Reflexio

Jan
16th

Mon

decline by John Woodward

Jan
15th

Sun

“illiterate” by reflexio | RedBubble

Jan
8th

Sun

kreddibletrout:

I WANT MY K1000 BACK!!!

No, no… it’s not been stolen. It still sits, somewhat neglected these days, in an old camera bag on my desk. I take it out from time to time to reminisce about the simpler days. Ah… the good ol days!

Despite huge leaps in technology giving us the ability to take a decent shot with our eyes closed, I still approach pit’cher takin with the same simplicity. I still spend time properly lining up a shot, sometimes giving myself cramps, knowing full well that I can crop & rotate it later on in some photo-editing software. There is a purity that is lost in digital. There is a skill set that is lost. There is a patience that is lost.

It’s going from fishing with a good friend in a wooden skiff in a lake to trolling with huge nets. Sure it’s easier, but where’s the fun in that?

In 2006 I ‘sold out and went digital’. Got me a Rebel XT (X-tra Trout baby… & don’t you forget it!) and slowly coddled my pride into accepting it over the next year or so. Upped the lens a year later as the kit lens is garbage. Then, in 08 I took the next big step… got me a shiny new 40D! Oooooooh! Aaaahhhhhh! I did this not because I needed it, but because I was planning on being ‘more professional’ and doing weddings & stuff so… it was a status symbol. Nothing more. So many bells and whistles (that I still don’t use), so much weight… and it’s big! Impressive looking! No on would doubt my photographic virility now! Anyone who’s been to a wedding in the last 5 years knows that 25% of the guests are sporting DSLRs themselves. The tell-tale sound of built-in flashes popping up like a chorus of plastic, electric crickets says that everyone is a photographer these days. So, to stand out, you need to be wielding the Hummer of DSLRs. Even still, with the 40D I’d get shown up occasionally.

Turns out I mostly don’t like doing weddings. It’s generally no fun as a photographer. And besides… I know I can shoot as good a shot with my XT as I can with my 40D. Like my 12 year old nephew said at the time ‘don’t they know? it’s not the camera it’s the person taking the pictures?’

Unless you’re shooting for billboards having anything above the (patronizingly named) ‘pro-sumer’ range is pointless. It’s a status symbol that says little about your skill but only speaks of your pocket-book.

So… about my K1000…

The past couple of years I’ve been wanting to downsize. The Olympus digital pen-e series came out and that peaked my interest, the Canon G series looked good-ish until I realized you cant change the lens… I really had some good looks at the Pen-Es but there was one thing that has been holding me back.

The lack of a built-in viewfinder.

Like I said, I still approach shooting like I did with film. I still see the world through a viewfinder. I can not get into looking at a little LED screen. I’ve always remarked that people hold digital cameras like stinky diapers: away from them with a pained look on their face. taking snaps is fine, whatever, but making art is an intimate experience. Holding a camera up to your face and scanning the frame with your eyeball to the minutest detail is a passionate act. It’s tantric. Focus in terms of photography is only partly about the lens, the rest, and equally important, is the inner focus.

So… there have been so many almosts in the digital camera world lately. There have been some close calls and if I could afford it I’m sure I’d own a Leica M-series by now… but I’s po. And really, rangefinders are good… but SLR… a mirror… seeing exactly what you’re shooting… that is the holy grail.

Got me thinking… with all the advances in technology surely we’re close to having the ability to make a digital camera and the associated lenses to the same specifications as my beloved K1000. The Olympus Pen-E series came close-ish in size, most new rangefinder & micro-4/3rds are close… but… no mirror. There have been so many close calls. So Many! So Many! So Many! So Many! (oh… have to look at that last link again.. looked like a built in viewfinder on one of them!)

I shoot Canon now, and Pentax of course when I dust it off… but the first company that gives me my K1000 in digital format is getting my next purchase.

I’d even go to Nikon!

Really, Pentax, you get first dibs! I just want a basic, sturdy, well designed camera. No bells and whistles. Just the facts, ma’am. Viewfinder, great sensor, great lenses, good range of ISOs… HEY! Here’s an idea!!! You can hire me as a consultant and we can call it The Pentax KT1000… huh? Has a nice ring to it doesn’t it???

I think so.

(I’ve sent a link to this entry to Pentax Corporation via their contact us page. If you agree with this blog entry, I encourage you to do the same! Maybe with enough pressure from consumers, Pentax will do it.)