Camera and Lens Ponderings

Yesterday after I came back from my photo walk, I took the time (or made the mistake?) to write what ended up being a rather lengthy opening post for a DP Review discussion thread in which I asked a question: is the Nikon Z fc the right camera for me? The nub of the issue boiled down to whether the benefits of a $600 on-sale refurbished example of that camera and a used $329 example of Voigtlander’s 35mm f/1.2 lens—benefits including a manual-focus lens that communicates with the camera body and a camera/lens combo that just looks cool—warranted the cost.

With that question still in mind, I pondered which camera and lens to grab for my walk today. Feeling the heat set in—we’re due for a heat wave this coming week, and it’s already getting hot today—I didn’t really want to carry around my heavy Nikon F. I also wanted some hands-on time with my Canon EOS M50 and my one and only modern autofocus lens, if anything, as a gut check to see whether I ought to buy for a better lens for that camera, namely Sigma’s 30mm f/1.4 lens. What better camera to grab than my Canon? I used some masking tape to mark the exact point of the 30mm focal length on my zoom lens, and out I went.

I walked around town shooting various compositions that are familiar to me.

It slowly dawned on me that having a fully modern camera with auto-everything adds the most to my arsenal of camera gear. Sometimes I love the fully manual experience while other times I just want to point and shoot and let the camera take care of everything. Film and digital are complementary, after all.

I came back from that walk thinking that the cheapest option, the Sigma lens at $290, may be the best option. I said so later in that DP Review discussion thread, and I’ll say it here: I like my Canon EOS M50. It’s been a great camera, and I’m reluctant to give it up or even push it aside for a sexier camera that may very well fail to give me much more than what I already have.