I have an incredibly generous older brother who has supported me and gifted me so many times over the years that there is no way I can ever thank him enough or repay him. The latest example is a surprise early birthday present of a Nikon Coolpix P950 camera, which replaces a Nikon D5200 DSLR and lenses. I am only at the start of learning how to use it but am already thrilled with its many capabilities.
My love of photography and cameras stretches back to my childhood, and I think I have my father to thank for sparking that interest. Also, my grandma, who travelled the world, quite literally, and took hundreds of pictures from places she and my grandpa visited in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s including India, South Africa, the Caribbean, Iran, Australia, New Zealand, and all throughout Europe. My first camera was given to me by my father and was one he no longer used, which was a Polaroid Land Camera very much like, if not exactly the same as, this one.
Since then, I have had several different cameras ranging from point and shoot (my favorite was an Olympus XA, a beautifully designed and functional camera) to SLR (my favorite here was another Olympus model, the OM-88), to bridge camera (my current, new one is my favorite), to DSLR. I have used and owned a variety of Olympus, Panasonic, Canon, and Nikon models and have found things to like and appreciate in all of them. And they have travelled with me, too, on my world adventures, echoing my grandma’s example (although my travels have been nowhere near as extensive).
After all these years, I have learned a thing or two about photography but remain very much an amateur. I will never be (nor could I afford to be) a pro. One of the biggest hiccups I have experienced over time is the cost of lenses, and I go back and forth on their value. But I have generally concluded that as nice and functional as interchangeable lenses are, I cannot afford them and nor do I like lugging them around wherever I go.
This is why the Nikon Coolpix P950 fits so nicely into my photography hobby. It has pretty much all the range I could ever want in a single package. Purists will argue that it lacks image quality that DSLRs achieve, and I agree, but it is good enough for me and the tradeoffs in terms of functionality, portability, and still very good quality for my tastes make it work. Other things I’ve long wanted are included, such as built-in geolocating, wireless photo transfer, and more.
I would be remiss not to also mention my deep love and appreciation for my iPhones over the years in terms of photography. These devices are simply amazing. Not perfect, not entirely pro level, but really amazing nonetheless. I prefer the biggest Pro Max model mostly because of its built-in, more advanced camera capabilities. I’m fortunate enough to be able to buy a new model about every two years.
As for that genealogy of photography, I think I may have passed that on to my daughter.
