I think on the whole, photographers who take pride in their work, take pride in their gear. If the shooter has a brand new toy, they'll brag about it to anyone that will listen. If they have an old junker that should be promoted to a door stop, while the shooter probably hates the thing, they still don't want anyone to borrow it.
Since many photographers handle their camera more than they handle their significant other, a photographer's camera is their camera, even if it is owned by someone else.
Since many photographers handle their camera more than they handle their significant other, a photographer's camera is their camera, even if it is owned by someone else.
Anyway, I thought I'd take a moment to mention the old girls of my past.
Betsy
Sony DXC-537 PVV-1
Taylor University
Upland, IN
2000-2003
This was the first camera I really started to learn with. (Prior to this I had shot mostly on S-VHS. Once you go Betacam SP, you never want to deal with any other 1/2" analog tape again.)
Sophmore year of college I learned how to mess with white blanace. Discovered the color effects you could create by shooting on the "wrong" filter. Practiced rack focusing & using the macro to see a finger print left on the lens.
I named her Betsy, because Betsy the Betacam just sounded right.
Uma
Sony UVW-100
WLFI - CBS 58
Lafayette, IN
2004-2005
Flip the VW of UVW, you get Uma.
While Uma was a newer model than Betsy, Uma was more of a budget Corolla to the nice Camry (betsy).
Sony DXC-537 PVV-1
Taylor University
Upland, IN
2000-2003
This was the first camera I really started to learn with. (Prior to this I had shot mostly on S-VHS. Once you go Betacam SP, you never want to deal with any other 1/2" analog tape again.)
Sophmore year of college I learned how to mess with white blanace. Discovered the color effects you could create by shooting on the "wrong" filter. Practiced rack focusing & using the macro to see a finger print left on the lens.
I named her Betsy, because Betsy the Betacam just sounded right.
Uma
Sony UVW-100
WLFI - CBS 58
Lafayette, IN
2004-2005
Flip the VW of UVW, you get Uma.
While Uma was a newer model than Betsy, Uma was more of a budget Corolla to the nice Camry (betsy).
Even so, this was the first camera ever assigned to me. She was old, passed down from one photog to the next, had plenty of problems, but still she was mine.
My skills as a photographer grew more with this camera than any other camera I've used or will use in the future. This mainly because, looking back, when I started at WLFI I had a lot of room for improvement.
Prior to starting at WLFI, I was averaging a 1-in-10 chance of getting an interview after appling to a job. It took over a dozen interviews before getting my first full time job offer since college.
When I finally said goodbye to Uma & moved onto my next job, I grown so much that I was offered jobs at three stations in larger markets & had been on the short list for a position I shouldn't even have been considered for. My job application / offer batting average had skyrocketed.
Darcy
Sony DXC-537a BVV-5
WMTV - NBC 15
Madison, WI
Continuing on the Uma naming scheme, Darcy was the best I could come up with from DXC.
Darcy was a lot like Betsy, only the rear mounted beta deck on the back was older, bigger and heavier. Add too that, WMTV had bricks instead of NP1s & I was getting a work out getting used to the new girl.
I didn't hold Darcy up on my shoulder, I held her down to my body. She was so back heavy that my arm had to pull down to keep the shot level. It didn't take long to get used to the weight, but I learned how quickly she wore me out while shooting handheld.
(Even to this day, there are some stories that when I watch them, I feel sore. I have had a number of people tell me about the 3/4" days and how this was nothing in comparison.)
I missed being able to put a NP1 in each of by back pockets until I realized that I could trust one brick to last most of the day. (I also learned that if you don't carry an extra brick with you, your battery will die without warning. So while you only need to use one battery, you always have to carry two.)
The beginning of Darcy's death was when I set her on the ground one day & she wouldn't turn back on. The amazing engineers at WMTV were able to perform surgery around the years of internal corrosion and sealed her back up with a zip tie & liquid nails (no joke).
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After WMTV I started working at WDJT in Miwaukee. WDJT had shared gear. The idea of shared gear for photojournalists is worse than the idea of Mt. Dew replacing milk in a bowl Rice Krispies. And I really like Mt. Dew and Rice Krispies... just trust me when I say they don't work well together.
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Zodiac
Sony HVR-Z1U
HDNews
Chicago Bureau
2007-2008
Zodiac is the best name I could come up for a "Z" camera that has a built in lens (also known as an 'a-sexual' camera).
If you haven't noticed, I'm a little butty about cameras & kinda a snob when it comes to them. That being said, the best thing I can say about Zodiac is that it was the first camera smaller than a betacam that "didn't piss me off."
A camera that is supposed to be a professional camera, is a camera that lets the operator run the camera. There have been too many smaller cameras that people call "professional," yet the cameras acts like a toddler demanding to be the center of attention.
"Why are you trying to focus? I can focus! Here watch me focus. See I'm focusing."
"Why are you setting the shutter? I can change the shutter for you. You don't have to change the shutter. See I'm changing the shutter all by myself!"
Zodiac knew how to leave me alone & let me run the camera on my own. I could work Zodiac very much the same as Betsy, Uma & Darcy.
(Now you could change the auto / manual settings on Zodiac to be a PhD camera (press-here-dummy), but why would you? Unless you wanted this nice camera to be nothing more than the cameras from Walmart.)
You couldn't reset the TC on Zodiac in less than 5 seconds, but I still had full control. Add on Zodiac's 1/3" CCDs that blew away the picture quality of decade old betacams & I actually started to like Zodiac.
