Nikon Z50
Nikon Z50ii at ƒ/3.21/400024 mm ISO110
To rephrase a famous book title by an infamous cyclist, "It's Not About the Camera", seems apt to describe my recent reawaken back to photography. I had been in a uninspired creativity come over recent years of using old kit when required for sports occasions for the kids (a certain Nikon D80 did its job rather ponderously) and using a replacement Lumix DMC-GX7 for general purpose, while dinky and fun to use, and certainly just capable in the most optimum conditions, wasn't getting me out. Of course phones just provided that prozac effect of well this is fine...
When I was I kid i was given an old defunct Olympus by a relative and learnt the absics of looking the optical viewfinder, dismantling the camera and a lens to understand how a mechanical shutter worked, how an aperture worked (and spelt - single "P" please Bob...) and how a subject/object at distance could end up mon film.
A Nikon EM for my birthday got me really hooked on photography. It was simple, it was fun, and it was enjoyable. It got me out! I used colour film, took monochromes and slides, learnt to develop, process and print in a darkroom. Loaded my own film into reusable cartridges so i could take more than the requisite 36 shots. It was all magic, hands on and tangible. You created memories!
Then uni started, I got lazy, instead of using a SLR, i went to compacts including 110s, Polaroids etc... Then I continued using film for work. It was a hit or miss affair (ship surveying), if you could get decent lighting to get a sharp image of damage then you were laughing. It sharpened your skills, but the fun and enjoyment dwindled.
Then came the advent of the first digital camera! The excitement of snap and see there and then was not only real but the ability to retake and reatake and retake until the then limited memory stick could no longer store was handy. Downloading on to a computer that evening and sending it through to the office via dial up model was also efficient. But res was meh and we backed up with film.
Then over the past 25 years i went from film to more digital and stuck with it. Uninspired, snapping without much thought. An Nikon F80 was bought to jolt me into film nostalgia and then a the D80 for digital convenience. Thereafter a series of compacts digitals (Sonys, Canons, Nikons).
But... after length research, I dipped my toes back into a new camera and bought a Nikon Z50ii at the weekend and paired it with my old DX lenses. BINGO! The fun, the enjoyment the passion to think, plan and craft superb shots came back to me. Ok so there are no odorous chemicals and annoying ticking clock in the darkroom, but there is endless of things to play with on the camera to experiment and create magical shots.
The camera does more but it doesn't make me better. The functions and specs are helpful - it may be higher than some it certainly be lower than many but the functions and specs don't make me better.
Only I can do better by going out taking more photographs and learning, understanding and improving. And I can only do that if I am having fun and enjoying it. Sometimes the camera enables and is the catalyst but ultimately it is only you who can go out take that awesome shot.
PS: I gave my relic F80 to my wee lad who at the time was the same age as me got the defunct camera from my relative. He is enjoying film!
Nikon Z50ii at ƒ/3.21/400024 mm ISO110
To rephrase a famous book title by an infamous cyclist, "It's Not About the Camera", seems apt to describe my recent reawaken back to photography. I had been in a uninspired creativity come over recent years of using old kit when required for sports occasions for the kids (a certain Nikon D80 did its job rather ponderously) and using a replacement Lumix DMC-GX7 for general purpose, while dinky and fun to use, and certainly just capable in the most optimum conditions, wasn't getting me out. Of course phones just provided that prozac effect of well this is fine...
When I was I kid i was given an old defunct Olympus by a relative and learnt the absics of looking the optical viewfinder, dismantling the camera and a lens to understand how a mechanical shutter worked, how an aperture worked (and spelt - single "P" please Bob...) and how a subject/object at distance could end up mon film.
A Nikon EM for my birthday got me really hooked on photography. It was simple, it was fun, and it was enjoyable. It got me out! I used colour film, took monochromes and slides, learnt to develop, process and print in a darkroom. Loaded my own film into reusable cartridges so i could take more than the requisite 36 shots. It was all magic, hands on and tangible. You created memories!
Then uni started, I got lazy, instead of using a SLR, i went to compacts including 110s, Polaroids etc... Then I continued using film for work. It was a hit or miss affair (ship surveying), if you could get decent lighting to get a sharp image of damage then you were laughing. It sharpened your skills, but the fun and enjoyment dwindled.
Then came the advent of the first digital camera! The excitement of snap and see there and then was not only real but the ability to retake and reatake and retake until the then limited memory stick could no longer store was handy. Downloading on to a computer that evening and sending it through to the office via dial up model was also efficient. But res was meh and we backed up with film.
Then over the past 25 years i went from film to more digital and stuck with it. Uninspired, snapping without much thought. An Nikon F80 was bought to jolt me into film nostalgia and then a the D80 for digital convenience. Thereafter a series of compacts digitals (Sonys, Canons, Nikons).
But... after length research, I dipped my toes back into a new camera and bought a Nikon Z50ii at the weekend and paired it with my old DX lenses. BINGO! The fun, the enjoyment the passion to think, plan and craft superb shots came back to me. Ok so there are no odorous chemicals and annoying ticking clock in the darkroom, but there is endless of things to play with on the camera to experiment and create magical shots.
The camera does more but it doesn't make me better. The functions and specs are helpful - it may be higher than some it certainly be lower than many but the functions and specs don't make me better.
Only I can do better by going out taking more photographs and learning, understanding and improving. And I can only do that if I am having fun and enjoying it. Sometimes the camera enables and is the catalyst but ultimately it is only you who can go out take that awesome shot.
PS: I gave my relic F80 to my wee lad who at the time was the same age as me got the defunct camera from my relative. He is enjoying film!
