Sunday, February 05, 2006

Ode to the Cannon D2000, I still kind of hate you... old friend

The other night Daniel Sato reminded me of Dr. Dennis Dunleavy’s March 2005 post about my experience in Reno, NV for the 2005 NCAA WAC basketball tournament.

Dennis wrote:
"Tonight, while helping out on the Spartan Daily, we were waiting for Shaminder to email some images he made at a basketball tournament in Reno. When files finally arrived we couldn't open them because they were in a format that the newer computer technology couldn't read."

I forgot all about Dennis' post. That was a long night. I used so many minutes on my cell phone (note to any journalist, go for the plan with the million minutes) and was the last one to leave the media room, even missed dinner.

Yet for all the aggravation, I still look back on the Canon D2000 with fondness. I had some good times with the lumbering beast. For one carrying it around was great for the biceps. It was also a great conversation piece, I always got an odd look and the spark for a lively conversation was instantly created.

Imagine a baseline of 6-8 photographers on each end all shooting with Canon Mark II's and me in the middle with the D2000. You didn’t even need to see me to find me, just listening was enough.

A sea of Mark IIs going “Clickclickclickclcickcklcicckcick…”

And I’m the one going: “.........click............click..........click…"

And in between the shooting: the 17-year-old high school kid (how's Brooks kid?) is taking pot shots at your gear and the pros are wondering which museum you ransacked on the way to Reno. There’s an upside however, folks seem to take pity on you when they see what you’re shooting with and if you come though the pity quickly turns into kudos. All in all it was a great time. I met some great people and now I have this story to tell.