Come full circle

My first ever digital camera was a Fujifilm FinePix MX700, purchased from the BX while stationed at Misawa AFB, Japan in 1998. I used that camera long after far better cameras came out; the pace of digital imaging back then moving at breakneck pace. It appealed to me because of its all aluminum chassis and solid feel, unlike anything else on the market at the time. That construction helped it to survive 5 years of very rough handling and I only surrendered it not because of damage, but eventual replacement by another Fujifilm camera with far less personality but more megapixels. After that, I bought a Minolta point and shoot. That lasted me until I bought a Nikon D200 in the desire to truly learn how to take a proper photograph. The Nikon and I never bonded, the pace of SLR technology going through its own giant leaps, and soon my D200 was less capable than a smartphone. The whole kit was sold for far less than I originally paid.

I decided to get back into photography and bought a Fujifilm X-T20. Like the FinePix MX700, I bought it for its ergonomics, design and build quality. Solid, with a reassuring heft, and all the right controls in all the right places unlike modern DSLRs. It’s the tactile controls along the top plate that’s helped established a bond that never happened between me and the Nikon.

It feels like I’m shooting on a film camera utilizing muscle memory that I thought I’d long lost. When it comes to digital photography, I’ve come full circle, proving I’d established a relationship with the right company the first time.