The Joys of the First Time Shooting With a New Camera

One of the greatest joys in photography is receiving a new camera and taking it out for the first time. This great vlog documents the experience along with the fun of watching the first prints develop and examining them closely. 

Coming to you from Steve O'Nions, this video follows him on his first adventure with his new Intrepid 8x10 large format camera. He loads his film holders with (just) four sheets of Ilford FP4+ and takes along a Fujinon 240mm f/9 lens (about 36mm in the 35mm world) into the woods for a sunrise shoot. I personally think the joy and anticipation of the first shoot with a new camera is much higher in the film world, simply because you can't view the results instantly, building excitement as you develop the negatives. That's part of the reason I still enjoy shooting with film: there's less distraction from checking every single exposure in the field, which in turn makes it easier to enjoy the actual experience of photography. Furthermore, having a finite number of shots of course forces me to slow down, which makes the entire experience much more relaxing. I find it a great way to spend a weekend afternoon. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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I kind of get a thrill and kind of don't -- only because I'm a Canon shooter. What I LOVE about Canon (more than the IQ which lately has lagged behind Nikon and Sony) is that their interface is EXACTLY the same from camera to camera. I really do like it, but ironically there's less of a thrill when you can completely set up your menus and preferences on your brand new model in less than 5 minutes, and even the battery and charger are the same ones you've used for your last five models.

So for me, the thrill comes in reviewing the work on the computer after I shoot my first round of photos, since the small image thumbnail on the rear of the camera looks pretty much the same as my previous cameras. That part is exciting, and I do rush out to get that first set of test shots. But I suspect you'd have an entirely superior "newness" factor in going to a complete different format as you did in this case.