From Film To Digital and eBay This Photographer’s Best Friend
Since this is a photography themed web site intended to share my love and adventures, I figure one of the first stories to tell, is to address a common question that many photographers get. What is in your bag or better said, what kind of gear I use.
Well to cut to the chase, I am a Canon DSLR User, currently basic gear is a Canon 7D, 1DS Mkii, and old Canon 30D (that needs to have a shutter replacement or archived), my old and still used original Canon A1 (first year). Now these are mine, however they have family shared with the wife’s Canon 80D and the youngest daughter’s Canon T6i. As one can see Canon has had and will continue to get allot of my hard earned funds.
Why Canon? Well for me, like many others, I first started out on 35mm film. When I went in the military I bought my first Camera from the old Exchange system and it was an old Nikormat FT2. Great camera and many many photos were taken with it. Now this was the first Camera I bought, but I was given an older Voigtlander reflex from my mom’s uncle, and it was great and for me to learn the basic of now nearly 50 years later, very much appreciated.
So a few years later, Canon comes out with the A1, which was a game changer and got my interest due to the Auto Feature of it. So I bought my first Canon right when the A1 came out which was around 1978, I bought mine in early 1979. I still have it and it still works and never have had a problem with it.
Well as many photographers know and have experienced, the SLR lead to the lens for such and accessories. So in my case for many years, investment into FD lens and other goodies. Pretty much doing so, set me up as a Canon user. Come about 1987, Canon came out with their EOS and with those bodies developed a new mount known as the EF mount. My A1 would not take the EF lens nor would the new EOS take the FD lens mounts. Not an issue then for with plenty of good lens in FD mount a great camera and knowing how to focus manually, saw no need to go with the new stuff.
Jump a head into the late 90’s and the first Digital Cameras were coming out. I initial had bought a digital that would only shoot 640X480 and used it for work documentation of construction and engineering. It was great for such and allowed picture to be sent via email and attached to reports. That said it was nothing I would have thought for my photography hobby due to low quality, ability to edit, builds of bodies and basically they were only a quick tool to help at work. So the A1 still was used and kept me happy.
Move ahead a few years, I retired from Coast Guard, had been working in Telecommunication as second career for few years until the bubble burst in 2001 and was back working in my core skills of Facility Engineering. Had a great job that paid well, working with great team and overseeing Facility Engineering for a Bio-Production Facility making research vaccines. In short a good job that many would love and been happy to go on doing the same ole same ole for another 20 years. Not me though!!!!
Though I had a great job, I had to commute daily dealing with DC traffic, spending nearly 3 hours a day on the road to drive back and forth the 140 mile round trip. Worse is since we were making vaccine and it was a research facility, my routine was pretty well set with no changes. For a person that had spent 20 years traveling all over the world and every couple of years getting new assignment with new challenges and adventure, the nice safe facilities job drove me crazy. Nonetheless kept on keeping on to insure my family were taken care of and being a responsible adult per say. Then things changed one day in 2003.
The US was in the middle of fighting the war on Terrorism and one of my old shipmates mentioned that there was companies looking for people to help rebuild Iraq. Hum sounded interesting to me, so did a little job search and came across a posting that I fully met and sounded good.
I sent in my resume not expecting anything but within a day was getting a call from HR. Got the preliminary phone interview and then spoke to the VP in Iraq. The more I talked the better it sounded. Eventually spoke to the wife and gave her the basic and we decided to move forward under the thinking of going for a year, make some great money and be part of history.
So figuring that I would have a unique opportunity to see what was expected to be a historic part of rebuilding Iraq from years of war and transition from a dictatorship to peaceful Democracy (of course we all know that is not how things worked out sadly-but that is another story). At the time (October 2003), Iraq was going through a peaceful time and slow changes with new freedoms for the good people of such. So no real major concerns at that time about the risk.
Well I knew I should maybe get a digital camera to be able to get some picture, send some home and to share with my many good friends back home in the US. A film camera would have not allowed me to do so easily due to not knowing what developing film situation would be, availability of film and most important means of sending pictures to others.
By this time Digital Cameras had improved greatly and the first high quality DSLR had came out with the Nikon D series and Canon #D bodies. Me, I bought a Point and Shoot Fuji with a build in zoom that used SD cards. It was one of the Fuji FinePix (which my oldest still has and uses).
I took thousands of pictures with that camera in weather running from low teens to ambient temps over 120 F. Never had an issue and it took and still does take great photos. In addition it allowed some manual controls and ability to adjust parameters to a degree. What it did not allow me to do was everything that the old A1 and my years of learning and use had allowed such as full control of exposure, speed, ISO, focus, etc.
Now working in Iraq for the first year and seeing things go from “Bush Bush Good” from the Iraqis to seeing things go south in early 2004 starting with the Fallujah massacre, I got to meet many people from all over the world, many of these were journalist due to we shared the same hotel in Baghdad (Ishtar Sheraton). For me I got to talk photography over the occasional cold adult beverage and got to learn allot more on some of Digitals since many were carrying the Nikon D Series and Canon #D at the time, the big ole professional bodies that were put through daily abuse and kept on ticking.
Eventually my planned year became multiple years and my desire to move up to Digital Professional DSLR grew. Not sure of how such would go, I went with what I knew and that was Canon. Not wanting to put all my money into major systems to start, did my research and went with a Canon 30D with a 28-135 Kit lens. Thus the start of my continued Canon journey but now seeing my collection of FD lens not usable on the new EOS, so slow adds of new EF Lens.
Eventually after nearly 6 years off and on in Iraq, a few trips and project back in US, followed by a couple of years in Afghanistan and other places, my old 30D got replaced with a 7D when it first came out, and for both more and more EF lens. Somewhere during this time, after admiring the big body 1D Series that so many of the photo journalist were using, I got GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) and wanted one of the Full Frame 1DS, great but at the time they were $8000 and my 7D was providing me with everything I wanted with exception of not being full frame nor quite the weather proofing of the 1D’s. So such remained a dream.
Move ahead after acquiring many L Series lenses, Speedlight, good tripods, shutter replacement at a little over 200k for the 7D, I am sitting there looking at the old original 30D that needs a shutter. Thinking of giving such to my youngest to hopefully perk her interest in photography.
That said, reality is that to get the 30D a new shutter would cost me more than one could find a good used one on eBay. So I go looking on eBay for a good used Canon DSLR, and I start seeing used 1D and 1DS. Since I had always wanted a good full frame and had some familiarity of the 1DS series due to talking to so many that used those in the sandbox as part of their living, light goes off!!!
Switch gear and next thing I know I see a few what appear to be good deals on 1DS Mkii and Mkiii. Now though they are older bodies, they are still very good camera and at the end of the day, it is not so much the gear as the shooter. My main concern was how good of a used body could I find and how much use such may have already had. Figure no need spending a decent amount of money for a good body only to have the shutter fail shortly after and cost a decent amount of change to fix, thus a good deal ends up being not such a good on in the long run.
Research and research and finally I see one listed on Samy’s Camera eBay site for a later made 1DS Mkii for $500. Now these were $8000 initial and their current family of the 1DX MK11 is $6k list. Looking at all the pictures on the eBay site, reading the description, making a call to the store, it appear and sounded like a very good deal and it was listed as excellent shape.
So pull the trigger and order it. Very fast shipping along with buying the third part warranty, it shows up at the house. Unbox like a kid on Christmas morning and shocked of how clean it was. Could find no marks, damage, and issues whatsoever, it looked brand new. Sadly it did not have battery or charger for it and the 1DS Mkii had very rare and expensive batteries. By luck I was able to find a like new original charger for $100 on e.Bay and some third party batteries that were recommended for under $50 for two on eBay.
Once I got the batteries (which I had ordered when I ordered the camera but from different vendor) and put a charged one in the 1DS, check everything over and everything worked perfect. Check the serial number, check the internal and everything was great. Finally due to being an older EOS, I could get a shutter count on such using 3rd party software. The shutter count was a big concern, even though the 1DS were listed for 350k shutter life, if I had got one with say 250k, it could only be a short time for such to go out or could go onto well over half a million.
To my surprise, the first count showed just over 110 (112 to be exact). What? Was this camera every even used, did somebody buy it and bring it back right away for some unbeknownst reason, was my shutter count right? It did the shutter count again a few times and each time showed the same. Took some picture and kept physical count and then did software checks and the shutter counts was dead on with each press of the button showing as new count. So basically got an original $8000 camera in mint condition with no real use and over 99% of expected shutter life remaining, all for $500. Thank you eBay, thank you Samy’s Camera.
This 1DS MKii has become my main camera for dedicated photo adventure and along with the still great 7D keeps me very happy. Is either one up to the standard of some of the new ones in regards to Megapixels, video, low light ISO, etc.-NO, but having learned from film and using 400 ISO film, exposure basics and the foundations that have been around since the days of throwing the hood over the back plate of a traditional and sitting shutter using a timer or watch, for me I still get the photos I want and am very happy with them.
Main item is that all of my collection of Canon Lens with some occasional Sigma and Tamron thrown in still work with such and I am able to continue to get out and enjoying taking pictures, documenting travels and memories, grabbing snaps and focus on the picture and not the gear.
Over the years, eBay has become a great resource for my gear, be it a great Tripod, a good used lens, some helpful accessories or what not and between e.Bay and Amazon, I stay happy. These resource along with the ability to check on-line from Wal-Mart, B&H, Best Buy etc. have become even more important due to finding a real brick and mortar camera shop in most areas anymore, slim to none.
So in short eBay (as well as Amazon and many other on-line resources) are a photographer’s best friend now and days.
