Cameras
 

Photography has been very much an on-and-off pastime over the years. Some periods I've exposed roll after roll of 35mm, to varying degrees of success. Other times, I've gone for months on end and forgotten altogether about the camera stored away in the cupboard. However, since the advent - and more particularly affordability - of digital equipment, it's very much enjoyed a resurgence in my life. As a consquence I've just this year (2005) bought my sixth camera, and third ever digital.

When I started this gallery project, most of the photos were taken with the Minolta SLR below, and scanned in from high street 4x6" prints. Since getting the Nikon Coolpix (and more recently the D70), the balance has changed significantly and the majority of my offerings are now digital.

 

Nikon D70
This is the kind of camera I've always wanted. Having had fun with the Coolpix for the last 2 years, I was becoming frustrated that it wasn't an SLR, and never would be, and I was really missing the feel of a proper camera...
Choosing a new camera to buy is rarely an easy decision, but in this case, well... it was essentially a no-brainer. I've not seen a bad review for this model. With the competetive pricing from the likes of Amazon.com and the £100 cash-back from Nikon, you could only otherwise dream at the kind of thing you'd get for your money.

 

 Nikon Coolpix 4500

 

I was debating a long time, not whether to buy another digital camera, but if I wanted to switch from traditional film and 'go digital' for the forseeable future.

Looking for a successor to my DimageV, this was the obvious choice - giving me the quality I wanted and the SLR-type features I would get frustrated without having.

  

Most of all, the camera has the unique swivel action lens and LCD display, which allow me to shoot photographs without having to hold the the thing so conspicuously to my eye.

 Minolta Dynax 7000i

 

This camera replaced my OM10. I didn't know much about the model before I bought it - it was basically just chance what they had in second hand in the shop to fit my budget.

My only regrets with this camera are no depth of field preview, no provision for cable shutter release (although I have seen gadgets you can fit) and no built-in flash (the add-on flash is bulky and expensive).

After many years, I finally tracked down the user manual. This is it: part 1 and part 2 in PDF format. Note these are rather large files (2.2Mb ) - the pages have been scanned as images rather than text).

 Minolta Dimage V

 

An impulse buy, no less, one summer day while I was waiting for a train in 1999. Already end-of-line then, it is still something of a revolutionary design, with little else like it on the market.

 
 

Great fun to use, despite the very poor picture quality (0.3 megapixels), although performed a lot better in bright sunlight.

Sample photos in the gallery here, here and here.

 Olympus OM10

 

My first 'proper' camera, bought second-hand when I was 18, if I recall. A very good first SLR. Stolen in 1992, I still miss it.

Like all new photographers, I made the classic mistake of buying two cheap Sigma lenses to complement it and wondered why my pictures were never too sharp! Still, it was a great tool to lean on, espcially with its manual focus and depth of field preview button - a feature I've yet to have on a camera since.

I haven't scanned many of my older photographs into the gallery, but there are just one or two in there, such as this and this.

 

 Kodak Instamatic

 

The first camera I used doesn't really warrant much mention, other than to say it was a 1970s Kodak Instamatic, which I borrowed (I don't think it was ever mine) from my dad. You remember the things - they took those 126 film carteridges and produced annoyingly square photos which you could rarely get any kind of picture composition out of.

Funny now how I often try go back to taking square pictures again...

 


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