There's a well known phenomenon in photography called "GAS", short for "Gear Acquisition Syndrome". It refers to the habit of acquiring more and more stuff (cameras, lenses, etc) for various reasons. One of these reasons is curiosity, one is a natural tendency to collect stuff, and one (the worst one) is because some people think it will improve their photography without any additional effort on the part of the photographer. Most photographers agree that this is flawed thinking.

I have a variation of GAS, in that I do acquire new cameras on a regular basis, but always as a result of a trade-in and rarely at much expense. I suppose you could call it "GES", as in "Gear Exchange Syndrome".

The latest "exchange" came as a result of a recent interest in shooting film. I recently came to own an old manual Canon film camera with a 50mm lens and a zoom. Out of curiosity I shot a few rolls of various films with the 50, and found that it was a very enjoyable experience.  I hope to put them up on here at some point. I enjoyed it so much that I pretty much stopped using the X100S for some time, leading me to wonder what I was going to do with it. On top of this, I've come to realise that 35mm isn't really a focal length that I get along with as much as some.

It then occurred to me that there is a range of digital cameras which shoot very much like film cameras. Not for the best reason, but we can make it into a good reason.

I used to have the Sigma DP Merrill 2, a very interesting creation with stunning resolution and incredible IQ when kept at a low ISO. I used it for a while and then traded it, possibly because it was a 45mm equivalent, which is closer to 50 than 35 but still not really my focal length. If only it were longer, I thought at the time. (Readers familiar with Viz magazine are now free to invoke Finbarr Saunders).

So then DP Merrill 3 came out with a 75mm equivalent lens and that's my new camera, replacing the Fuji (lovely machine, but like I said, not really my focal length in the end). The reason I say that using these things is like using film is that you have to take a lot of care with your shots....because you're not going to get many. A fully charged battery will get you 50 RAW shots or so, and that's if you're lucky and avoid chimping as much as possible. I took two fully charged batteries out yesterday and after around one hundred shots (combined) they were both flat. I've almost started looking at a battery for the DP Merrill as if it were a roll of film, and in this way I shoot the Merrill very much like I shoot the film body. You only lift it up if you see something really interesting or worth shooting, and you only hit the shutter button if you're really convinced you have something. 

In terms of the IQ it puts out, the DP Merrill 3 is at least as good as its wider-angle kin. Zooming in on the pictures is frequently incredibly satisfying to see the richness of the detail captured.

The first place I went to yesterday is a little town outside Nagoya called Arimatsu. They were having a "shibori festival". "Shibori" literally means "wringing" or "squeezing", and refers to making dyed materials (and "festival" means "eating, drinking and selling stuff"). They have maintained the old-style Japanese houses in the area, giving the town a nice old feel.

Examples of the local arts

It being a Japanese festival, there was a large portable shrine which was at some point going to be hauled around by strong men. They are held together by (among other things) a thick rope. Perfect subject for the Merrill, which loves picking up detail.

One of the shrine-bearers...

At this particular festival, there were men on stilts dressed up as a Japanese folkloric demon-kind-of-thing called a "Tengu". Their most prominent feature is their long nose.

Lucky shot time: I saw this Tengu character with a kid playing in the background and took the shot. After I opened it up on the computer, I realised that it sort of looks like the kid is sliding down the Tengu's nose.

Couple of "red" shots to go with Tengu's top...

The market

Cameras everywhere

After the shibori festival (and the end of my first battery) I went one stop down the train tracks to a famous old battleground, where another festival was taking place. Summer is very much festival time around here. The starting point for the event was a temple, and it's always interesting to shoot around those.

Candles. For safety in the home (left), safety on the road (centre) and something about illness, presumably relief from or prevention of (right)

An individual whose temple you don't want to mess around with

Elsewhere, there were various performances going on

Waiting their turn (and yes, it was raining very lightly, hence the umbrellas)

Man with headband

The main event of the day was to be a parade of people dressed up in colourful gear. To prepare for that there was a drum performance.

Then the parade came through

And lastly, for no reason other than it amuses me, a picture of a dog in between his owner's legs

Thanks for looking!