My New Camera

For several years I have been thinking about buying a high quality single lens reflex digital camera, but up to now I have hesitated to make the commitment. 

Twenty years ago I bought a Hasselblad medium format film camera, which I loved.  It was a very high quality camera, totally mechanical - no autofocus, autoexposure, or auto-anything.  It didn’t even have a light meter.  But it took great pictures.

Ten years ago, just as the digital revolution was well underway, I found a used Leica M6 camera for a good price and I loved that camera also.  It used 35mm film, had a light meter, and was solid as a rock.  It too was a mechanical camera - no autofocus or autoexposure.  And it took wonderful pictures.  Using it was a joy.

I thought these cameras were timeless when I bought them;  I thought I would hand them down to my sons.  But time did it’s terrible dance, and the cameras became obsolete almost overnight.  Film became scarce and darkrooms scarcer.  The other day I took the cameras out and realized I had forgotten how to load them.  So, after all this time and indecision, I finally decided to sell them and buy a new digital camera. 

In digital photography size matters - the size of the sensor (more than the number of pixels.)  The bigger the sensor the better.  Of course cost is a limiting factor, so a new digital sensor for my Hasselblad was not a reasonable choice at $20,000!  But a full frame sensor, one that is the same size as a 35mm film negative, was.  Although Leica makes a wonderful digital camera, at $5,000 for the camera body it seemed too expensive for my needs (but not for my wants!) 

Now I am the proud owner of a Nikon d750 with a 28-300mm zoom lens.  I downloaded the 500 page owners manual and am trying to understand it.  What a change from my first camera, a single lens reflex all mechanical film camera.  Will the Nikon make me a better photographer?  Not directly but it will encourage me to take more and better pictures. Now I won’t be able to fault my camera.  Now it’s a matter of being in the right place at the right time, and seeing the right picture.  If I can see it, the camera can certainly take it.