my first digital slr

I've been pondering this purchase for a looong time (Raffy, you can vouch for this - we were discussing this back in January!) and have finally bitten the bullet and bought it, a month after it's successor went on sale.

Introducing my new toy - the Canon EOS 40D.

Image courtesy of dpreview.com

Not going to bother with the usual technical spiel - admittedly this is partially because I don't really understand most of it yet myself... Anyway the 50D came out last month so I figured that this was as cheap as it would get. Plus I'm heading over to New Zealand very soon, and wanted to be able to capture the beauty of the landscape with more than my point-and-shoot Canon IXUS 800 IS. They were sold out at my local camera store, so I ended up purchasing it online.

Of course, I needed a lens to suit - enter the Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 Image Stabilized USM lens.

Image courtesy of dpreview.com

The 18-55mm lens that the standard lens kit comes with just didn't cut it for me, and I reckon the upgrade will be worth it. Also got an 8GB compact flash card and a spare generic battery, with a free bag coming with the camera too (not sure how good it will be though). So I'll need to pick up a tripod, filters, a better bag and maybe another lens before I take off. I'll have to leave the numerous other things I want until afterwards when I can afford it...

Dammit I'm getting all excited about it now... arrive already!