Over the past few months I've acquired a number of new toys, the most popular of which is proving to be my EOS 400D (or Digital Rebel XTi if you're so inclined). I've oft sworn that a DSLR was more trouble than it's worth - yes, the pictures are nice but it's lots of money and hellish to carry around. Much better to have a compact IXUS or similar and keep it always nearby. Unfortunately, John decided to buy himself one, and hence I was daft enough to have a play. After a few stupid moments of trying to turn live preview on, I tried out his 50mm prime and was instantly sold.

Unfortunately, it turned out I was sold about a month too late. Canon had offered £50 off during December, but kindly returned to the RRP of £400 when I was looking to buy. And so I did my research, and spent many hours wondering whether a Nikon D40/40X would be a nice option, only to discover that they can't drive a 50mm lens (and the Sigma 30mm would wipe out any price advantage they offered). Thus I bit the bullet and wandered over to the Canon refurbished dealer, and bought myself a 400D + 18-55mm lens. And then I went down to Covent Garden and came away with a big grin and a 50mm prime.

To date I remain deeply in love. Yes, it's a bit bulky, but I can haul around a small camera big which serves for sundries as well. The battery lasts forever - I knocked off 600 shots yesterday, about 50 with flash, and the battery meter didn't move. The 50mm prime is fantastic, its only flaw being the zoom factor of the Canon sensor makes it a 80mm lens and hence you need a bit of space to use it. But at 1.8f it's nice and fast and you get a very tight focus (and you are left most embarrassed if you focus on the wrong element). I can even survive the use of compact flash, although I did wince a bit at the price difference when compared to SD. However, the 450D is still AWOL, so I'm certainly glad I didn't decide to wait for such things to be resolved.

In summary, I can't recommend it enough. The only thing likely to separate me from it is an attack by an unwilling subject, which seems to grow ever more likely (especially when they see the output).