Tag: nikon

Nikon 7500 post 1

I love the eye-level pentaprism SLR viewfinder on the Nikon 7500. The camera itself is going to take a bit of getting used to after the Lumix GX8, but it’s going to be well worth the effort, and it will all come right with a bit of time and practise.

The Nikon 7500 is a camera that I can use not only with the normal photochromic light adaptive lens (transitions) that I have to wear on a daily basis, but it can also be used with my darker prescription sunglasses. The Lumix had become a complete pain to use when wearing transitions and was simply impossible to use with sunglasses. So the Lumix has gone. I traded in the camera and all its kit for the Nikon and I don’t regret it.

Of course there is more to my move back to photography than simply learning to use a new camera system. I will also have to work harder to gauge the quality and play of light given that I hid from it behind glasses all the time. I do sometimes wonder why someone so light sensitive wants to spend their time taking photographs, but then I remember just how happy my dad was when he was out and about with his camera and I suspect that deep down this is the real reason why I still enjoy photography.

And this is one of the test shots taken to check how well I could see with the sunglasses on. It just had to be of a mini Shetland pony which was part of a fun point and shoot session.

black and white image of a pony to show the image quality of the Nikon 7500

Saying goodbye to the mirrorless camera

A few years ago I made the switch from Nikon to the Panasonic Lumix GX8 because I wanted to use a lighter camera that still gave me a good range of lenses to choose from. Initially I was extremely happy with my decision, but over time I have discovered an unforeseen problem with mirrorless cameras linked to my increasing light sensitivity.

I have to wear dark sunglasses most of the time now in moderate to bright sunlight, and this in turns means that I cannot see the OLED screen clearly on the Lumix nor can I see using the electronic viewfinder. The result – no photography on bright days.

At the same time I have been having to limit my screen time on computers, phones and the like due to an increasing number of screen induced migraines. The smaller the screen the more likely I am to have a problem. This in turn has impacted my ability to focus on objects using both the OLED screen and the electronic viewfinder. The result – no photography at all.

This has been going on for a couple of years now. I take the Lumix out for the day. Try a couple of snaps and then find myself feeling increasingly depressed about the challenges surrounding using the thing, and so it goes back in its bag for another month or so until I try again.

But on Sunday I suddenly remembered that although I had traded in all my ‘good’ Nikon kit when I bought the Lumix, I had kept the old D60. So I dragged it out of storage and had a peek through the viewfinder to discovered that I could see the scene outside my bedroom window without feeling dizzy,  without straining my eyes to focus on the image in front of me even while wearing sunglasses.

For now I’m hoping to get to know the old D60 again and then get back to some photography experiments at the weekend, work allowing. So for me the problem with electronic viewfinders is that I can no longer use them and so I am saying goodbye to the lightweight mirrorless camera range and moving back to the heavier DSLRs with pentaprism viewfinders.

Let’s hope the move makes photography fun again.