For a long while now I’ve wanted a camera that I can carry around with me, isn’t heavy, has all the manual features I enjoy on a camera and compliments a lot of the long lens photography I’m currently involved with.
After considerable research and handling a range of possibilities (never buy a camera without feeling it in your hand) I opted for the Canon G10. It’s a camera to take on a serious walk and not be burdened down. I got it this week and took it on it’s first proper outing yesterday, having spent the day before with the manual and familiarizing where everything is and how it works.
We went up to Aberystwyth to celebrate my daughter’s 21st and throughout the day I carried my new toy everywhere. It’s so light and small in comparison to what I normally take that my first problem was remembering I had it with me. Easy to put it down and forget you ever had it! We walked to the front through the town and I found I was once again looking at the world more astutely than I perhaps had done for a while. A freedom in image making had returned and I enjoyed it.
I’ve never been a great fan of using a screen on the back of a camera to compose a shot and with the G10 there’s a viewfinder. You can also turn the screen off which means you are effectively working with a camera as it used to be back in the days of film. With the camera set to mute, no need for bleeps and clicks all over the place, it’s so silent that at times you wonder if the shutter has actually been released.
The lens offers a good focal length range, with 28mm to 140mm (35mm equivalent) and produces a really fine quality of image, particularly at the lower end of the ISO range. Past 400, however, and you begin to notice significant image deterioration.
I also re acquainted with a book I had not read for a good number of years, Beauty In Photography – Essays in Defence of Traditional Values, by Robert Adams. It was in a closing down sale and too good an opportunity to miss. Sitting on the prom, on a glorious afternoon, reading a couple of the essays is about as good as it gets and I was reminded of the single most important aspect of image making, why we take pictures. It’s a great little book and one I would recommend to anyone with an interest in this area.
I’ve posted ten images from the day and renewed a passion for my first love of the documentary image. The problem now is finding time to embrace all the aspects of image making I love. I’ll have to get in a hide again as soon as possible!
