^These birds were as big as half an adult's height. Well, it depends on how high you are. All images in this post are film photos. Maybe I shall be as wise as Marco who, in his comment yesterday, revealed that his GX200 would be sold. I am still keeping two GX200, and even my decade-old Minolta Dynax 7 and, believe or not, the dead body (well, it doesn't function anymore) of my Minolta Dynax 7000i plus a P&S Oly film mju-zoom camera.
Can you recall the crush for such old flames when you first caught sight of them seemingly with a halo overhead inside the shop windows?
And if you have many old cameras, it was "lust" not just "crush".
^I like the serene view of this boardwalk over a pond.
Want a cure to mitigate your insatisfiable photographic libido which get you in a downward spiral of dire need of money?
It is time to revive your old flames. Give them a hug (not with force or the battery compartment flip may fall out) and give them a clean-up as in the first days when you both met. Then, bring them (one at a time) out for a date.
So I brought mine, the Dynax 7 to the Mai Po Marshes which is a nature reserve under the World Wild Fund for Nature (Didn't I say that Hong Kong is not just a city for business?). The reserve restricts access by the general public except for participants of the guided tour at a cost.
^The fast focusing of the camera allowed me to snap this tiny bird perched briefly on the fallen bough and flew away in the next second. Although the tour is primary for bird watching, for which the staff can lend you monocular and binoculars of high-magnification power, it is worthy of a photographic trip or even just chilling-out from the crazy rat-racing world.
I certainly made sure that it was worthy of all three of the purposes.
The Minolta Dynax 7 with the lenses and the flashgun slowed me down bit after some time walking around and climbing up and down for photos, which is the downside of heavy, regular photographic gear. The saving grace was that I once again enjoyed the joy of the past when I first used it. Suddenly, I was like being stripped of the desire for any new cameras.
Actually, I felt myself a class above using a film SLR while the others kept checking out the LCD screens of their DSLRs as if they weren't sure about any of the shots. No wonder I could stay more focused on composing and doing every shots.
Things became simpler. A good scene, compose, expose and shot. What a refined joy of photography without keeping thinking about the camera per se!
Comments
To list just a few.
Ricoh 500G bought in 1979. Pentax ME Super, Nikon EM, Olympus XA, Fuji HDM.
All those have been well used over the years. Despite shooting with many much high grade models they were favorites.
I loved the simple light weight Nikon EM even though I had a F2, F3 and F100. For some reson I prefered the Penatx ME to the MX and later LX.
My oldest camera which I love the most is my Pentax SL bought new in 1968. It must have taken at least 100.000+ exposures but it still works and I still use the f1.8 55mm lens on my digital Pentax DSLRs. I even take the old SL out and take a few shots but I don't bother to put a film in it these days!
Mechanical devices stand the test of time better than the electronic ones. I'd say that 40 years from now not many of today's digital cameras will function as well as your old mechanical gems.
My uncle had spent a fortune (he's young with no money then)in the Nikon F2 system. Unfortunately, the body, lenses and flashgun and all the related paraphernalia have been stored too long too improperly that they go a bit mouldy now.