Considering Cameras
Posted: Wed 11 December, 2013 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Domestic, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Getting Organised, Own Business, Photography, Project 42, Thoughts, Work-related |6 Comments »One thing I’ve stopped doing as much over the last couple of years is taking photos. I miss it, but more and more I’ve been finding that taking the SLR camera out with me is more hassle than it’s actually worth.
I’ve had the SLR for a long time now – since roughly this time in 2005, in fact – and it’s still a great camera. Worth fuck-all now, mind you, but that’s the way of the world. But it has issues that I hadn’t really considered when I bought the thing, and as time goes on I’ve found they’re becoming more of a hindrance.
In short…
- The SLR plus lenses is bloody heavy. It’s not something you can easily carry freehand all day, and that means it’s rarely actually available when I want it
- The SLR is slow. S-L-O-W. Not when it’s powered up, with the correct lens attached etc. – then it’s great. But for a quick shot of something fleeting? Bobbins.
- Unless you know you’re going out with one specific shot (or set of shots) in mind, you need all the lenses, and most of the kit.
- As a result, it’s a faff.
It’s a great camera, but with all those points in consideration, I’ve found this year that I just keep leaving it at home. I still love taking photos, but all that extra faff is becoming limiting, it’s making it so that taking photos becomes work, rather than fun.
I was talking about all this with a friend over the weekend, and as a result, I’m currently considering getting a smaller camera, of the sort I used to have in my bag all the time. Decent long zoom, good lens, good image quality, light(ish) weight. Everything that takes it back to being easy and fun again.
It won’t happen just yet, it’s most likely something for the new year.
When you do decide, visit WireCutter for the reviews.
Thanks Lyle for these thoughts. I was just about to rush out and buy a DSLR, as you might have noticed in a recent tweet. Now I will think more carefully… perhaps a nice compact. I’ve had two in the past, with v good results.
Thanks to G for WireCutter rec.
It’s almost like the old days! (Except no Naked Blog or My Boyfriend Is A Twat.)
And now I see there’s a genre called Bridge Cameras. Eenie Meenie etc.
As I do always have a small daysack when out and about, this wouldn’t add to the clutter. And ofc iPhone is good and reliable for the days you leave it at home.
Fun times. (Love spending money, me lol)
The bridge (AKA Mirrorless) cameras are getting good reviews, I know.
Mind you, just looking at the compact-ish ones, I’ve been amazed at the current optical zoom levels – my last one pre-SLR had a 10x zoom, which was pretty much top-end at the time. Now I can see ones that have 40-50x Optical zoom, which is just insane!
And a pretty insane test of the image stabilisation!
Apparently it all works pretty well – allbeit with (in some cases) a bit of a loss of detail at the top-end of the zoom.