Since 2008, when I started to practice photography a little bit more professionally, my old Canon EOS 450D DSLR camera accompanied me faithfully on many journeys around the world. I took thousands over thousands of pictures with her and she was suffering from dust, rain, and other hazards waiting out there for the traveler and his equipment. In Costa Rica, the camera almost died from too much rain dripping on her case during an extensive walk in the rain forest. But she fortunately also survived that exposion to hazardous wilderness.
And then, on our trip to Indonesia in 2015 together with my wife Paola, my beloved old partner died while visiting and taking pictures of the impressive Prambanan temple close to Yogyakarta on Java. It was a shock and definitely had some impact on our journey. I invested a full day into trying to resolve the problem and when it was clear that nothing can be done for her while we were there in Indonesia, I quickly bought myself a replacement: A brand new Canon PowerShot G7X. With that, we continued our trip through Java and Bali and – even though it was not a full replacement for my missed DSLR – I started to love that new “always-have-it-with-you” feeling with my new technical companion.
Of course, the desire of having a fully-fledged DSLR available again did never vanish. However, for several reasons, it took me more than a year until I bought a real replacement for my deseased EOS 450D. In the meanwhile, I documented my engagement with my wife and took numerous pictures on a series of trips to Spain with her with the PowerShot G7X. And I really have to say: It’s a valuable device – even though it will never entirely replace a real DSLR.
Finally, in fall 2016, I visited the Photokina in Colone for the second time and collected information about a possible candidate to replace my EOS 450D. Since I already own a number of lenses, I had to stay with Canon – but I did never regret that. With that, it was quite easy to sort out two possible candidates: The EOS 7D and the EOS 80D. And soon the decision was made: The Canon EOS 80D will be my new partner on – hopefully – many further trips around the world.
A short trip to Morocco was the first “use case” for my new gadget. And I was overwhelmed by the many new features and options the new camera gave me. Of course, I was also a bit lost in the beginning to manage the new device which made me buy the Canon EOS 80D: Das Handbuch zur Kamera book. However, until now, I did not really have the time to read into it in detail, but that will happen soon – I hope.
So for now, I can just say: I’m satisfied with my new camera and I’m pretty sure she will do a very good job on our upcoming journeys for which you will also find some blog entries in the ‘travel’ section.