Canon 10D

My Second Digital Camera - Canon 10 D-

  I am currently using a Canon EOS 7D Digital camera which a few years ago was not going to happen to me. I had purchased a small digital camera to help make taking pictures for Loren’s eagle project a little less costly and a lot faster. He was going to make a ward directory for our ward, the Mapleton 1^st Ward at that time and we needed to take pictures of every family in the ward. That would have used up a lot of film as we would have to either complete a roll with families all at one time or use film in the camera and that would use even more film. I knew that getting everyone at one time would be impossible so we opted to purchase the small camera. I was so frustrated after helping do some of the pictures that I decided I would never get a digital camera or never until they were at least a lot better in how they functioned. This small camera would not take a picture for at least  2 or 3 seconds after the shutter release was pressed. (Not a good thing for someone used to taking soccer action shots and depended on instant shutter release.) Plus the ability to enlarge those images past an 5 x 7 inch image was not practical. So I felt that getting a digital camera was pretty stupid, but, my mind was changed with one fateful event.

We had gone as the Mapleton 4^th ward on a trek in Wyoming. It was at Martin’s Cove and from the 6^th Water Crossing 14 miles to the end of the trek. I had used my Canon A-1 film camera and taken 40 rolls of film with 24 exposures each during that trek for the three days. I had a lot of good images and really enjoyed the event but carrying the film was a little bit of a problem and I always seemed to be having to change rolls when the best “Kodak moment” was occurring. I put together a slide show after I got back and had to scan all 40 rolls of negatives into my computer to make a power point presentation since I had used negatives not slides.

The following year Mapleton Stake planned a trek to the same locations and had asked me to take pictures on it as well. Another member of the stake, Derek Haynie, was going to do video for it as well. Derek and I met a couple of times to plan what we would do and he told me that he had a Canon D-60 camera (digital) that he wanted me to use since he couldn’t do both that and video. I finally accepted his offer but took my old camera as well with another supply of 40 rolls or so of film. He gave me the camera a few days before ythe trek so I could get used to it. Well as I looked through the view finder I was sure I wouldn’t like it since everything was blurry. Well when I looked at the picture after it came up on the screen on the camera it looked in focus so I guessed he just had a problem with the eye piece and I would have to trust the auto focus on the camera. We went on the trek and for the first day went to Martin’s Cove. I took a lot of pictures with my old camera and a few with his. Then the next day as we went on the now 17 mile trek at 6^th Water  Crossing I used both cameras again only this time I only shot about 14 rolls through my camera and took over 800 images using his. I often used it because I wouldn’t have to change film before I took the image. By the end of 17 miles I had loaded his memory card which we downloaded onto his computer that night at camp and then plugged in his battery to recharge it even though it still was OK for a while. I had used my camera but again had to change and carry the film. It was so easy to use his though that I pretty much depended on it for the rest of the trip. I had been able to take more images and get at least one image of each of the participants on the trek. It didn’t cost anything to get them into a digital format for the computer and I only had to change the card if I took over 800 images and that was almost as many as I had taken the year before with my A-1 and over 400 more than I had taken on this trip with my A-1. The camera would take the image as soon as I pressed the shutter and I didn’t have to advance the film before taking another image, in fact it would take three a second if I held the shutter release down. I was then convinced that I could live with a digital SLR camera and ordered one as soon after I got home as I could. I bought the newest camera then out made by Canon the 10D. I did have to buy new lenses since my old camera lenses would not fit the new camera but it didn’t take long to get one zoom lens at a fairly decent price and I was back to doing things as I had with the film cameras only a lot faster and at a lot less expense. (Now that I have had three of those cameras though I am not sure it is less since I spend a lot each time I upgrade to the newer, higher resolution, faster cameras. Canon puts out a new model each year but I was usually able to go three years before upgrading. I now have a Canon EOS 7D with a single zoom lens that will go from 28 mm to 300 mm. I can do everything I want with it and with my 32 gig memory card can shoot over 1000 images in Raw mode before having to change cards which is a lot quicker process than changing a roll of film.

I am glad I finally made the change but was also glad that I got to use one of the digital cameras before making the change since I then knew what was really out there and how good they had finally been manufactured. I have now in my lifetime taken over 500,000 images and a major amount of them since going digital.