it appears that i have not made a diary entry for quite some time. well, in retrospect i haven't been taking as many pictures as i used to. in fact i find myself taking less and less pictures as the years go by - only increasing my shutter counts during vacations and weekend trips away from home. 2012 was the year i concentrated solely on film photography, and by the end of 2012 i was about ready to move on to other mediums to capture my daily life. somehow, film stuck around a little bit longer in 2013, what with my purchase of the Canon AE-1, as well as my brief re-acquaintance with my Flexaret VII at the end of the year. i don't doubt the calibre of these two cameras - they are both fantastic cameras, but using these cameras is akin to tunnel vision. the only notion i have in my head is this feeling of having already tried all these cameras. where else is there for me to go in photography?
one fine day in October, i decided to ditch the analog cameras and dust out my very first camera - the 400D. all my years of shooting in film has made me pick my shots a lot more carefully, and to fully devote my attention to a single digital camera is liberating - coupled with VSCO Film for post-processing, it was like an epiphany for me. everything somehow connected and digital is finally back into my repertoire. granted i still took my Flexaret VII with me to trips, on account that i still had several boxes of film left unused, but my primary focus was to unload all my shutter counts onto my 400D. i found myself a lot more satisfied with my digital shots - and VSCO Film helped me take those shots to a different level of expressing myself through my pictures.
it hasn't been that long since i began using my 400D again, and i figured that if it's still taking proper pictures, i don't see any reason to stop using it. it was then that i had another epiphany - about how outdated my camera actually is. i'd rather not blame the camera when it comes to taking pictures in locations with less-than-satisfactory lighting conditions, but in my case, i realized how much better my pictures could've potentially turned out if i had utilized a more superior camera. this parallels my previous adulation for the AE-1 and Flexaret VII, and how at the end of the day the technology will eventually limit me. has my using of the 400D finally become my crutch?
i can't count the number of times my colleagues have japed at how i should substitute my 400D with a full frame camera. my mantra has always been If it ain't broke, why replace it?, and presently, i still breathe this mantra. however that didn't stop me from considering my upgrade options. a full frame camera definitely sounds very appealing, and the chances of me owning one by the time 2014 closes is quite possible. yet, i still hold dear my trusty 400D - good for another 10 or 20,000 shutter counts, i reckon. it's not that i don't want to work around the 400D's shortcomings - and i always find ways to work around them - by limiting my usage to an old camera, i'm only creating my own tunnel vision. isn't photography all about opening horizons, and discovering new sights and experiences? mayhaps an upgrade is due, but whenever it comes, i certainly will embrace it.
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