A new day dawns

I have owned a lot of cameras over the years. My earliest photos were of my family and nature, friends, flowers, snow. I am guessing that I received my first camera - a Kodak 110 - when I was about 12.

By the time I was in high school, I was borrowing my dad's Pentax, an SLR. Then I bought a Minolta (I think?), which was stolen, and replaced it with a used Minolta. When I started studying journalism, I picked up a good used Canon AE-1, which became part of me in a way only a good camera can. It was reliable, didn't need batteries (as long as I could get along without the light meter), and all the controls were right where I needed them. Well, a number of years later, that camera and a brand new flash was stolen as well. I replaced it with a cheap point-and-shoot because we were going on vacation, and although the photos turned out mostly ok, I despised that cheap camera. And that was the last time I used film.

So I went back to Canon, buying an S1 IS, then a Canon Rebel (the first year it was introduced) - along with a 17-85 lens - which I used for 2 years before buying any other lenses. I began a DSLR collection then, gradually adding a 50mm lens, a 60mm macro, a 70-200 zoom, then a used 5D and a 24mm lens. All this camera equipment was getting heavy and my hand and arm and back would ache after walking around with the camera in ready-to-shoot position for a while. Then the mirror fell out of my 5D. That was the last time I used a DSLR.

The next weekend we headed out on a road trip to a camera store 4 1/2 hrs away because it was the only one within driving distance which had the new Fujifilm X100, a mirrorless fixed lens camera with a beautiful classic design and boldly innovative innards. I was free again to enjoy taking photographs in a way that I hadn't felt since my old Canon AE-1 - better, actually, because digital photography has come a long way since then, and cameras are faster, sharper & more capable than ever before. That was June 18, 2011.

Yesterday, a new camera arrived, a Fujifilm X-E2, along with an 18-55 lens & a camera bag. A new X system camera, with a similarly gorgeous design to my beloved (and well battered) X100, plus the fun of new focal lengths (and improved software) to play with. O Joy!

(And, of course, this post wouldn't be complete without a new photo from my new camera taken at sunrise this morning. The tide was out and for once it wasn't windy or too cold. A perfect day!)