I should really not have forgotten about my compact camera.
Since I’ve been quite prolific on instagram over the past year I have been neglecting my other cameras. Sure, the Pentax SLR gets trotted out quite often, but mostly it’s the smartphone camera that’s been doing the day-to-day shooting. An extra piece of kit to squeeze into your pocket is not as appealing since I moved up to a bulky smartphone, so the compact tends to stay at home, neglected.
Man, I’d forgotten how good it is to always have a compact on hand. How much faster, less finicky, and fun it is to use a compact, compared to the clunky touch-screen interface of a phone camera. I took my camera out on a whim as I headed to Dubai Mall the other day. I took the metro, and it was the second or third time I’ve used the air-conditioned metro-to-mall link that opened earlier this year. It ensures that thousands of shoppers don’t die in the summer walk from station to mall, and it allowed me to get reacquainted with my compact, the Fujifilm Finepix AV100.
The compact’s battery/SD card door is bit busted, so I’ve had to secure it with some sellotape, but other than that she still works like a charm & produces great photos. Not bad for an $80, bottom-of-range camera.
The metro link is a godsend in the summer months, but the streets below it in Downtown Dubai do show signs of everyday life (it used to be mostly construction even after the mall opened) so the area might warrant a walk-through when the days are cooler.
The Dubai Mall itself has grown on me, now that most stores are open & they have a great cinema & bookstore there, but I still don’t love it. It’s big. It’s useful. It’s silly, but I can ignore most of it if I need to.
I didn’t get many shots off, but I’ve vowed to make a space in my pants for the little compact more often. Move over, (not so) smartphone!
If you made it this far, thanks for looking & reading.
V
