On My Newest Toy

Today is a little bittersweet for me. I finally get a chance to unpack my shiny new toy: A Nikon D5200. I’ve been saving for this camera for three years; I finally got a chance to really unpack it and see what a gem I’ve gotten. (Okay, I admit I was saving for the D5100, but they’re no longer available. I’ll just have to suffer through with the better unit. Darn.) It’s a beaut, and I can’t wait to go out and play with it. 

However, there’s a sad part to this. I have to put my trusty old Minolta dImage Z6 away, along with all the accessories. I’ve had to remove the really nice camera strap off of it-a Tamrac padded leather N45-pull all the accessories out of my old Velocity 7 bag, and put them away. This is harder than you think; there’s been a lot of happy miles and many great shots with my Z6. Bought the day before leaving on a five week trip back in 2005 for a road trip for work and pleasure in which we went (amongst other places) to the Grand Canyon for a day and I just knew the little Vivitar I had was not going to work like I wanted (with the Grand Canyon, few cameras do), it quickly felt at home in my hands. It’s been to Hawai’i three times, Canada three times, all over the west coast (I have no idea how many beach pictures the thing’s taken), and all over the United States. I’ve shot the Mexican border with it (then turned around and headed away from San Ysidro). I’ve gotten some wonderful shots: flowers, waterfalls, butterflies…sunsets. Family times: Christmases, Thanksgivings, anniversaries. I took a few shots before Dad’s memorial service with it. I took photos of Deena’s class reunion with it on my Slik U8000 tripod. It’s been crammed into backpacks; the whole kit’s been packed in my suitcase and survived. It’s been a good part of my life for the last nine years, dependable as the day is long-so long as I had batteries to feed it. 

But the reality is that time has gone by. Unlike an old 35mm film camera that you could use for years on end with proper care and maintenance, digital cameras have greatly improved. Case in point: Shots that Deena is catching with disgusting ease just aren’t possible with 6 megapixels. Consider this: my iPhone camera has 5 megapixels; great for candids and quick shots (Remember: the best camera you have is the one that’s with you) but not for the kind of stuff I really, really want to do. And since Minolta was bought by Sony, it’s not like I can move into another Minolta. Deena’s Canon suits her; she’s gotten some really great stuff. However, I knew this last trip to Hawai’i that the next time I go back I was going to have to have a better camera. Too many shots I should have gotten, too many shots my mind saw-but the poor thing was just never designed to get. So it’s all back in their boxes and bags, along with all my other older cameras, waiting for one more trip somewhere. It’ll probably make a few trips here and there, perhaps; like the little Vivitar it replaced, the Z6 will be something I might take to an amusement park or someplace I don’t want to run the risk of breaking the D5200-or having it stolen. 

And as time goes by, what is right now becoming a very light Velocity 7 slingpack will get heavier; a speedlight (flash) will likely be the next major purchase. There will need to be a few minor purchases: a second battery as even Lith-Ion runs down and needs a charge eventually; a few odds and ends including a lens protector ($30 beats replacing a $300 lens) and a polarizer; at least one more lens-and probably two will eventually get added. Why buy all this stuff? Because I’ve had to work at this the hard way. Dad taught me well, and a few classes growing up didn’t hurt-but the truth is that I want do better work than I’ve been able to. This should stay with me for quite a while; and even if I eventually need a new camera body I’ll still have the lenses and the flash to go with it. 

Enough for now. 

Through the (digital) looking glass…

I really like my camera. It’s a Minolta DiMage Z6 with as many of the extras that I could get before Sony made a deal that KonicaMinolta couldn’t refuse, and bought all the camera technology from Minolta so Konica could focus (pardon the pun) on copy machines. And yes, I am still torqued over this, so that’s why I refer to my camera as a Minolta. I am not at all happy with Konica.

I have enjoyed taking pictures as far back as I have had a camera. That would be 1972ish, when Dad got me a Kodak Brownie Starflex for all of 50 cents or a buck at the Clayton Valley High Flea Market. And ever true to my packratness, I still have the thing. (Just try to buy film for it, however. In fact, just try to find film period, any more.) I also had a Polaroid Colorpack II and a couple of 110’s in high school and college, and finally got a Kodak S1100 XL 35mm I used for years. It finally died a painful death in Montreal QB in 2003, having gotten squished into a position it wasn’t designed to fit into. (The missus had one like it with a few issues; I was able to combine the two into one totally functional unit...which, like the Starflex and Colorpack II, I still have.)

I’ve really enjoyed taking pictures with the Z6 since I bought it the day before leaving on a five week trip back in 2005; a tour in which we went (amongst other places) to the Grand Canyon for a day and I just knew the little Vivitar I had was not going to work like I wanted. (Okay, in all fairness to the little Vivitar, there isn’t a camera out there that truly does the Grand Canyon justice.) But I wanted something that would at least give me a fair shot at good pictures, and I let my friend talk me into spending about a hundred bucks more than I really wanted to pay for a camera. (I’m glad he did, by the way.)

Since I got it, it’s been all over the US, and to Windsor, ON. It has been schlepped through roughly 26 states; not bad for three years. I can’t tell you how many batteries it’s eaten, or how many thousands of pictures it’s taken. (Both of those numbers are a lot, let me tell you.)

One of the things I like about having gone digital is the ease in filing the pictures I keep. With no film, and since they are digital, storage is far easier to maintain. Of course, the number of pictures I take has gone up quite a bit. Since I don’t have to pay for processing prints, and since I can erase the stuff that just isn’t worth keeping, I can shoot to my heart’s content.

Someday, I may post a few somewhere. I love sharing my pics, but at the same time, don’t want them harvested by an internet photo-bot and used without my knowing it.

Enough for now.

(Posted 12/13/08)