Zen While It Lasts

Now, I'm not the type to incite or promote violence...

I have this little fantasy where I buy a Leica Q  (probably the sleekest, coolest, best looking digital camera made thus far). Light (actually, no, I held one- looks light, but it's a veritable brick in weight and feel) and portable, it's all I could ever need and use as I take it everywhere shooting only Leica worthy photos for the remainder of my life...

Actually, I'd be quite happy using one of those fellows, but...  I do need a 20mm~ when shooting events. And as far as spending $4,000+, well, that certainly ain't gonna happen. Fact is, I'm pretty happy with my GR and X-T1 (mated with a 28mm~, the latter looks pretty damn cool itself- even if the one on the GR is sharper), and I may upgrade in a few years, or not. Sure, the GR has always acted up a bit on the rare occasion (probably why I got it so damn cheap "as new" to begin with), and the the X-T1 does miss focus now and then, but truth is, I just don't shoot that much to warrant any immediate upgrade. And technically, I can't complain about 16in medium format quality prints from instruments that small and light, and (relatively) cheap!

After forty years of B&W... I'm quite happy with color, no regrets whatsoever. Limited as my shooting still is, it's way more keepers than before with my everyday GR and the option to go Square, not to mention, spending way less time in post- going back to actively shooting B+W film (still got quite the backlog) is nowhere on the radar, least not anytime soon. I'll always have fond memories and much respect, but truth is: it was much more labor intensive, and ultimately, more limiting creatively...

But, If you're gonna punch anyone...   Photos: © Stan Banos