Friday at lunch I bought a new camera, a Nikon D40X. Here is a review of this compact digital SLR. In addition to offering full control over settings, one of the main advantages of an SLR is the ability to change lenses. After a day of shooting, the biggest advantage to me is that it feels like a camera. Not only did it fit my hand well, but the weight of it told me that I was holding a camera.
My primary film camera was an old Nikon F2, which is heavy and bulky, but feels like a camera. I reluctantly made the switch a few years ago to a point and shoot digital camera (a Canon 410). I was happy enough with the pictures, but it didn’t feel like photography to me. It was more like “image capture.” Most of the pictures were of the kids doing cute things, so it didn’t matter that much. But it matter did on a walk in the woods or a trip to new city.
There is a deep down connection between the act of photography and my soul. This afternoon I shot 175 pictures on my drive in the country (see next post for pictures). Each and every time the mirror flipped on the camera, I felt it. That’s 175 moments where I connected, deep down, with a mechanical device. I hadn’t realized how much I missed that feeling.
