New toy

My Christmas present to myself finally arrived last week. It's a new old SX-70 Model 1 and it has been stuck in a warehouse depot for what seemed like an age. On the face of it it's a complete and utter waste of money: over 35 years old, incredibly fragile, prone to mechanical as well as electronic failure, and requiring expensive near obsolete film. Yet I couldn't be more delighted with my purchase!

It represents everything I love in a product. It's humble design is ingenious as it is technically exacting. With the gentlest of tugs this neat rectangular ingot unfolds itself into an angular modern miracle of prismatic lenses and geometric light reflecting mirrors. In a world where product form and function seem so rarely to exist in harmony my aging SX-70 proudly represents a two fingered salute to flawed modern manufacturing-design processes. with it's weighty metallic feeling plastic cleanly offset by immaculate tan leather inserts. It is a beautiful object plain and simple, the fact it also happens to be a supremely sophisticated camera only serves to make it all the more glorious in my eyes.

I realise this post really doesn't warrant being posted in the first place since it is only of interest to me, and certainly offers no commentary of the world of branding and marketing. However I see no distinction between work and life (it's all life after all) so I'm going to leave it up. I do actually have some momentous work related news that I'm very excited about sharing but I'll announce that later in the week.

One of the reasons I can't wait to try out my new camera is because of it's famously short focusing lens. With a deft flick of the index finger I'll be able to snap subjects as close as 20 cm away whilst leaving the mid and background out of focus. In effect instantly making my photos look better than they really are. See below...