I got a new camera!!

My very first camera was a 35mm SLR: a Nikon FG-20. It was a hand-me-down from my mom and I loved it. I used to walk around my yard and my neighborhood as a teenager, snapping photos of anything and everything (but rarely people). I remained a faithful Nikon photographer when I bought my first serious digital camera, a Nikon D70 that I bought second-hand in 2007. It wasn’t my first digital camera, but it was my first serious digital camera. I bought it a few months ahead of a semester abroad in France – I remember wanting to have a good camera to document my first extended trip in Europe. That D70 remained my faithful companion for the next seven years, coming with me on a cross-country move as well as trips on four different continents. I basically used it all the time. But at some point last year, that started to change. I got an iPod Touch before going to Norway for the summer, and even though my D70 came along, I used the iPod almost exclusively. Last fall I replaced the iPod with an iPhone. The cameras have come quite far in smartphones, as we all know, and for everyday snaps you really can’t beat the ease and portability they provide.

As I started using my phone more and more to take photos, I think my old D70 really started showing its age. My relationship with it had changed, too. I didn’t want to bring it along to document much of anything, and it really only came out to shoot pattern photos or knitting projects. In the last few months, it’s finally given up. I can no longer shoot with it. Whatever’s wrong with it is probably fixable, but I decided that I’d rather look at buying a new camera than pay money to have a rather old one fixed, especially since digital photo technology has moved forward by huge leaps and bounds since that camera was released. And there’s something to be said for investing in a camera that moves me to take pictures again, that’s inspiring just to have in my hands. So I started looking around.

What I landed on is the camera pictured above: the Fujifilm X-T1. I went for the “graphite silver edition” because the silver top is reminiscent of the Nikon FG-20 that was my very first camera (nostalgia totally sells; smooth move, Fuji!). The purchase of this camera marks a rather momentous occasion for me: it’s the first time I’ve bought a proper pro camera totally brand new. There’s a lot about it that’s very different than my Nikon – the biggest thing being that the Fuji is mirrorless – but I love the photos it takes and I love how it feels in my hands, and that stuff matters to me just as much as the technical specs (if not more).

I took a long walk today to spend some time getting a feel for it. Walking around with this camera in my hands, I almost felt like that teenager walking around with her first camera again. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt that sort of giddy excitement about a new creative tool. Most of the photos I took today are just snapshots, really, but I thought I’d share a few here on the blog. I hope to be sharing a lot more photos on the blog again, especially once I get to Norway in August.

I also wanted to say thanks to the friends who sat and talked cameras with me as I worked my way up to this decision, particularly Kathy and Rachel. Your enthusiasm and encouragement means so much, and I’m grateful for it.