For quite some time now, I've been interested in getting a proper camera. It's been decades honestly, yet for some reason I still haven't pulled the trigger. I know part of it has to do with the cost. I just haven't been able to justify spending so much money on something I might only use occasionally.
I remember growing up, cameras were a pretty normal piece of life for us. My dad is a freelance photographer and he had a very nice Nikon F3 and a Mamiya RB (67 probably) medium format portrait camera that he used for things like weddings and senior photos.
Although he did a variety of formal occasions, his real passion is nature photography and I think it is safe to say the apple hasn't fallen too far from the tree when it comes to me. Though I never spent as much time in our darkroom with him as my sister did, I still look back fondly on those days, the smells, sights, and sounds still very present in my memories.
I remember at one point my dad sold his medium format camera and bought new cameras for all of us with the proceeds. My mom and sister both got Nikon camera bodies where you could swap out the lenses and I got a Nikon fixed focus point and shoot camera (all film of course!).
Kind of a let down, but looking back now, I was probably too young to handle a full feature camera anyway. Perhaps that is part of the reason I've wanted a proper camera for so long. I somehow feel like I missed the experience when I was younger...
I claimed that cost was one of the reasons I haven't pulled the trigger yet on a DSLR or one of the newer mirrorless cameras, but I also think part of it is the fact that I don't necessarily want to be "that guy". You know the one, shows up at every family function or sporting event with that massive camera dangling around his neck.
The obligatory exaggerated zoom lens attached to the front like they are taking photos for Sports Illustrated or something like that.
Sorry, no offense to the photographers out there. Heck, my dad was/is "that guy" for as long as I can remember!
With the recent craziness that happened with HIVE, I started thinking about my time here.
If HIVE were to go to zero, could I say it was honestly worth it.
I'd like to think yes on a philosophical level, but in a more tangible world, I don't know if that is true. It got me thinking about ways I could say "at least I got (fill in the blank) out of this". I thought about users like @steevc who bought a guitar a long time ago with his earnings from HIVE. I really don't want to power down any of my HIVE right now, but then I got thinking about my HBD.
What if I saved up my HBD for a fixed amount of time, and then after that I moved it off chain to buy a new camera. Would that kill my KE? Would it take forever? Would it even be possible? It seems that electronics retailer New Egg accepts BitPay which I have used a couple times in the past.
With the "how" out of the way, I suddenly found myself tackling the "why".
I didn't think it would be very hard to convince @mrsbozz about my plan given the fact that I wouldn't be touching our regular finances to accomplish it. However, when I brought it up to her, she still had a lot of questions. More than I anticipated, and it suddenly gave me pause. The fact is, my Pixel 8 Pro takes some pretty amazing photos. In fact, all the photos in this post were taken this past summer with that phone.
There is a lot to be said for convenience, and do I really want to trade that just to fulfil some childhood whim? Although unexpected, I don't fault my wife for questioning me. If I was going to pull money out of HIVE, I am sure there are plenty of other things she would love to see it go towards. A camera just seemed like something tangible I could say "all that time blogging got me this".
Just for fun, let's say I pull the trigger and do it. Any recommendations? I'm looking to spend right around $1000 for the camera body and maybe a couple decent lenses. Trust me, I know that might be a tough call with high end bodies alone running over $2000, but remember, I'm technically just an amatuer. Plus, I don't necessarily want to be "that guy" :).
I was looking at a couple offerings from Pentax and Olympus, though I used to have an old Fuji camera that took some fantastic photos. Of course I am not opposed to the popular brands like Nikon and Canon, but I was hoping to find something more unique.
Of course, this might all be for naught, but as a tech geek, I enjoy researching stuff and dreaming.
I'm sure many of you can relate.
Truthfully, picking a brand is probably the easy part. The hardest part is convincing myself it is worth it.
My Sports Account - @bozz.sports
All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or @mrsbozz unless otherwise sourced