Making Memories (With a 15 Year Old CCD Camera)

You all know by now that I love to take photographs. Although a bulk of my work is pretty serious stuff, the most important part of photography for me is making memories. Of course I could do this with my main camera, or my mobile phone, but there is something so special about using a little old point and shoot camera, that just makes the images special.

This weekend, as most weekends, I have been snapping away. And I just want to share with you the images from Saturday 13th July 2024. They are just family images, all snapshots of a time and place. I present you the entire cardload from the day. All unedited, using my Lumix FS10 which is a small point and shoot from 2010, making this camera a lot older than my boys!

Why do I use this camera (and occasionally the Casio EX-H5)? It is smaller than my mobile phone, so people really do not notice it. It has fast autofocus for catching the moment, the CCD sesnsor renders lovely looking images and the zoom range is very handy! Of course, in low light, it can suffer, but that flash does the job nicely to fill in the light.

There is just something about the “look” and “feel”. I have used Vivid mode and Black And White mode, there are absolutely no adjustments made after I took the photo. For me, family photos should always be totally untouched. Capturing the moment exactly as it happened, with the equipment you were using.

Looking at these, and comparing them to old family photographs that were taken on film, it is easy to see that the CCD sensor is a great middle-ground between film and the sensors in cameras we are using today. A huge majority of our old family photos were taken with point and shoot 35mm film cameras, 110 cameras and very consumer friendly film cameras, which means, even the depth of field is replicated like those old photos, and there is no major bokeh to be seen.

Anyway, I just wanted to share with you, and let you know that, if you have an old camera laying around, then do not be afraid to put a battery and memory card in it, and go and take photos.