In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;
Some history: apart from having the occasional crappy 35mm camera as a child, I was not really into photography for a long time. I’ve always had a good memory and never really saw the value in taking photos. A few years ago, when I first started getting back into Lego, I decided to take pictures of all my Lego sets, and for that I needed a camera. I picked up a total piece of shit camera at Best Buy, from the opened item cage, for, I think, $100 or less. At some level, it worked, so I can’t complain too much. Its autofocus was terrible though, and with no manual focus capability, pictures of my small Lego sets turned out a lot like this: (click for bigger)
I got kind of tired of this whole situation, and so started looking around for a new camera. I’d finally decided on the Sony F717 when my boss at the time, a man who was independently wealthy from a dotcom stock sale, sent email to our group asking if anybody wanted a free Sony F707. I, of course, jumped up out of my chair and ran to his office to claim the prize. That was a good camera; it served me well for many years and took quite good pictures. It even had some pretty fancy features, like a neat laser-grid autofocus system for getting quality autofocus in low-light conditions.
However, the camera got old, the battery stopped being quite as nice, and I felt the yearning for new technology. I was hoping to upgrade to the next revision in Sony’s L-shaped semi-SLR line, which had continued after the F717 to the F828, only to find that the line had been discontinued and essentially replaced by Sony’s new DSLR, the Alpha. At first I was a little annoyed, because I didn’t really want to get into the whole SLR thing, but then I decided that it would be worth the investment, and I took the plunge.
And now I’m entirely into the whole SLR thing. I’m constantly reading about which kind of lenses, filters, flashes, tripods and even carrying cases I should be using. I’ve already spent more on extra lenses for my camera than the kit cost me in the first place, and just the other day I bought some more books to help me learn how to really get the most out of the thing. I think it’d been worth it though, I’ve taken some pretty decent pictures lately and I’m having a lot more fun with it.
You’re making me want to go in search of a (much) better camera. This is dangerous stuff.