When A was around four or five months old back in 2014, I finally went out and bought myself a Sony Alpha 6000. I keep calling it the 8000 in my head, but I am pretty sure it was the 6000. A mirrorless camera. Lightweight compared to the big DSLRs. And honestly, I loved that thing from the moment I took it out of the box.
I had been thinking about buying a “real” camera for a long time, probably since right around when T was born. We had those little point and shoot cameras back then, the kind you take on dates, vacations, and early married life. They were fine as long as the baby was not moving very fast, which babies do not for the first while. Slow focus, mediocre quality, but acceptable.
Eventually we drifted into using our phones. M held on to her BlackBerry camera longer than I ever wanted her to, and I tried to convince her to switch to an iPhone sooner, but that is a whole separate story. Either way, point and shoots faded out, and phone cameras took over. By the time A arrived, I was completely reliant on my phone for photos.
I know this because so many of those early pictures of her are grainy. Not unusable, but definitely early smartphone camera quality. Ten years ago, that was just how phone photos looked. They were fine, but nowhere near what a proper camera could do.
And then I bought the Sony. You can basically see the day it entered our lives just by scrolling the photo library. Everything suddenly goes from grainy baby in poor lighting to “wow, that looks like an actual photograph.” It was night and day.
I did not use the Sony all the time, but when we went to the park, to a family outing, or on a holiday, it came with me. That camera could shoot thirteen frames a second, which blew my mind. Hold down the shutter and it would just fire off shot after shot until the buffer filled. If the kids were jumping off a diving board, I would get every moment of the arc from takeoff to splash. It was incredible.
And the thing is, it is still an incredible camera. It works perfectly. The only thing it really lacks is built in GPS or any sort of modern connectivity. Even back then Sony sold an add on for that, but I never bought it. Aside from that, I truly have no complaints. It is a fantastic piece of kit.
But I do not use it anymore. Hardly ever.
Even though it is mirrorless and not some heavy DSLR monster, it is still extra weight. Unless I am going to a recital or a school performance or sports day, I just do not bring it. On those special occasions it shines. I get great photos. I am always glad I brought it.
But for everything else, holidays, day trips, everyday moments, I just use my iPhone.
The newer iPhones have such good cameras now. The optical zoom is surprisingly decent, the quick capture is good enough, and while it will never match a thirteen frames per second burst, it gets the job done. And more importantly, the phone is always with me. It used to be that the phone camera was “fine.” Now it is genuinely impressive for pretty much all normal everyday photos.
So the Sony sits around. I take it out a few times a year, but that is about it.
Part of me would love to upgrade it someday, mostly for the built in GPS so I could easily geotag everything. I still tag my photos manually because I like knowing where pictures were taken, but upgrading to a whole new camera just to avoid that step does not make sense.
And as much as it pains me to say it, I do not think I will ever buy another dedicated camera. Not because they are not wonderful, but because I do not want to carry one. Convenience wins. Even over something as genuinely enjoyable and high quality as that Sony Alpha.
It is a little sad, but it is also just reality. The best camera is the one you are willing to carry, and these days, that is my phone.