[gorjuss] Some waffle about cameras

[Giles Turnbull]

I did pretty well last year. A series of good work deals all appeared at roughly the same time and I got paid for them all at roughly the same time, and suddenly found myself flush. Doesn't happen often. These occasional moments of blimey-aren't-I-doing-well are not as common as the oh-heck-I-wish-I-was-doing-better moments that define most freelance careers, but that doesn't make them any less welcome.

Anyway, I had some money to spend and I splashed out on cameras. I bought myself a lovely Nikon D7000, a beautiful piece of kit, very close to the top end of Nikon's "amateur" equipment (go higher and you start having to pay thousands for your camera, not hundreds).

I also bought, not too long afterwards, a tiny little Panasonic Lumix GF1. It was outdated when I got it, succeeded by the GF2 and GF3, but the consensus seems to be that the GF1 was the best of the bunch. "A classic," one website called it.

And it is. It really, really is an amazing little camera. Attached to it I have a 20mm f1.7 lens, another classic item. The two of them work so well together. 

What I noticed, almost immediately, was that the GF1 came with me everywhere. The D7000 got hauled out occasionally, when I could be bothered to carry it and when I thought it would be worth the effort, but on the whole it sat on my desk and gave me dejected why-don't-you-use-me looks. 

Until quite recently I'd been very snobby about cameras without proper viewfinders. "Pah," I'd said, "I'd rather have something I can look through when I'm composing shots. I don't want to be looking at a crappy little screen on the back."

But with the GF1 that's exactly what I'm doing, and I love it. I recently sold the D7000, for not a lot less than I paid for it.

Someone commented on one of my photos on Flickr today, remarking on what a good job the GF1 had done (yet again). That's what's so great about it. *It consistently and reliably captures the scene in front of my eyes, as my eyes are seeing it.* 

It gets colours and shades and tones of light just right. I haven't enjoyed using a camera this much for years, not since I bought my first DSLR (a Nikon D40). I still have that D40 - I'll still use it occasionally, I'm sure - but the GF1 is my new best friend.