Canon Ixus 70
I have a love-hate relationship with this Ixus 70 aka. crappy camera. Bought in late 2007, it has been with me on many adventures in many places in the world. The greatest advantages are definately its small size and light weight. A great companion when hiking or exploring far distances where every extra gram of weight counts.
I had major doubts about its durability after the first week of purchase. A little bit of sand got in and somehow knew exactly how to travel to the most vital parts of the camera. The price to repair was almost half the price of the camera itself! But after it was repaired and nearly 3 years later, it is still in great shape.
In those 3 years I have also lost it twice. But the little guy found its way back to me every time. The craziest story was when it got stolen near Cape Tribulation in Noth-East Australia and the new owner got remorse and sent it back.
Unfortunately I felt like I had pushed the camera to its limits and I was ready to move on. The quality and size of the images are good enough, but its greatest disadvantage is definiately the lack of manual focus. Too many times have I aimed the camera in the distance/clouds/mountain tops and that the camera was unable to focus. It just becomes impossible to take a sharp picture, which can be extremely frustrating. The other disadvantage is its lack of aperture/sense of depth. Unless using digital macro on closeby items, there is no sense of depth in the photos.
Positive aspects are the great automatic whiting and colour balance, its weight, its fast start up time and its true view LCD display. It's not retiring yet.
Canon 500D
After I saw this camera for a bargain-like price on a second hand trading site, late 2010, I just had to buy it. After unexpectedly needed to have the lens cleaned for an extra amount of money, it resulted in me not being able to buy food for the next 2 weeks. But it was worth it.
Even though Canon classifies this camera as 'Entry' level, to me it's quite professional. I can change the lens for another one, how professional is that! This feeling of operating this awesome camera will probably change in the future, but for now it's the next great step with endlessly more capabilities than the ixus. Most pictures that you will see in the gallery are all taken with the ixus. Perhaps you might recognise the few that are already taken with the 500d.
Long Legs
In some countries being tall knows little advantages. The beds are too short, the food is too little, the choice in shoes are too limited, the surprised faces are too many. But in most cases, being tall is awesome. You get to see what's happening on stage, you'll be extra appreciated as a dancer and, you'll have long legs that can carry you everywhere on the planet and in about half the time that it normally takes. Get some too!
Camera genes?
A couple of years ago my dad gave me a small book that my grandfather wrote. It was a biography about his life as a photographer and all the adventures he enjoyed while doing so. In his days, he traveled on his motorcycle from customer to customer, selling his 'prentbriefkaarten,' an old-fashioned Dutch word for postcards. My dad followed in his footsteps and became specialised in the hospitality industry, designing mainly brochures with the photos that he takes.
But I never liked what my dad did. I grew up with the idea that I wanted to do anything but the same job as him. Now, after I've been living quite far away for quite a while, my fingers somehow tickle everytime I see something beautiful and there happens to be a camera around..
