Gear – Photoni.st

11/02/202612/02/2026

Kodak DC200 (ca. 1998-1999)

Josh Warner posted on Substack photos he took with a Kodak DC210A he bought for next to nothing on a flee market.

This was a version of my first digital camera (mine was a DC200) I bought with one of my first salaries in the UK as I was working on a post doc project.

I dug up some old photos from my archive taken with that camera. I only have a few since I had it stolen very quickly after I bought it (it was in my rucksack, with my ID papers, my wallet, and my house keys).

Most of these were taken around Edinburgh, where I lived at the time. I seem to have shot in low resolution (640×480) because storage was at a premium in the 90s (and note that these images survived nearly 30 years in my archives without cloud storage!). They are unmodified, as they came out of the camera at the time.

09/01/202618/12/2025

Camera Fascination

Some of us maintain that gear doesn’t matter. And technically, we’re right: a camera won’t make you a better photographer. But there is another side to the debate.

15/12/2025

Playing With Old DSLRs

Photographers are split into two groups: those who swear by their gear and upgrade to the latest of everything all the time, and those who say that gear doesn’t matter. I used to be in the first group, I’m now in the second.

To prove my point, I got my hands on a lot of old Canon 40Ds for 8€ each. Canon released it in 2007. So these are nearly 20 years old. These have had a hard long lives (200K+ clicks, bits broken, rubber plugs broken or perished). But they allegedly worked, so I wanted to test them because I have plans for them (that will involve “deconstruction”).

Warning: big photo dump.

07/11/202505/08/2025

The Hardware Paradox in Photography: When Tools Both Matter and Don’t

In photography, there’s a fascinating paradox: while equipment isn’t the essence of photography, it can serve as a powerful catalyst for creativity.

17/09/202517/09/2025

Is That a New Addiction?

Lately I’ve been curious about medium format. I like the look and I like the 6×6 format. Unfortunately for me, I’ve never shot film. But that shouldn’t stop me, should it?

19/10/202427/10/2024

It’s not the camera, it’s you

If you look at the distribution of subjects of youtube videos, blogs, and articles, an overwhelming amount is about hardware (some are barely disguised ads). While innovations in camera technology have undeniably made photography more accessible and easier, the idea that only the latest and most expensive equipment can produce great photos is nonsense. In fact, for most photographers and shooting conditions, any camera less than 15 years old can produce fantastic results. The real limiting factor in photography isn’t the camera, but the photographer’s ability, creativity, and understanding of the craft.

Two fishermen on the beach in the morning.

14/03/202415/03/2024

Canon 17-40mm f/4L

For the 6D I bought a new lens: Canon 17-40mm f4L. I’m planning to use it for landscapes mainly (it’s very big with the grip and intimidating for street) and I didn’t have a wide angle FF lens in stock.