Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Cat's Astrophe

Vegetarian Slimjims
Bad news, folks. Very bad news.

First, good news: I got a used Ricoh GR Digital! I shot with it for all of about two hours before the optical assembly's servos jammed, or somehow did something to break such that I cannot use the damn camera. What a bummer... I really, really loved using it, it just felt right. So I'm sending it back to the guy, getting my money back, and buying another. Here's a few shots from it from my one shooting session.
Make-a-Wish
Waiting
Caution

Not the greatest, but then again, this is from the two total hours I had to shoot with this amazing camera. I look forward to the next unit!

Here's the really bad news, though. My D50 is broken. Really, really broken. The worst part is that it's completely mysterious as to how it happened... I returned from spring break, took my D50 out, put it on my desk, uploaded photos, everything's fine. I don't really touch it the next day, because I've got my new Ricoh to play with (until it too breaks). Today, when I was leaving, I pick up my D50 (which has not left the desk where I set it), and realize that there is a HUGE CRACK in the screen! I'd show you a picture, but, well... so the glass is broken, the screen is broken, and because the D50 is a consumer camera, I no longer have access to vital camera functions via the menu system, I can't review or delete photos, and I can't even format my SD card. How did it break? I have no idea. My personal theory is that someone came in the room while I was gone, knocked it off, it fell on the screen and broke, and the perpetrator, aghast, simply set it back on my desk, as if I wouldn't notice. It's always possible someone maliciously broke it, as well, but I'd rather doubt that theory.

In any case, I'm distraught. No digital camera means I have to rely on my film cameras now, and frankly, I can't afford to buy and develop film. To be honest, I'm really shaken up... my camera was practically an extension of my body. An extra eye connected to my hands. I feel lost. But it's just a setback, I'll be back on track soon enough, I hope... I'm not sure how, but I'll get by.

I've got at least enough digital material backlogged for another blog post or two, and after that, I've got six rolls of Tri-X to develop and scan.

3 comments:

Eric said...

wtf :(

You going to repair it or just get a D200? ;P

heavyweather said...

No idea... I want to get a D300, ideally. But now is a bad time for it to break. I was going to get the D300 at the end of summer, when I've made some money.

Eric said...

D300 would be hot.

But still, your D50 is still completely usable. The most I ever did with the LCD was go into the menu and change the metering mode (well, and format). I don't bracket much, and I only used the histogram in tricky situations. I rarely delete photos on the camera, and I'm not a chimper. You can make it work until hotness comes along.

(trying to be optimistic here, is it working? because I myself just got some bad news (unrelated to cameras, though))