Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Eye Must See: My Thoughts On Resuming Photography

A Black Nikon Df, with the also recently announced 58mm f1.4 Lens. Photo from Nikon Rumors
The awesome folks at Nikon Rumors got me visiting their website every 12 hours since the final weeks of October. Their reports showed that Nikon was close to announcing a retro-looking DSLR, and at the time I thought, whatever they came up with would probably be right my alley.

When they specified that this new camera would not have video, I didn't seem to mind. I got pretty excited the first time I saw the line, 'Pure Photography' on their teasers.

Before the reports came out, I was looking at buying the Olympus OM-D and then the Fujifilm X100s. I felt that how comfortable I was with bringing the camera wherever I went was as important as the specifications of the camera. I thought that the trend of retro-looking cameras was limited to coming from Olympus, Fuji, and Pentax; again, you could probably imagine how excited I was to see that a retro-Nikon DSLR was coming.

Then the day came... all 6 teasers were shown, and then the Nikon Df was announced. It looked gorgeous... it had a D4 sensor, confirmed... 16.2MP, ISO Range from 50 - 102,400. No video, confirmed. 5.5 FPS. D600 AF. Guess all that's okay... but man, $3000? I mean, Nikon had me at 'Pure Photography', but this is more like 'Snobbish Photography'... you take out features that could easily have been there without compromising the form of camera, and you make it just a little less expensive than the D800?

(Before I go further, yes, I have read reviews and previews - dpreview, Chase Jarvis, Thom Hogan, Nasim Mansurov, Steve Huff, and some others. What these great people of the trade had to say made an influence on my own opinion)

If the X100s would have taken different lenses (or while I'm dreaming, if it had a Nikon F-Mount), I'd buy one in a heartbeat. I still want the Df, though... I can wait till the Df becomes cheaper, but Lord, I would really like a proper camera...

'The best camera is the one you have right now'; Perhaps I will realize this in time. Perhaps I will appreciate the camera I have on my iPhone more, but the fact that I used to have a DSLR still haunts me. I could have done a whole lot better with my D80 while I had it. 

The Df isn't out till the 28th, and even by then, it would still cost 3000$ (might as well get it with the 'special edition' 50mm f1.8 it's meant to be packaged with). If it's going to be mine, it'll have to wait for a while. Till then, I'll have to find a body which will serve as my primary, until I have my stills taken by the Df.

For the moment, my mind is contemplating on the D610, or a D7100. I don't want a D7000 - too many bad memories involved with that model. Wouldn't mind a superzoom; then again, a couple of primes wouldn't hurt either. I'm staying away from the X100S - current photography opportunities require some sort of versatility, and a fixed 23mm (35mm equivalent) lens won't be of much help. 

Why am I typing all this down? I suppose it helps in getting my thoughts together on the subject of photography, given my current camera-less situation (more on that later, if I'm led to talk about it). I know I've stated my primary and ultimate desire should be Jesus Christ, but I'm also led to believe that it is His desire for our own desires to be addressed. 

I'm on edge right now; I see not just a want, but a need for me to acquire my own DSLR once again. A website needs content. Businesses need proper advertising. I'm not going to force myself to think of other reasons right now, but you can be very sure that I'm not about to fill a website with pictures coming from my iPhone 4; The Colonel (my name for this phone I got from my dad) has more.. candid assignments. 

To be continued... 


_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

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