New Camera

I read, some time back, that since the advent of the modern digital cameras (late ’90s – early ’00s) the world has produced more than twice as many photographs as had been produced in the entire previous history of cameras (going all the way back into the 19th century).  I believe it, simply because the ease and convenience of digital camera technology makes it far easier to take a vast number of photos without any concern about having a few bad shots in there wasting film.  I’m sure some will argue that photography has lost its artistry in the age of digital and that these new cameras are just another bit of technology making us hurried and careless.  For my part I tend not to care.  I enjoy taking pictures and if I can avoid spending money on new roles of film every time I want to take more photos then that is good enough for me.  And because I do tend to take a lot of photos, I recently bought myself, for my birthday, a new camera.

A Samsung NX1000 is my recently purchased camera. Certainly not even close to the highest end camera available but a step up from my former point-and-shoot.

Before I talk a bit more about the new camera I thought it would be worth talking a little about my history of camera owning and photo taking.  When I was young, the world was very much still a place of film-based cameras.  I do not particularly remember all the cameras we had in our family, but I do remember the necessity of going and buying new roles of film regularly and then taking used film to get developed.  I am pretty sure we had an old Polaroid at one point, and I remember for one of my birthdays (ten or eleven maybe?) I was given my own camera.  One of my fondest memories from my high school years, was when the youth group I was a part of, would do disposable camera scavenger hunts (where each team had one or two disposable cameras, and had to drive around the area taking pictures of certain things in a limited time period.  It was awesomely fun).  My first experience with a digital camera came after my high school graduation, when my parents bought me a Kodak digital camera as a birthday/graduation present.  At the time I thought it was the coolest thing in the world and, admittedly, it wasn’t a bad camera for what was available then (all 3.5 mp).  I was particularly impressed that with the memory card, I could store upwards of 150 photos at a time.   Heading into my college years I had a lot of fun having an easy to use digital camera.  However, quickly mine became outdated.  Nevertheless I did not update, and would not until years after college.

In my 2007 move to South Carolina I maintained my old and much outdated camera.  I found that I wasn’t taking nearly as many pictures as I had in college, simply because the camera wasn’t all that great at doing it (I didn’t neglect it entirely I just didn’t use it often).  For essentially a point-and-shoot camera, it was terribly big and heavy.  Its focus was very poor as was its zoom.  All around it was just useful for the occasional necessitated picture, but not much else.  I began to feel the need for a better camera while living with my former roommate Dan.  Dan was working towards making a living as a photographer and had himself some very nice camera equipment including, at first one, then two, DSLRs with multiple lenses. While I would have loved such a fancy device for myself, all the DSLRs were (and still are) out of my price range.  When Eliza and I started dating in 2009 I took to using her camera a lot, which, while also somewhat dated now, was a major step up from my old Kodak.  Then, for Christmas 2011, my in-laws, having heard of my desire for a better camera, gifted me a nice Cannon point-and-shoot.  It was (and is) a great little camera.  Far superior in picture quality than my Kodak, easier to use, lighter (and only about the size of a cell phone) it was perfect and very quickly I took to taking a ton of pictures again, especially of all things nature (which has always been a favorite photographing subject of mine).  For the next year the Cannon would be in my pocket almost constantly.  Then, last November I finally updated my old flip cellphone to an iPhone, which had, built into it, its own camera, which, all things considering, was pretty effective.  I took to carrying the Cannon around less, simply because I always had my cellphone on me.  Add to that fun apps like Instagram or just the ability to take pictures and throw them right up on Facebook or in a text message, and the iPhone outweighed the Cannon in many regards.  However, the point-and-shoot was just too good and so the whole family took to using it.  Unfortunately, after having been dropped a few too many times, the sensors in it do not always work.  The unreliability of functioning made me uneasy (especially with my cousin’s upcoming wedding).  Additionally, I was really feeling a desire to have a camera with a bit more function and control, even in consideration of all the Cannon provided.  So, that is when I decided to buy a new camera.

I have never harbored the delusion of thinking of myself as a photographer, and I would never actively pursue a career in the field (one, because it seems terribly competitive and two, while I can take some nice photos, I’ve never had the patience or training needed to make a career out of taking them).  I simply just enjoy taking photographs.  So, the camera I settled on was a Samsung NK1000, which I got a pretty good deal on.  While certainly not a high end DSLR, this NX1000 does in fact utilize interchangeable lenses, and allow for precise manual focus control.  It is a member of a class of cameras that fit somewhere in the middle of a continuum of point-and-shoot to DSLRs.  That is to say, it allows me a good bit more control than a point-and-shoot while still being easy enough to learn and use (though I’m sure I’d be able to learn to use a DSLR too, but as I mentioned above, cost has always been a factor).

To date, having had it only for a week and a half, I would guess I have already shot a couple thousand photos (see, this is why I believe the opening assertion in this post).  I’ve figured out a lot of the primary and necessary functionality and am now able to play around with some of the other features with a bit more confidence.  Currently I only have one lens for it (a simple 20-50 mm) but once I have a bit more disposable income, I intend to get one or two more, in particular a macro lens, which will be ideal for some of my nature photographing.  Additionally I have a simple flash, which I’ve hardly used at all, and a memory card that lets me take about 2000 photos without any problem (in no hurry to update that).  About the only two things I currently am wanting to get, are a few spare batteries (it has its own battery, which seems to run out pretty quickly, so having a few extra will be nice) and a good carrying case (I do not want this to risk being dropped like the Cannon).

Thus far I have been very satisfied with my purchase and look forward to taking more pictures in the future with it.  In the meantime, here are just a couple of my favorite shots I’ve managed to get so far (note: no people.  In all seriousness, of the 2000+ photos I’ve already taken with it, I think less than 10 have been of people.  I don’t take a lot of photos of people.  Got to work on that for the wedding).

A pretty close shot of one of the marigolds in our yard. The color came out nicely.

I was really pleased with the lighting and shadow in this picture of a tiny russula mushroom.

Our pets have always been difficult to photograph because they don’t stand still. The Burst feature on the camera (takes like 20 photos in a second or two) has let me catch a few really nice shots of Ceres (this one being my personal favorite so far).

Part of the reason why I am wanting a macro lens in the future, is because this picture right here demonstrates about as close and zoomed in I can get on small things like insects. While not terrible, I’d love for even more close detail.

Ever since I started mushroom foraging mushrooms have been one of my favorite photographing subjects. This photo is one of my favorite mushroom photos I’ve ever taken. While there is a bit of noise in it, all around I feel like it captures the essence of those three mushrooms awesomely. As an aside, I don’t really know the species of these mushrooms, they just suddenly popped up the other day, and were gone later that afternoon.

I look forward to sharing more photos from this new camera in the future.  Hopefully they come out nicely as well.

~ by Nathaniel on June 12, 2013.