This is a repost and reedited blog post from my previous blog. I thought that it will be nice to update this post and repost it here.
I started out having very keen interest in photography about ten years ago. During those times, it was the film era and I was always eager to take photographs on those old PRIMA film cameras.
It should moved on to the digital age. Being a poor student, I bought my first digital camera after saving up for months!! I cannot recall the name but I remembered it as a "Chezzy DigiCam". It was a tiny weenie <1MP camera with no optical zoom, tiny flash, no external memory slots and only a bare minimum internal storage capacity. However, as it was the first digital camera, I was elated about it and went snapping everywhere. Very soon, my needs grew too much for the camera to handle. Image quality was a joke, colors washed out and I could only take that much photos.
In 2002, I then moved on to a much better camera, one digital point & shoot (P&S) compact camera. It was a Sony DSC P 71. A 3.2 MP Camera and 3 X Optical Zoom and a 1.5" LCD. Not much manual controls but at least it offers some basic controls such as exposure adjustments and white balance. It was actually pretty high spec for a P&S camera back in those days.
I had loads of fun on it for a short period of time. Again, my needs grew more than what the camera could handle. I search around shops, forums, reviews for the next camera. It should be a prosumer range, offering me more manual controls and better image quality. But it has to be reasonably price. I was still a poor student and could not afford the cool stuff.
In 2003, I got rid of the Sony camera and bought this.
The Olympus C-750 UZ. A 4MP camera with 10X Optical zoom and manual controls ( Aperture priority and shutter priority). I was hooked on the vast increase in the options that I have in framing, composing my shots. I took a keen interest in macro photography, especially on insects and flowers. I bought an adaptor and a HOYA close up filter +4 and +6. I also bought an achiever slave flash 115A/S using the onboard camera flash to trigger the slave. Tripod was also on my list and I got the Slik U6600. Distortions, purple fringing and bluish halos appear on the photos taken with the close up filters but that was the limit then. Again, I was searching around for the next replacement. I was quite satisfied by the results I had. It is a pity that the online storage which I used closed down without informing and I had no chance of backing up my previous photos taken with the C750UZ.
In 2004, Canon released its prosumer or beginner DSLR range, the 300D.
I then ventured back into film photography and bought the canon 300V at a discounted price to curb my "trigger" illness.
With it, I bought a 28-70mm canon lens for general walkabout and of course many rolls of film. I took up black and white processing. Bought processing tank with reels, film wiper, cleaner, dark bag. Was about to go into learning printing in the darkroom too but my final exams for my degree was round the corner and I had my final year project professor chasing my ass and scolding me. I decided that I do not have much time to learn the more intricate details of using film and sold off the film SLR.
It was also during the final year of my university that the interest started to go down due to extreme pressures to do well for my degree.
(It is really sad that I lost so much of my previous macro photos that was stored on the unrealiable local hosting site)
After that, I got into the current company that I am in now before my graduation and was too tied up with the new job and its demands. My interest in photography dropped to null. I simply had no more time in the weekends and just roamed around singapore, taking photographs of everything that I like and wanted. But the tech geek inside me still wants more. I have been always wanting to change my 300D to a newer model. The silver body doesn't look so pro la.
In 2006, I bought a new camera and sold off the 300D together with the 50mm prime, external flash and battery grip.
That's the canon 400D. With it, I decided that the combo of 18-55 and 75-300 was getting too heavy for my liking and I bought a second hand Tamron 18-200mm. That lens have been on my camera since then and so far, I am quite pleased with it. Of course, the picture quality is not that good but it offers a good range without the excess baggage. And oh, somehow, I bought the 50mm prime lens again. This has pretty much been a walkabout camera for me. The 400D has not been into any macro sessions, paid event photography, etc. It is really a pure, underutilized camera that sits in my dry cabinet for pretty much weeks at times. I vaguely recount the shutter count at less than 500!
And then, the new age of mirrorless, compact DSLR 4/3 came into the picture.
This beauty caught my attention. And yup, the cycle starts again. I sold my Canon 400D with its 18-55 kit lens and bought this Olympus EP-1. I decided not to sell the rest of the lens as I was afraid that I might one day go back into Canon DSLRs. The one main reason as to why I changed the camera to this was that it is compact and I THOUGHT that this will help in relighting the fire in me.
I was wrong.
The Olympus beauty was hardly used too. The only time that I used it a lot was when I was in Korea and that made me realised that this camera isn't that good. It FROZE several times during the winter season in Korea. I could not even start up the camera! It was lucky that Hazel brought along her camera.
This photo is from the Olympus camera and the image quality is actually not too bad...but as Canon started to launch its new line of DSLRs, my interest in this micro DSLR waver. I was back onto the Canon DSLR range.
This is the one that I am using right now.....but a new camera on the horizon is tempting me A LOT.
That one new feature alone is enough for me to want to upgrade again!
What is that new camera????? Will I be changing??? Will it be a Canon again????
I guess I am really a gadget freak!!!
OH YES, I LOVE MY TOYS!
