What's Your Camera Story?

[Petesie]

Bit of a mis-leading title as currently I don't (didn't!) have a camera! 

Started with an Olympus OM1n then a phase with Sony & Canon when digital arrived. I went through a Nikon phase with a D300s then a DF, sadly at that time during my visits to Patts the gear stayed in my case as I was off into the night though I did get some good shots in Hua Hin on a D90. 

Compacts were easier to bring so I had a Sony RX100, then a Fuji eventually getting a Fuji X100 when they came out, I loved that format, changed up to the 100F when the model got upgraded, unfortunately I left that in Ireland & haven't seen it in 5 years!

Arriving in Patts I tried to upgrade again & bought the XT4 & 16-80 & 35mm lenses thinking that was the way to go, after a fall on Beach Road I cracked some ribs & the camera was benched for a while, I recovered but the XT4 remained benched as I was busy doing other things! I sold that around a year ago & I'm having a moment where I'm longing for another...X100Vi!

I've surmised that was my favourite format of all the gear I'd had through the years & the yearning is real...a new one is a bit too much though the 2nd hand market is better here than in the UK so there's a few around...Dear Santa 🤔

 

 

[Petesie]

 I was getting a bit jaded with the search for this elusive Fuji X100Vi; it's been available for 18 months & there's a few on the used market but they want around 50k used which is only slightly less than the new price... which is not available. I messaged one dealer asking if they had this in their store in Bang Saen as we were there this morning...yes of course, no response from the store, found the number & was informed they were closed till Jan 5th...really?

 

[Petesie]

Amazing what can happen overnight, ad appeared but they didn't answer till the morning, quick to & fro & me head was nodding, Doris (which surprised me) offered to drive to BKK to pick it up...

Fixation to Cherche La Camera & it all happened fast, my new X100VI...

[Petesie]

Very happy with the new Fuji, added a lens filter, Fuji Logo shutter release, a new hand strap & got protective screens for the display...all for less than 1k baht. 

Busy trying to navigate PS & Adobe Lightroom, completely forgotten everything which is one of the reasons I went the new camera route...keeps my mind active in me old age...🤔

[Petesie]

Compacts; I got fed up with taking my Nikon gear to LoS & it never leaving my suitcase so the compacts beckoned, a small Panasonic then a Fuji 10 (?) & finally a Sony RX100 when they first came out. They may be happy snappers but they produced good results. Pic from 2008.

Enter the I-Phones with a half decent camera, those changed the game & many compacts were ditched as the phones took over. Many of the decent pics I've taken were on my I-phone 11 then the 13 Pro-max which I still have & use for most of the bar pics, Photo Apps also had an impact which was a game changer. I use a few including Photoroom, I then import results into Snapseed & finally into PS Express for any text & Watermark. I hesitated getting my Fuji X100VI as I see the results I'm getting from a 5 year old phone...

Now we're heading into AI...so far I've just used it as a tool to create flyers for Newbar & the odd funny clip but it's sure a game changer...

 

[Petesie]

A Big Bloody Oops...🤫

Loving my Fuji X100VI, looks, feel, added a few extra's as recommended via Youtube but...I was having issues in certain areas & found a few settings that I wanted to alter & found I couldn't...

Light bulb moment...I'd never had a used camera before apart from an Olympus OM1n which was manual in any case...so I googled it. Should I reset everything to Factory settings, Google was polite...of course ye Numpty, ye mean ye haven't?

That explains it then...now I have to watch all them Youtube vids again...

I've a friend who's used Fuji as a pro & he told me the Fuji app is...shite, found that out before & even though I've updated the firmware etc it will not transfer images, common fault it seems since the last firmware update.

Hey ho...

[28templarknight]

I have a X-t20 and I never used Fuji app cause it's super slow unless you need tethering which my camera isn't capable of doing, so I just pop that microsd card out and insert it into my PC and import to lightroom 

That X100 is a nice street photography camera though

[28templarknight]

When I was a kid I used to play around with my dad's Nikon FM2, he has another camera, the F2A, and lots of Nikon prime lens. After I grew up living in Seattle I got a Nikon F80/N80 and was taking lots of B&W pictures cause near the University of Washington there was a photolab where you could rent a darkroom and develop your own films and photos. It was super fun watching your pictures being developed. Nowadays I don't even know if these lab would still exists. 

[Petesie]

There are still labs who will print but these days it's not only pricey but on a roll of 36 you may only find a few worth the print. We all used to send them off & hope for the best but these days we can review & discard, edit & save...🙂

[Joeleg]

Started with Canon AE-1 just out of school. Then went thru with Nikon - FM, F4, D60, D90, D200, got tired of lugging equipment. Switched to compact Coolpix 950. Then to Sony ZV1 (marvellous for low light and break thru at the time). 

My SLR days came to close in 2020. Just too hard. Jumped to Sony ZV1, the tiltable screen was great. 

Severely tempted to go for the mirrorless, Olympus EM-5  and then the Fuji X100VI. 

Recent status: 95% of shot on iPhone 16 pro, Sony for back-up and video and Insta for specials.

 Start of 2025, 100% on iPhone. Covered South Caucus and Central Asia. Daily late night editing on laptop in the hotel using only Apple edit. Gave up on dedicated software. Lightroom was excellent in the 1990s onwards. Now mainly cropping for composition, resizing and formatting. 

Sony ZV1 with hand held grips for videos and backup shots. 

 iPhone cameras now can hold their own in low light, indoors, people and travel Had to give up on landscape and wildlife as quit the SLR scene completely. 

Will stop bringing my laptop on trips as the latest iPad 11 inch with OS 26 has full preview that does proper and faster resizing and with shortcuts applied for multiple image. 

 

iPad 11 inch 3m carrying case with accessories pocket. 

[Encora]

I started in the early '60s on my dad's Kodak Retina Reflex, a great camera for its time. 
Did many different cameras in the years following, while working in the trade. Mostly SLRs then DSLRs, mostly Canon.
In 2013, I got a Fuji X100s, and it changed my work entirely. Getting older, I was sick of all the weight of DSLRs and lenses, the X100 felt like a release from prison. because of work needs, I backed it up the next year with an XT1, then an XT3 plus some lenses and sold all of my Canon gear.
Two years ago, I traded up my X100s for an X100F, and it now is the most used camera. I have an XE3, for light weight back up, but recently my XT3 shutter seized up and I'm not sure if I'll get it fixed. I'm 78 now, slowing down, and maybe my XT100 will see me out....
Or maybe, I'll sell the whole lot and get the latest XT100 model...

Simplify, reduce the confusing choices and just use my eyes and my feet.  The quality of the later Fuji XT100 is sufficient for al but the very highest spec pro jobs

[Petesie]

Every bugger now has a phone with a camera,could this be a seismic shift in the changing face of photography?

A bud asked me to check out  theX300 Pro & it's a good job I got my Fuji before seeing the Youtube vid of this...it's astounding!

I have the I-phone 13 Pro Max & I've been happy with it's 12mp, the results it produces, the photo apps etc...but this X300 Pro is in a different league. Doris is thinking of the 17 Pro Max from her 15 but if it was me...

 

[Petesie]

As I was further browsing the phones I spotted Xiaomi are pursuing a slightly different & interesting angle...

 

[Petesie]

As I'm invested into the Apple ecosystem it makes sense for me to continue down that rabbit hole...

 

Edited January 25 by Petesie

[Petesie]

Oddly enough Doris is planning to upgrade her 15 to the new 17 & I inherit the 15 Pro Max.

While having a sticky beak at the Reeflex stuff an add came up on FB Marketplace selling their 240mm Reflex Telephoto, Macro Add Ons all cased,15 & 17 Reeflex i-phone cases...🤔

Edited January 24 by Petesie

[Petesie]

6 hours ago, Joeleg said:

 iPhone cameras now can hold their own in low light, indoors, people and travel Had to give up on landscape and wildlife as quit the SLR scene completely. 

Will stop bringing my laptop on trips as the latest iPad 11 inch with OS 26 has full preview that does proper and faster resizing and with shortcuts applied for multiple image. 

 

iPad 11 inch 3m carrying case with accessories pocket. 

All my Apple stuff is a few years old now, 2019 Mac, 2018 MacBook, 2018 I-Pad 12.9, i-phone 13 Pro max; was thinking of getting an 11" I-pad for editing etc. but the I-pad Air makes a bit more sense for where I think I'm going with all this.

It's a juggle I'm looking forward to; atm I can take a pic on my phone, edit then pull it into Photoroom, send that to Snapseed, export into PS Express for watermarking & post it on the forum in around 3 minutes.

Happy with that...🙂