Once upon a time, I was enthused about photography, enough so that I got a Sony Alpha 6000 when they first came out. I’m not horrible at photography; I consider myself ‘semi professional’ since I have been paid for some photos I have taken. Others I permitted use for in academic publications at no cost.

While I was out with friends a few weekends ago, I encountered a professional photographer, someone whose work I know and respect. We talked a bit about cameras, and then I griped about how I bought a Sony Alpha 6000, and the very next year the upgraded camera used different lenses – and I just never bothered after that. It’s true. And for a while I beat the snot out of that Alpha. It was fun, but then when a DSLR gets orphaned for lenses a sense of, “why bother” permeated the phoographic aspect of my soul. 

Imagine my surprise when I was agreed with.

I did the image at the top of this post with a Samsung S22 Ultra, demonstrating it’s ‘nightography’ ability which seems to be a multiple lense HDR on low lit aspects of the image. It’s nifty, cool and… relatively inexpensive on something I have to upgrade every few years anyway. A phone.

It seemed intuitive that the standalone cameras would have decreased in cost while increasing in value, yet when I did a quick perusal on Amazon.com I was quickly disappointed. The cameras I would consider buying are over $2,000. With how quickly my camera and lenses found their way to antiquity, I simply don’t see spending that much to be relegated to a museum that quickly. It’s ridiculous for someone who is semi-professional if one gauges that the camera should pay for itself and pay toward another before it becomes outdated. It’s not worth it. Using two sticks to start a fire with your wallet seems much more understandable.

So, for now, I’m done with stand alone cameras in much the same way I stopped getting cable television with my internet access, or when I stopped having a landline when I got a mobile phone. I just don’t see it unless you are in a position that pays to have the cameras replaced that quickly and expensively.

The way things are looking, that’s not happening soon.