so, thinking of this roadtrip idea, I'm faced with something of a choice. See, there's this camera that is out now, which would be a notable upgrade over my current camera. Offers much nicer photographic capabilities. Most definately what I'm looking at upgrading to when I do finally retire my current one. While I used to be looking at a different camera to upgrade to, I've changed my mind because this new one is a better fit for me. I currently have the Canon D30, a nice system, but old and certainly showing it's age. The 20D is a direct decendant of my D30, and would be a newer model at the same relative level. The 20D would definately be an upgrade, but doesn't offer much over my D30, cetainly not enough to justify the cost to me. The camera I was looking at was the 1Ds, which was a *significant* upgrade over mine, as it is their top-line camera (in the DSLR arena, which is where I'm staying). Problem is, it's also damn expensive. I've been looking at that level for a few years now as the next one I'd get, but mostly because it was the only other option available to me. They basically had two levels of camera, entry and top. Over the years they have split the entry into two levels, close to eachother but with a few differences based on what type of shooting you'll be doing. They did the same with the top level as well, but again due to the type of shooting I do only one of the options will really work for me (the other having some fun stuff, but nothing I'd really use). Now, however, they have introduced a middle-ground between the two. A whole new camera line that has some features of the top-end camera, but some of the restrictions of the lower-end camera. A nice middle-ground level camera, the 5D. What's great is that it has all the great features that the top-end had that made me really want it, and the restrictions it has are nothing I'd even notice (it's lacking features I'd never use anyway).
The problem: while it's more affordable, it's still more than I have. It'd be great to have on the road-trip, and the debt incurred in purchasing it would be certainly manageable, but I'm not entirely comfortable with getting it. I've been really good about not using the credit card at all for some time now, and as a result have almost reduced my credit-card debt to zero (within a few paycheques of clearing it off), but this would be a major setback in that project. The thought of using the credit card again is not one I relish, particularly not for this ammount.
