I have long been interested in photography. Always as an amateur, mind – I don’t profess to have any great skill! I just enjoy taking what I believe to be good photos.
When I was 16, I got an SLR, and for a few years took the photography hobby quite seriously. It was a Canon EOS 1000D, which I dubbed ‘Colin’. I acquired a telephoto and a macro lens for it.
Then, four years ago, I got a Google Pixel 2. It was my first really good phone, and I chose it because it was supposed to have a really good camera (with an added bonus of augmented reality Star Wars characters!). I was not disappointed. Suddenly I could take excellent pictures with my phone, which was so much easier than carting my chunky SLR around the place. I stopped taking Colin out (poor Colin), and became reliant on my phone for photography. Two years later, when it was time to replace my phone, I replaced it with a Pixel 4a 5G, having got used to the great Pixel cameras. This new phone had a wide-angle lens too (though not the advertised astrophotography mode… boo).
For some years, however, I have felt a creeping unease. For various reasons, I don’t really want to be passing my data/information/soul over to Google. (More on that another day, perhaps). And my husband has recently set a good example by getting a Fairphone – much more ethical and sustainable. I have wanted to follow suit, but *sigh*: what about my fabulous camera?
I was starting to think that perhaps I ought to get myself a quality compact camera, that I could pop in a pocket or bag, and that I could easily connect up to a phone in case I wanted to share things straight to social media (not such a pressing need for me – I’m only really on Twitter now – it’s the data privacy thing). Then the decision was finalised when I opened one of my phone photos on the desktop. Having looked lovely on the phone, I realised that it didn’t look so lovely or good quality on the big screen. It was time to commit to this photography hobby again, and get a new camera.
I won’t go into all the details of my search. After a couple of days of exploration, I alighted on the Fujifilm XF10. It was a bit of a risk – I’d never had a Fujifilm before, and not all of the reviews loved it (mainly citing lack of photo stabilisation and not the best video). But it ticked all of my boxes. It was good quality. It was small and light. It could communicate wirelessly with a phone. It was (on eBay) within my birthday budget. And (yes, this was a significant factor!): it was pretty.
I’ve now had a couple of weeks to play with my new toy. And I’ve been very impressed. It’s so portable and practical, as well as being aesthetically pleasing. I’ve learned to keep the camera steadier than I used to, to make up for the lack of stabilisation. Most importantly, the photos are gorgeously detailed, and the colours are superb.
It’s exciting to be thinking seriously about photography again, and I hope to keep it up and improve over the coming months. I’ve set up a Flickr page to keep track. I’ll leave you with a gallery of photos from my initial endeavours (I spend a lot of time around churches and cats):
Cryptic Meg 