It was the least expected thing to have occurred but it happened. I bought myself a new mirrorless camera while in Switzerland, and its not a Nikon. It’s a Canon EOS M! Let’s just say I wanted a better-than-Nikon 1 V1 camera which Nikon failed to deliver with the V2. It was a gift to myself. No big deal. My curiosity for Canon’s “unique” image delivery engine is somewhat satisfied…for now.
Telephoto is what Europe shooters should enjoy to be in (like I do). There’s just too many too common things bombarding your sights as you move from city to city. A cathedral is a cathedral and will be a cathedral. The European architecture is consistently the same too. The same cars, the doors, the dogs. You get the idea. I grew overly bored very quickly with the use of wide-angle lens while there. And that’s where fresh details are repeatedly picked up with my Nikon 1 (with the Nikkor 28-300mm) from the second day.
The Nikon D800 just waited away with the Nikkor 24-70mm for many passing moments and nailed only decisive frames here and there. The Nikon 1 was the star until the Canon EOS M arrived. It was my go-to camera even while negotiating the narrow roads of Paris, all the way to Andorra. Not surprisingly, the Nikon 1 was placed next to my right thigh while on the road, while the Nikon D800 rested at the back seat. It was mostly a classic whip-up-and-shoot scenario as I negotiated the mountain bends and overtook slower cars, all while dealing with a 6-speed manual gear box.
Paris was safer than was reported. The occasional encounters of Gypsies, street beggars were non issue, even with a two-camera gear Asian dude. I guess they were touristy spots but I can clearly recall the same for back streets and less popular cobble paths. Spontaneous people shots were rare and unmotivated as this was supposed to be a holiday. I just felt lazy to do that talk-before-shot workflow. Ha!
As a side note, I found myself an excellent deal in Geneva, on a Leica M-P Digital that comes with a grip, but gave it a pass as it was priced way below the typical asking price of that model. Something terribly wrong is what I said to myself to be believed. Check out Photo Hall of Geneva Switzerland. It may still be there…
That’s how strange we humans sometimes are. But my gut instinct should govern any buying process, especially when the price variance is above a grand difference. Just a basic rule of thumb. Never dive in to a deal that just looks too good to be true. Period.
Now, there was another deal while passing by Pas Da La Casa, and it was a true genuine deal for a Nikon D3200 then. I would grab it without hesitation if I did not own both the Nikon D7000 and D3100, which are still in perfect working condition. At Euros 435, the kit lens bundle with its five years warranty was a steal. If you ever head towards Andorra and need a camera, do it there.
Nikon Studio 