JazzLad's Cameras
JazzLad's Cameras - In order of purchase, Just the main cameras I have used - I've owned about a dozen different 35mm SLRs, an old Yashicaflex and various other cameras. These are/were my day-to-day shooters:
Minolta x370 - This was my first real camera. Paired with my beloved 100mm Rokkor, I purchased them used for $110 when I was 18 working my first job after high school - clerk in a camera shop. While I own both pieces still, the shutter has since failed and I miss using them on a day-to-day basis. Due to not being able to use them together any more, I permanently modified the lens with a chipped (so the camera knows when it is in focus) EOS mount.
Minolta x570 - I don't remember what I paid for this, but I remember it wasn't much. I bought it because I wanted a more advanced camera, but I never really preferred using it over the x370. I only owned it for a few months before trading it in on my next camera, the x700.
Minolta x700 - This was the camera I always wanted, but by the time I got it, I didn't need the program mode it added over the x370. It never replaced my x370, but it did allow me to shoot colour & b&w or negative & transparency at the same time. By this point I had added a 50mm 1.4 Rokkor and an Accura Diamatic 28mm 'junk' lens. I still have both, but the 50mm is misplaced in a box in my attic & the 28mm is modified for freelensing.
Canon PowerShot G1 - My first digital camera, I chose it because I couldn't afford a DSLR (I wanted a D30), though it was more than I spent on either my 40D or my 5D. I bought it after the G2 came out, so I did get a deal on it. With RAW and 50ISO, I did manage to take some really nice photos with it and my oldest used it recently for 12 months before getting her first DSLR & her little sister will be using it this winter.
Canon 300D aka Digital Rebel (original) - Sometimes trials bring blessings. I was in a bad car accident in the spring of 2002. A year later, the insurance company of the guy that hit me called and offered a settlement cheque that happened to be for the amount of $60 more than the price of this body + a 50mm 1.8 lens. I learned to shoot on a fixed 100mm & while this was infinitely more advanced than my x370, I wanted to get back to my roots (on a crop-sensor, the 50mm was the equiv of an 80mm on a 35mm camera). There's something about having to move your feet to get a shot that has always appealed to me. I used this camera until summer 2012 when it started acting 'flaky' - it would randomly reboot while using it. Needless to say, this took away a lot of the fun of shooting. Over the years of using it, I added a used kit lens (18-55mm) and a 70-300mm Tamron.
In preparation for my oldest turning 9 (summer 2013), I gave her the option of receiving this camera or my purchasing a used DSLR (probably a 10D) for her, with the understanding that this one had some issues and the other may or may not be much better. Always my sentimental daughter, she chose to have her father's old camera. Unbeknownst to her, I completely refurbished it prior to giving it to her, buying and replacing all the parts it needed (eyecup, remote, battery door, etc) & lo and behold, when it was done, it was completely reliable! Turns out the battery door that I knew was damaged was loose enough that the camera would occasionally register it open, turning it off & then closed, turning it back on. I also spent hours rubbing the remainder of the rubber grip (over time they tend to partially rub off and get sticky) with alcohol until it was a nice, smooth plastic. Had I put this time into it a year prior, I would likely not have purchased the 40D!
Canon PowerShot SX 230 HS - This camera was never really mine, I bought it for my wife as an anniversary gift in 2011. In the time between not using the 300D and not yet having the 40D, I used it quite a bit, but it's hard to use a point-and-shoot when you are accustomed to an SLR. It's main feature is that it shoots really good video.
Canon 40D - This camera convinced me that I will never again buy a new camera. I bought it from Adorama in mint condition for under $300 shipped in late spring 2013. Oh, my goodness! 3 generations newer and 1 category higher-end than what I had been shooting; wow, what a camera! I bought it right before a family vacation to Utah so that I could shoot with something other than the SX 230! Thus far, I have not once regretted this purchase.
Canon 5D - This one kinda just happened. A co-worker and fellow photographer saw this for sale in one of her clubs for - get this - $75. No, that's not a typo. She shoots the Mk III and thought it would be nice for me to have a full-frame camera - I agreed! Now, I didn't steal that camera (despite getting a good deal), it does have it's issues. Mainly it's shutter which has a damaged blade that doesn't move fast enough for a perfect 1/60th of a second (anything slower is perfectly fine) and the sensor was quite dirty. It also looks like it was owned by a war correspondent, but wow, when you look through a lens ... I had forgotten how amazing full-frame looked. Shooting home interiors tends to be 1/40th or slower and I used to do a lot of night shooting (ISO 50 - yay!) so (because I have another camera) I can live with the limitations.
Interesting thing about the 5D, it was built with a flaw. Due to this, Canon offers free service to repair with free round-trip shipping and best of all: a free cleaning! I sent it off a couple days after getting it (at this time it is still at the service center) and anticipate getting it back in a few days with a freshly cleaned sensor.
While the camera was in the shop for service, Canon graciously replaced my failing shutter (with very nearly 100,000 clicks) with a brand-new one! I now have a functionally new 5D (aesthetically it's rough, but 100% perfectly functional). Thanks Canon!
Not a camera, but currently building a robotic tripod head - stay tuned!
Minolta x370 - This was my first real camera. Paired with my beloved 100mm Rokkor, I purchased them used for $110 when I was 18 working my first job after high school - clerk in a camera shop. While I own both pieces still, the shutter has since failed and I miss using them on a day-to-day basis. Due to not being able to use them together any more, I permanently modified the lens with a chipped (so the camera knows when it is in focus) EOS mount.
Minolta x570 - I don't remember what I paid for this, but I remember it wasn't much. I bought it because I wanted a more advanced camera, but I never really preferred using it over the x370. I only owned it for a few months before trading it in on my next camera, the x700.
Minolta x700 - This was the camera I always wanted, but by the time I got it, I didn't need the program mode it added over the x370. It never replaced my x370, but it did allow me to shoot colour & b&w or negative & transparency at the same time. By this point I had added a 50mm 1.4 Rokkor and an Accura Diamatic 28mm 'junk' lens. I still have both, but the 50mm is misplaced in a box in my attic & the 28mm is modified for freelensing.
Canon PowerShot G1 - My first digital camera, I chose it because I couldn't afford a DSLR (I wanted a D30), though it was more than I spent on either my 40D or my 5D. I bought it after the G2 came out, so I did get a deal on it. With RAW and 50ISO, I did manage to take some really nice photos with it and my oldest used it recently for 12 months before getting her first DSLR & her little sister will be using it this winter.
Canon 300D aka Digital Rebel (original) - Sometimes trials bring blessings. I was in a bad car accident in the spring of 2002. A year later, the insurance company of the guy that hit me called and offered a settlement cheque that happened to be for the amount of $60 more than the price of this body + a 50mm 1.8 lens. I learned to shoot on a fixed 100mm & while this was infinitely more advanced than my x370, I wanted to get back to my roots (on a crop-sensor, the 50mm was the equiv of an 80mm on a 35mm camera). There's something about having to move your feet to get a shot that has always appealed to me. I used this camera until summer 2012 when it started acting 'flaky' - it would randomly reboot while using it. Needless to say, this took away a lot of the fun of shooting. Over the years of using it, I added a used kit lens (18-55mm) and a 70-300mm Tamron.
In preparation for my oldest turning 9 (summer 2013), I gave her the option of receiving this camera or my purchasing a used DSLR (probably a 10D) for her, with the understanding that this one had some issues and the other may or may not be much better. Always my sentimental daughter, she chose to have her father's old camera. Unbeknownst to her, I completely refurbished it prior to giving it to her, buying and replacing all the parts it needed (eyecup, remote, battery door, etc) & lo and behold, when it was done, it was completely reliable! Turns out the battery door that I knew was damaged was loose enough that the camera would occasionally register it open, turning it off & then closed, turning it back on. I also spent hours rubbing the remainder of the rubber grip (over time they tend to partially rub off and get sticky) with alcohol until it was a nice, smooth plastic. Had I put this time into it a year prior, I would likely not have purchased the 40D!
Canon PowerShot SX 230 HS - This camera was never really mine, I bought it for my wife as an anniversary gift in 2011. In the time between not using the 300D and not yet having the 40D, I used it quite a bit, but it's hard to use a point-and-shoot when you are accustomed to an SLR. It's main feature is that it shoots really good video.
Canon 40D - This camera convinced me that I will never again buy a new camera. I bought it from Adorama in mint condition for under $300 shipped in late spring 2013. Oh, my goodness! 3 generations newer and 1 category higher-end than what I had been shooting; wow, what a camera! I bought it right before a family vacation to Utah so that I could shoot with something other than the SX 230! Thus far, I have not once regretted this purchase.
Canon 5D - This one kinda just happened. A co-worker and fellow photographer saw this for sale in one of her clubs for - get this - $75. No, that's not a typo. She shoots the Mk III and thought it would be nice for me to have a full-frame camera - I agreed! Now, I didn't steal that camera (despite getting a good deal), it does have it's issues. Mainly it's shutter which has a damaged blade that doesn't move fast enough for a perfect 1/60th of a second (anything slower is perfectly fine) and the sensor was quite dirty. It also looks like it was owned by a war correspondent, but wow, when you look through a lens ... I had forgotten how amazing full-frame looked. Shooting home interiors tends to be 1/40th or slower and I used to do a lot of night shooting (ISO 50 - yay!) so (because I have another camera) I can live with the limitations.
Interesting thing about the 5D, it was built with a flaw. Due to this, Canon offers free service to repair with free round-trip shipping and best of all: a free cleaning! I sent it off a couple days after getting it (at this time it is still at the service center) and anticipate getting it back in a few days with a freshly cleaned sensor.
While the camera was in the shop for service, Canon graciously replaced my failing shutter (with very nearly 100,000 clicks) with a brand-new one! I now have a functionally new 5D (aesthetically it's rough, but 100% perfectly functional). Thanks Canon!
Not a camera, but currently building a robotic tripod head - stay tuned!