The Hidden Cost of Cats

OK, so I told you all about how my cats ruined my camera. Actually, they ruined my camera, three lenses (50mm, 135mm, and a 70-210mm), three flashes, two slave units for said flashes, and a doubler. Believe it or not, they're still alive. I'm just biding my time, though.

Anyways, I set out to replace the camera this weekend. I just wanted a SLR 35mm camera, nothing fancy. I knew I wouldn't be able to replace my entire set-up, but having a camera would be the first step. There were a lot of stores having sales, so I decided to go check out what was available. If I could afford a new camera, why not get one?

I'll tell you why not.

Most people who know me know that I'm a technophobe. I distrust anything with a high number of moving parts that requires an ungodly amount of training and time to use or repair. Auto transmission? No thanks, give me a manual. Hell, if it weren't for the fact that Tim controls this blog, I wouldn't be blogging right now! Template? What's that? Code? Is that like your PIN number? Bolt-action rifles and revolvers win out over semi-autos with me damn near every time. To date, I have ONE semi-auto pistol, ONE semi-auto rifle, and then a revolver, bolt action rifles, and a pump shotgun. As Kim du Toit puts it, "A revolver is like a fork. You pick it up and it works."

I want my camera to be the same way. I do NOT need to fight with the camera about who's going to do the focusing. I do NOT feel the need to argue with the camera about who controls the light aperture. And I certainly do NOT want to be forced to push this button, flip this switch, turn this knob, and then MAYBE I'll be able to take the picture on my own without some damned computer chip telling me what to do. If it has more than one or two "helping" technical doo-dads on it, I don't want it.

So the girlfriend and I head to the camera store with Hodge in tow. Once we get to the mall, I send off Hodge and the girlfriend to go check out a movie store, since I'm thinking that I'll be a while and I don't want to bore them. And I get down to business. The first store I'm at, I look at about ten different cameras. Nikon, Minolta, Cannon, Pentax, you name it and I'm looking at it. And you know what I found?

Every last one of them is automatic. Every. Damn. One.

I'm flabbergasted. When the hell did it cost LESS to put all that crap on a camera? I hand back the last camera (Nikon N75) and leave to check out another store.

Same story. Every camera that's on display is this automated hunk of crap that won't even let me control the aperture! I have to flip this and push that and twist this, and the damn things STILL won't let me control the damn camera! Hell, there's no numbers on the aperture ring itself! You have to look at the little LCD window on the camera to figure out what your aperture is set at! WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH THAT?!?! What happens if your batteries die? "Oh, well, you'll have to get new batteries then." WHAT??? At this point I have a little bit of steam coming out of my ears, but it's not the fault of this salesman. He honestly is trying his best to help me out, but he's got NOTHING to work with. So I set down the camera I was looking at (a Cannon, I think) and look the guy straight in the eye. I tell him "Look, I want a camera that doesn't fight with me over who actually takes the picture, OK? If I can't set the aperture manually, I don't want it. Can we start from there?"

So the camera guy thinks about it... rubs his chin.... and then searches through his stock. Pulls out a Nikon box and sets it in front of me. I open it up, and voila, there it is. Fully manual. The only thing technical about the camera is the fact that it has a built in light meter, but that only shows you how much light is coming into the camera, it doesn't do anything for you. Sweet jeebus, I think I've found it. I smile, and ask the guy how much it is.

Seven. Hundred. Dollars.

I stared at the guy. Seven hundred dollars! Seven large! And trying to maintain as much control as I possibly can, I ask the guy why some computerized block of crap can retail for $250 to $350, but a camera that actually lets you run it is double the price. The guy gets a sheepish look on his face and says "Well, most people don't know how to run a camera, so they buy one that runs itself. That's the bulk of our camera sales. The professionals who want to control a camera on their own demand higher quality in their equipment, so that's where the real high-end stuff goes, thus the higher price."

Un-frigging-real. I never thought I would see the day where some automatic shitpile retails for less than the manual version. And of course, every camera shop I went to did not have my one and only option left in stock. The Nikon FM-10 was the only camera that did what I wanted it to (or didn't do what I didn't want it to, to be precise) and was within my budget.

Crap. Plan B, the used camera stores. The girlfriend finds a list of used camera stores in the Seattle area and we start to check them off. The first shop we go into (Jim's Camera, 43rd St. in the U District) has quite a few. I'm looking through the cases when I spot my camera. Actually, it's the same model as the camera that the cats just finished ruining. A Minolta X-700, slightly worn, with NOTHING that could interfere with ME taking the picture. Halle-frigging-lujia!

So we haggle on the price for a bit, and the guy gives me a damn good deal. I take the camera for a spin, and notice that the aperture ring is sticking. Could be a worn spring, could be some crap in there, I'm not sure so I take it back. Try another one. (There were about 5 X-700's in the case). The second camera has a faulty light meter, and the pictures come out severely over-exposed. Not good. So I take THAT camera back, and we do a bit more haggling. Finally after paying about $15.00 over my limit, (it stung, but it'll be worth it) I have a partial set-up again. A camera, two lenses, and a doubler. Not the set up I used to have, but a damn good start. I'll be taking a roll of film with this camera to make sure it's in good working order, but it looks like I'll finally have a camera again. And Jim's Camera treated me pretty damn well, I must say. I'd go back there in a heartbeat, and I will be going back as soon as I have the money for a flash set-up.

And if the cats find a way to screw with THIS one, I'm going to roast their little hell-spawned hides over an open flame.

(And no, I'm not telling you what I paid for everything. However, I can tell you that it was more than I could afford, but worth more than I paid.)