Last weekend, I finally made the return to shooting with an SLR with a new Nikon D70. It's been about five years since I used an F series film camera. I really don't miss working with film or printing in the darkroom. The digital workflow is so much more powefull and generally faster.

The advantages of D-SLR for me are the capablility to shoot in very low light with fast lenses and exacting control of depth of field. The D70 can capture usable images in a candlelit room. For portraits, I can throw the background completely out of focus.

The tradeoff for more picture-taking capability is a bulkier camera along with the need to carry more than one interchangable lens. The Nikon Coolpix and Olympus Camedia cameras I've been using for the last several years were very compact, and a real way, very liberating in that I could float them in the airspace around my body to take pictures by composing them in cameras' articulated LCD screens. With the new Nikon, I'll have to get used to pressing my face onto the viewfinder all the time.

I put my new camera through some streetshooter's customizations. The included neckstrap with giant yellow "steal me" Nikon logos was the first to get replaced with a simple black strap. Next, I taped over the branding on the front of the camera (5, 6). I'm also going to leave the lens cap off of my zoom lens, but keep the scalloped lens hood on most of the time (4).

Then there's dealing with the heavier, bulkier camera everywhere I go. With the long lens, I'll start carrying the camera with the front and lens facing my hip as my first photo teacher taught me. This keeps the front of the lens close to the body and somewhat more shield from bumps. I can also reach down and grab the right-handed grip very quickly to bring the camera up to my face for a shot (1-3).

Now the other thing I have to watch is not to slam the camera into the side of my child's head when I bend over near her.

- mike lee - langley park, md