Back And Forth And Back And...

I have decided to take a break from the strenuous days of contemplating about my new, not yet received camera, and resurrect my game of tennis.

With my improved economic state I can actually sign up at the tennis club nearest to my apartment, and do something else when I am not taking pictures.

This is probably one side of me that not many people here in Norway know about. Back when I was living in the Philippines I was an avid player, practicing 4 times a week. I had gotten to be actually rather good. But then I moved to Norway, and tennis being a very expensive sport here, I was not able to play as much as I would have liked.

So tennis club membership in hand, and a potential tennis partner in the works, I scoured e-bay again to find a great deal on a tennis racket (the good ones are also tremendously expensive in Norway as well). I  opted for the new Dunlop Biomimetic 600 Lite racket. It has some really weird technology that I have never heard about, like ergonomics designed to mimic how a shark glides effortlessly in water, a grip that is as secure as a gecko's toe pads, blah blah. But baloney or not, the "normal" technical specifications are what appealed to me: 105 square inch head size, head heavy balance and light weight, ample power and spin, just like my old Wilson Hyper Hammer 6.1, the racket I had greatest success with. I can't to get it and try it out!

Oh I am not abandoning photography! It still is and will always be my greatest passion. But spending my days bundled up in the sofa while surfing the internet about the camera that I have ordered, and which seem like forever to arrive, is very unproductive.

And like the game of tennis my camera choice seems to go back and forth! I still would love to have either the Canon EOS 5D Mark III or the Nikon D800, but it seems like it will take months before Norway would have them in stock! It irritates me that almost all camera stores in other countries have them in stock (especially the Canon) except where I live!

All this time spent waiting makes me want to just drop the whole affair and really settle for the Panasonic GX1 with a COMPLETE set of lenses, costing even less than the 5D Mark III body only! I know a micro four thirds camera is not as "macho" as a full-frame DSLR, but who cares really? And imagine all the fun I can be having with a smaller camera: discrete street photography, macro photography with the Leica lens, and most of all, BIRDING with the 600mm lens. I can just forget about birding with a DSLR, as the lenses will be outrageously heavy and expensive.

And all the money I will be saving, to spend on something else. Like gifts for my family this Christmas.

And if I save up any more money now, I would have come full circle: I would have saved up enough to money to buy a Leica M9! The original camera that I have been wanting, the first camera I wrote about in this blog! But it doesn't appeal that much to me anymore though. And Leica seems to be cooking up something in their factory in Solms. They have scheduled a press release on May 10th.

But all this, of course, is another story.