A Gift to Myself
Well, I made it. I turned 70 last month. 70. 51 years longer than “they” said I would. It’s not been easy, for sure. But, I got here. My body feels and acts like it’s much older, but my enthusiasm for life is still young. I mostly have the energy to do things, but my body limits me as to what I can do. And that’s frustrating at times. However….
Every year I buy something for myself for my birthday. I did before I got married and then have since being divorced. In the years when I had the money I would also take myself out for dinner, too; sometimes I would have company for that, but mostly alone. It’s not as bad as it seems.
This year I knew what I wanted for my birthday, if I could only get it. I wanted that first “special” digital camera that I loved so much – the Canon PowerShot Pro1 8 megapixels camera. I found one for sale on Adorama. I snatched that baby up, especially since it didn’t cost much. Granted, it didn’t have much with it, but that’s okay, I still wanted that little camera. And I got it! I needed to buy a few things for it, like a lens cap, and a CF card if I couldn’t find one that I had, but I had the other things that went with it [I’m not sure why I still had them but I’m glad I did!]. I took that camera out of the box and I was in heaven! But frustrated because I had no way to take any photos until the CF card arrived.
The second excitement came when the CF card came. And then it quickly dispersed because getting the card in and out of the camera, well, it’s not easy like it should be, but it is manageable, with a few words said silently. This CF card, however, is an adapter, so I can stick a micro SD card in it to expand the memory space. I think once I put it in and take it out a few times it will be easier to do.
Oh, what a gem this camera is, even at 8 megapixels. Now I just have to familiarize myself with all it’s functions again. No, it doesn’t take photos of the moon, but I did use it to take lightning photos one night very long ago. Those photos are tucked away somewhere on a CD, along with several thousand other photos that this camera took over the years.
Something I didn’t realize at the time I was using the Canon was that it was able to take other lenses that could screw on to the basic fixed lens. I just recently discovered that.
One of the neat things that I like about this camera is that I can look through the view finder without my glasses on and I can see the object clearly. I can’t do that with my other cameras. Of course, then I have the problem of “what to do with my glasses” when taking photos. Pulling them down on my nose just isn’t cool, never mind uncomfortable. But, it’s still a neat thing to be able to do. I wish I had contact lenses and just eliminate that whole problem to begin with.
So, I currently have 6 working cameras: a Pentax K-1000 35 mm film camera; a Canon PowerShot Pro1 8mp digital camera; a Nikon D3000 10mp digital camera; and a Nikon Coolpix P950 16mp digital camera. And, still hiding away somewhere in some box out on the porch, a Nikon Coolpix S220 10mp digital camera that was purchased on a cruise one year. It takes fantastic photos for a small palm sized “pocket” camera. If I knew where it was I would carry it around with me ‘just in case”. [I have the case for it, I just don’t know where the camera is, darn it!] And, of course, my phone camera.
I don’t know what makes the Canon PowerShot Pro1 so special – well, I kind of do – but there are a lot of us out there that still use or want this camera. The lens optics are just incredible!
As I have mentioned before, I don’t like taking people photos, but I really like this one that I took of my wife [now ex, but still very good friend]. It was taken with the Canon. I just like the way the shadows are on her face. And, for me, it turned out to be a very good photo. I also think she’s just plain pretty. ❤️😉
And then, here is a profile photo of Roby. Trying to get him to hold still to take a profile photo isn’t easy, but the Canon made it easy and I like the way it turned out. Neither of these photos have been adjusted by any software. They just are.
So, that’s my gift to myself. I was really sad the day my Pro1 died because it had been such a good, and fun, camera. I missed it. It’s rather like that one pair of shoes, or pants, or whatever, that you really liked that suddenly isn’t there any more and you can’t find a replacement that is satisfying enough, until one day…..
Posted in Personal Thoughts and tagged birthday, camera, canon powershot pro1, gift by Jason with no comments yet.
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