The 14-Year-Old Camera That Keeps Clicking

This is an appreciation for the camera equivalent of when you drive a car for a long, long time and it holds up. This is for none other than what was my original photographic workhorse, the Canon EOS 6D Mark I. 

This camera has received both praise and backlash over the years — from its autofocus system to its slower frame rate to a range of other strengths and weaknesses. When I was just getting into photography, it was slightly after the 6D was announced back in 2012.

I remember walking by a photography store, looking at the 6D and thinking, "Wow, how nice would it be to shoot with that camera?" At the time, I was learning on a Canon Rebel T5i and was starting to ask myself how I could upgrade as my work had gotten better and I felt like I had been improving and wanted to grow more. And obviously with that, I wanted the full frame goodness — this was the era of the EOS 7D Mark I and the 5D Mark III.

I believe shortly after I picked up the 6D, the 7D Mark II was released. So it's been a while, and mirrorless wasn't really even a conversation at that point. The 6D became my workhorse. I shot everything imaginable with it — real estate, sports. It's what started my career as a fashion photographer. And if I pick it up today, I can still shoot and get a great image out of it.

But this camera doesn't owe me anything, especially as it has been over 10 years since I started shooting with it, and it's starting to show its age. A lot of the rubber is starting to come off. The mode dial has lost its top. The rubber grip is starting to fall off as well, and the rubber around the edges of the camera is all peeling away. But it still shoots. It still takes a clean image.

And while it doesn't have the highest ISO performance, it still manages to get the shot. In an era of so many cameras being released all the time — an almost surplus of options — I wanted to take a moment to appreciate the tools that made us and to honor how long they've lasted.

Because as photographers, we're always upgrading, always looking at the next better thing. But sometimes it's important to look at what got you to where you are. It's like when you're upgrading to a luxury car and you look back at the first car you ever bought, thinking of all the memories made in it. That's what I think about with this camera. It's also a testament to build quality, because I can't say I have babied it. Sure, I've looked after it and kept it in good working order, but it has been dropped, banged around, used in sand, snow, and rain — just about any environment you can imagine — and it's still going.

I haven't plugged it in to get the exact shutter count, but I imagine it would be in the six digits, given how many photos I've shot with it. And yet it still keeps going. At this point, based on what I would get if I sold it, I almost think it's better to hold on to it as a keepsake — or a glorified paperweight. Maybe frame it as a symbol of what started my photographic career.