Why I Bought Yet Another Camera

Despite the number of cameras I own, I’ve been thinking about buying yet another camera because I want to start doing more hiking now that Leslie has finally retired. At 74, I no longer want to push myself to my limits by carrying as much weight as I can uphill. In fact, I’ve been known to leave all camera equipment behind to avoid carrying extra weight.

When hiking steep areas I always have to limit myself to one camera and one lens, and all too often it seems the lens I most need is the one at home. So, I’ve been looking for a relatively light camera that can take both scenics and telephoto shots, even if the quality doesn’t match the camera and lenses I already have.

I was waiting for a Nikon camera that was supposed to be released July 1st which seemed to fit all my needs and was touted as taking particularly good telephoto shots of birds. Unfortunately, it was delayed until Fall, so late I wouldn’t need it until next year.

So I decided to settle on my fallback camera, a Canon Powershot SX60HS, particularly after I saw the shots it was capable of taking while visiting with a birder at Theler Wetlands. I ended up buying. It got its first test at Theler Wetlands when Leslie carried it and binoculars.

Here’s a relative closeup of yours-truly walking through the marshes,

SX60HS1

a shot of me walking out on the boardwalk,

SX60HS2

and a shot of Hood Canal taken from the boardwalk.

SX60HS3

I’ve never managed to get this shot with the cameras I usually carry, though I have come close by stitching four of five different shots together.

Here’s a shot of invasive flowers taken from the same boardwalk.

SX60HS4

Of course, I figured the camera would take good scenic shots and closeups of flowers, particularly since it shoots in RAW format.

I was more worried about how it would capture shots of birds. I was pleasantly surprised by this shot of a Least Sandpiper taken from the bridge.

SX60HS5

Even more impressive was this shot of a Dowitcher taken at a distance where I couldn’t see it with my bare eyes.

SX60HS6

It uses digital magnification at this distance and that’s notoriously bad for most cameras. This is certainly a good enough image to identify the bird, even if it’s not one I’m going print or save for posterity.

The SX60HS is destined to become my go-to camera whenever I’m doing any serious hiking.

4 thoughts on “Why I Bought Yet Another Camera”

  1. There are countless less useful indulgences, Loren. Another camera for a proven cameraman makes perfect sense to me. Helps keep the world goin’ round…

  2. I love reading this. I am thinking about getting a new camera and may look into this one. I only have one camera, and I want it to do a lot of things. This Canon looks very promising. Beautiful photos. Love seeing Hood Canal.

    1. If you’re going to wait awhile, look into the comparable Nikon that’s coming out in awhile, robin. I hear a lot of good things about the model before it from fellow bloggers.

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