You have seen a picture of my new film camera-Minolta X-700 here
http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j54/alienspecimen/Fang/?action=view¤t=web9228.jpg
Something fantastic has happened...I have been staring at it for the last four
days. I cant take my eyes off of it. It is so pretty...and I guess I am
fascinated by the delicate balance between form and function. I have been
marveling over too many of the camera design details-the moderate use of
plastics that enhance its appearance without making it looking cheap for
example, but most of all it is a human factors engineering masterpiece. I can
go on and on and on and on...:)
Interestingly, I felt exactly like that about a camera that I purchased in
1997, just a month prior to joining this list. I had done my research. I
needed a camera for astrophotography (to this day I have not taken even one
picture of the skies through my telescope...:). Sky and Telescope magazine had
reviewed five cameras a couple of years earlier and I liked the Olympus best.
Going back to that day when my OM1 came home. It was expensive, we didnt have
much money at the time, so that was a luxury purchase. I remember the feeling
of guilt almost overshadowing that of joy. And how pretty it was...I bought
it, sat down and stared for at least an hour. I couldnt find anything
"ugly"...did I say it was pretty?...:)
I then started changing the lenses. It appeared that it looked the best with
the Upsilon 28/2.8. I know that you dont know the Upsilon...it looks like
older Sigmas (seriously, I have so many OM1s with all kinds of lenses attached
to them, but the camera never looked prettier than with the Upsilon in front).
Stared a little more and thats how I brought it home...
I continued to appreciate its beauty for at least a week after, just as I did
with the Minolta...I am not going to put both cameras side by side until the
euphoria subsides. Maybe I never will...you know what I mean. They are both
special. Funny, I never felt like this about my A200 which is a masterpiece of
function and carries the legacy of superb human factors engineering, but its
forms arent that appealing and its lens, although, fantastic...looks and feels
very cheap.
In a mean time, I decided to use film for first time since 2004. Found an
interesting thing about me...I guess I lost the habit of winding the film prior
to exposure...:)
It happened to me tonight...Alex and I were walking the dog when the sky
suddenly went dark. Soon lightning followed. Christa picked us up, but we
decided to get the cameras and take a picture of this lighthouse against the
angry sky:
http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j54/alienspecimen/RI/?action=view¤t=Hope-Lighthouse.jpg
It started pouring right when we reached the destination and I was not able to
take even one picture of the lighthouse. Just got of the car, focused and
pressed the shutter...nothing happened. Then I cocked the shutter and took two
pictures on P of this bridge (lighthouse is about 100m/330ft away from it):
http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j54/alienspecimen/RI/?action=view¤t=PICT3918.jpg
Thats all the time I had, upon entering the car, I noticed that the entire
camera was soaked. We dashed out, because the lightning bolts were falling
pretty close.
I am on frame 14 and cant wait to finish the film (yes my friends, the above
pixies were taken with the A200...:). Never thought that I would say that...I
will post the images when done.
Boris
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