Equipment

Many folks ask what equipment I use, especially when they see my really good photos. I like to point out that I do my photography with out-of-date inexpensive equipment. I do this in part out of lack of funds to splurge on the newest gadgets and in part because I read that a beginning photographer should master the equipment they already have before spending money on more equipment. When you see a well done photograph, good equipment my have contributed, but it was the photographer's skill or sometimes luck that really made the shot. The film camera is merely a box with a hole to let light in. Digital cameras, well that's another matter.

The Minolta X-370

This camera has fully manual capability with an aperture priority programming. It was bought used a couple of years ago from a friend and it's earned it's keep well. Commonly referred to as a "student" camera, it has been a good learning tool for me. Although originally purchased in the mid-80's, you can still buy these new for well less than $200 minus the lens. There are a wide range of lenses available from different manufacturers.

I use the original Minolta 50mm lens, a Vivitar 100-300mm zoom lens, and 1 Vivitar extension tube. The Vivitar equipment does not produce near the quality of the Minolta, but the price was right.

The Fuji MX-1200

This camera is almost the worst digital I have used. The only ones  worse, are the super cheap ones. At the time I bought it, it amazed me, then 6 months later some good cameras came out. This was the first camera marketed for average consumer. I have got some good use out of it. It's small, doesn't eat batteries too quickly, and if the conditions are within it's small limits the photos are good.

I have learned from this camera what I like in digital, small and simple. I know that the new high dollar digitals are real nice, but if I want the best quality, I'll stick to film, for now.  My biggest fault that I have with digitals, is that at their current quality, they waste shots. How so? Photography is about capturing memories and you want to capture them well. If you take a digital, you get unpredictable results, less than 35mm quality, and the printing techniques are not going to hold as well as a developed photograph. Many would argue my points, but when they show me a camera I can afford that proves me wrong, I'll buy it.

The things I do like about this camera are:

These attributes put it almost in the "Loma" type of photography that is becoming popular. So I still can have fun with it.

Minolta DiMage Z1

 Minolta DiMAGE Z1, 3.3 megapixel CCD, 10x optical zoom

The Z1 is my first higher end digital. It's a 3.2 megapixel. I'm a little disappointed with the noise in some of the photos, but overall it's amazing for the price. I wanted full control over the camera and at least a 30 second shutter time and this camera does both.

My first outings have had mixed results. I am using it as my prime camera so that I am forced to improve my skills with it. The 200 shots or more on one battery charge and one 256meg card is a big plus while learning!

Here is a very detailed description of the Minolta Dimage Z1.

Click the picture of the Z1 or the link for great price on the camera at Wal-Mart!