G-Dub and Mini

Back in December when I was thinking of 2010 and what I should do with it, I quietly thought that this might be the year I would refrain from buying any new cameras. I think I may have even said it out loud once or twice. Well, it's March and that idea has already fallen flat, but I'm really not surprised. In January, not one month into the year, I bought "G-Dub", a beautiful Great Wall camera. I've wanted one for a few years now and decided to go for it. I shot my first roll of film in it on Saturday and I don't think words can convey how much I love this camera. First of all, it just looks cool, and second, the images are just so sweet. I had breakfast with a pal and we wandered around Salt Lake City all day (ALL DAY) and it was rad. I shot four packs of Polaroid, a pack and a half in my new Instax Mini back for my Diana+ Dreamer, and a lovely roll of Kodak Portra 400NC in the G-Dub. The sun was warm and bright, the day lazy, and the food tasty. We had ice cream for lunch. It doesn't get much better than that.

So back to my "2010 is a camera-buying free zone"... A couple of weeks ago, the Instax Mini back arrived in the mail, and after going through two full packs, I decided I really don't love it. I either need to shoot completely in blinding sunlight, or I need to buy a pricey flash for it, which I'd rather not do. It's a fun little toy to have, and the image quality is better than I thought it would be (on the images that aren't badly underexposed). There's a little bit of blur and the colors are lovely, but I think I'll just stick with the Instax Mini camera if I'm shooting Instax Mini film.

And if two cameras weren't enough, I'm leaning toward buying a new *gasp!* DSLR. Mine is six years old this year and it's starting to get missing pixels, and with the amount of shooting I'll be doing for the Forest Service, I really think I deserve a better camera. I've got my eyes on a Canon 7D, even though it's about $1800 more than I normally spend on a camera. (Most of my cameras were free or less than $100!) It looks like a swell camera and one that I'll get years of good use out of, so we'll see. Once April comes around, I just may be posting photos from new camera #3 in 2010.