The Dynax 9 was the best camera Minolta ever made: all metal construction; 100% viewfinder; top speed of 1/12,000 second etc.. There it was in Harrison Cameras and there was I with my nose pressed against the glass of the display cabinet. I even left the shop without it as I felt I could not justify the expense, but only walked about 200 yards before I turned round and handed over my bank card.
The disappointment of viewing my efforts is deferred of course, so I have not been able to attach any images but using the camera was a great pleasure. It weighs over a kilogram and I am still walking with a slight stoop.
I have also bought a couple on photography books as they were for "give away" prices on Amazon. One was about Atget and the other about Roger Fenton, Britain's greatest photographer of the nineteenth century, even though he only photographed for a decade in the 1850s., Here's one from his series at the British Museum, which (like the Palace of Westminster) was being built during this time. Fenton used curved mounts to hide the dark corners that are a feature of many Atget images. Perhaps this was one of the reasons that Atget is still admired as a "straight" photographer, who did not try to embellish his images in any way. However Aget was poor and Fenton was very rich and I reckon Atget would have had decent mounts cut if he could have afforded it.
On a more mundane note here's one of mine, from last week end, at a nearby nature reserve (Agden Bog). It was hard work not to tread on a frog.
The first (400 ASA negative) film has now been developed and scanned on my ancient (SCSI cabled) Minolta Dimage Scan Dual scanner. The images have a different feel from direct digital images; less sharp and less colourful but satisfying in their own way.
