The end of year holidays have provided rare opportunities to explore city, country, and local suburbs. It’s nice to throw the Kodak Charmera into a pocket and walk around an unfamiliar neighbourhood, keeping an open mind and allowing the small things to catch my attention and focus. The unobtrustive nature of the little Kodak also means that I can largely remain unnoticed on suburban streets.
The fantastic Community Hub and Library in this suburb stands as a testament to the vision and efforts of locals and politicians to ensure that the area, known to have many endemic social, economic, and health problems, provides community, resources, recreation, and safe places to gather. Walking through tall glass doors, the immediate quiet and calm stands in stark contrast to daily incidents of drug-affected raging at the air and the sad turmoil of embattled relationships that seem to define the street corners.
Standing before the prize-winning photographic prints adorning the gallery space in the library, I think of the steep expense of the listed camera gear used by the photographers versus the social conditions and poverty outside.
A small photo of a nine year old girl, brandishing a Nikon Z9 and a giant lens, thicker than her arm, stares back at me from an artist card placed under the runner-up picture she entered into the competition – a photo of a dead shark on a tropical beach. Her hands curl around a camera body that cost thousands and a lens that cost even more. And here I am with my $50 Kodak Charmera, looking out of the library window at the old cemetery that was here before the shopping centre, pondering the absurdity of it all.
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great observation. less is always more
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I certainly think so. I think less often encourages better use of limits.
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exactly my thought about limitations and out of comfort zone momenrs.
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Yes. The learning lives outside comfort zones.
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If I were as strong as that girl, I would have bought the Z9 and the prime 600mm . . . old age, as welcomed as it is, also sucks.
In preparation for further physical degradation, I ordered the Kodak. We’ll see how much I’ll use it since I’m not near some of the urban blight you describe. Although, even in the small town, I can probably find something like I did when reviewing the 18-140mm Z lens.
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I’m interested in your thoughts on the Kodak. Lower your image quality expectations in preparation, though I’m not sure I should even colour your view. I know that some people online are disappointed, but it seems odd to me that one would expect more of such a tiny toy camera.
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Honestly, it’s more that I’m curious about how much I can “improve” the image in post-processing, along with the novelty factor. I expect I will use the crap out of it for a while, then have it join other stuff that amused me for a while, and now is just something I look at once in a while.
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The JPGs are processed pretty aggressively by the camera. I’m interested in your improvements.
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