so fun.

last year dh bought me my d200 and he charged the batteries the night before he gave it to me so that i could use it as soon as i opened it! he's a smart cookie!