I take photographs of wildlife.
And I have a ridiculous number of cameras.
My favourite is the Nikon D200 which I use with a macro lens (Sigma) and natural light or, failing that, a ring flash. (But also have several zoom lenses and a cool widget that sticks it onto our telescope - we have planet plans...)
But I live a rough and tumble existence, so I also have an Olympus mu (8010) - YES, I broke the 770sw which is now cowering in its underwater case awaiting more abuse. As a camera, it's an acquired taste, but I do like rugged stuff.
My special camera is my (now old) Canon EOS, which is full of film. (Ehhhh? OK, son, it's black non-sticky tape which you unwrap inside a binbag in the attic while juggling paper and chemicals and an enlarger which is like a microsope but larger... and OK, now my child thinks I'm mental).
And we have a new addition, the elderly Nikon F. Metal, clonky, also full of film. We did have a Leica but *someone* gave it away... (Oh, and if you need to repair the shutters of very old cameras, you know black marker pen is just *magic* -- I know, I know... but it IS!)
Of course I still cherish the film Olympus that has for so long been known as 'Dad's camera' that I don't think any of us ever knew the model name. Potted childhood.
And the Nikonos - have you ever seen such a satisfying underwater camera? No messing. It's very cool.
Oh, and the disc camera. (What? Don't ask - worse than the phones).
And then the DV camera - old Sony, middle Sony and baby Sony - each with their very own custom made underwater casing and then there's the old Hi-8 which has a kind of home-made plastic-tube casing - and it works, you know. It does.
There are more. There are.
They all work (apart from the digital Canon which got dropped in the sea and now gets hot after a few minutes' use...)
And perhaps the disc camera... that never worked - not in the true sense of 'pictures that you can see properly'. But I love it anyway. Because it's a camera.
