I've always enjoyed using cameras, in fact, there were many Christmases and birthdays where I'd added a camera to my wish list. I got my first half decent camera when I was about 12-ish, I'm pretty sure it was for my birthday. I can't remember the make but it was a compact film camera with an optical zoom of no more than about 3.0x. I took it quite a few places with me and snapped whatever I saw, but I never got round to having the films developed! I know that's the whole point but I was only young...
I had this camera for a number of years, and it was used frequently until the arrival of the 'camera' phone. This was pretty much the answer to my problem of being too lazy to have the films developed. The first half decent camera phone I bought was a Sony Ericcson K800i, I can't believe it was only 6 years ago that this phone was released.... really?! It seems like AGES ago that I had this phone... Anyway, for a phone I thought the pictures were great!
I also never knew that James Bond used this phone in Casino Royale!
I suppose you could say that the arrival of the camera phone rekindled my love of photography and introduced me to the digital age. The fact that I could take a picture and instantly see how it looked, and keep or discard it was awesome! And for a while I stuck with camera phones as my primary source of photos. I mean, some of them were on par with the digital cameras of their time anyway! For a number of years I bought phones primarily on their camera features, and got through such phones as the LG Viewty, Nokia N95, HTC Desire HD, and so on... Anyone that knows me will tell you just how many phones I've had, I think I have some sort of addiction...
A few years later, I booked my first proper holiday, with my partner at the time, to the Yorkshire Dales. There were several sites we planned on seeing and I felt that using my phone just wouldn't do it justice. I bit the bullet and bought a Samsung WB500. I was attracted to the camera for its 'ultra wide' angle lens of 24mm. I figured there would be a lot of landscapes to photograph. However, I also wanted the ability to get up close to subjects, which is where it's 10x optical, and 5x digital zoom came in handy. Overall, it's a top camera, and I still use it today (as I kindly donated it to the business I work at). However, it just didn't seem enough for me, I didn't know why but the photos never had that 'WOW' factor and didn't seem detailed or sharp enough for me. The thing that annoyed me most was missing out on the exact shot I wanted, due to lack of control over shutter speed etc... I knew very little about photography at the time and started to look around at alternative cameras.
I started by looking at mirrorless cameras like the Sony NEX-5. I wanted something that could shoot at around a 35mm equivalent of 15mm as I planned on using the camera to do interior photography for my business as a Letting Agent. However, I quickly found that most mirrorless cameras had crop factors of at least 2 or more, meaning I couldn't break past that 24mm mark.
I used to be one of those people who didn't understand why people spent £100's on cameras. I figured that anyone could pick up a camera and shoot an amazing photo... but I was quickly learning how wrong I was. I almost went down the mirrorless route, as the cameras looked funky and seemed newbie friendly. They also had loads of innovative features packed in to them. However, I knew deep down that I'd soon outgrow the features of the camera and have to go down the DSLR route. After months of searching I eventually decided on a Nikon D5000 with the standard 18-55mm kit lens. After the first few photos I knew I had made the right decision and quickly realised there was no compromise.
This blog entry was going to be about what I shoot with at the moment, but I started to harp on about everything I've ever shot with, so thought it best to end it here. I'll blog about my current equipment over the next few days.
A few years later, I booked my first proper holiday, with my partner at the time, to the Yorkshire Dales. There were several sites we planned on seeing and I felt that using my phone just wouldn't do it justice. I bit the bullet and bought a Samsung WB500. I was attracted to the camera for its 'ultra wide' angle lens of 24mm. I figured there would be a lot of landscapes to photograph. However, I also wanted the ability to get up close to subjects, which is where it's 10x optical, and 5x digital zoom came in handy. Overall, it's a top camera, and I still use it today (as I kindly donated it to the business I work at). However, it just didn't seem enough for me, I didn't know why but the photos never had that 'WOW' factor and didn't seem detailed or sharp enough for me. The thing that annoyed me most was missing out on the exact shot I wanted, due to lack of control over shutter speed etc... I knew very little about photography at the time and started to look around at alternative cameras.
I started by looking at mirrorless cameras like the Sony NEX-5. I wanted something that could shoot at around a 35mm equivalent of 15mm as I planned on using the camera to do interior photography for my business as a Letting Agent. However, I quickly found that most mirrorless cameras had crop factors of at least 2 or more, meaning I couldn't break past that 24mm mark.
I used to be one of those people who didn't understand why people spent £100's on cameras. I figured that anyone could pick up a camera and shoot an amazing photo... but I was quickly learning how wrong I was. I almost went down the mirrorless route, as the cameras looked funky and seemed newbie friendly. They also had loads of innovative features packed in to them. However, I knew deep down that I'd soon outgrow the features of the camera and have to go down the DSLR route. After months of searching I eventually decided on a Nikon D5000 with the standard 18-55mm kit lens. After the first few photos I knew I had made the right decision and quickly realised there was no compromise.
This blog entry was going to be about what I shoot with at the moment, but I started to harp on about everything I've ever shot with, so thought it best to end it here. I'll blog about my current equipment over the next few days.
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