My stroll through Yodobashi Camera
Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 9:13 am
This morning I was walking through Yodobashi Camera. Didn't even pick up any cameras, but just surveying the usual, extensive landscape of row after row after row of camera gear all begging to be touched. Anyway, it got me to thinking about my most expensive camera I have ever bought in my whole life, the KM 7D. I paid $1500 for it in February 2005. That's about $1850 in 2015 dollars -- about 230,000 yen. Although it had many wonderful points and I loved the IBIS it was a stinking lemon. I had to return it after only a few days because the sensor was not installed flat and perpendicular to the lens so no matter what lens I used the upper half of the frame was focused severely differently than the bottom half. KM replaced it and then the long torture of sending that second one in to KM U.S., twice to KM Canada, and then twice to Sony and each time them not fixing the AF problem I had with it. Finally, after 2 years Sony refunded the full amount for my KM. I thought of this as I was walking through Yodobashi because as I scanned prices of DSLRS and mirrorless I realized that almost every single camera was less than my ill fated KM 7D cameras. The closest in price was a Nikon D810. All the Sony bodies (A99, A7II, A7s, A7r, etc.) were less except for the new A7rII. The higher end Nikons and Canons were more though. The Fuji X-T1 is much less than what my KM 7D cost. And so on.
No real point here except I decided after the KM debacle to never again spend that much money on a camera body. The funny thing is that my second most expensive camera was the A700 I paid about $1250 for in 2008. About $1400 now. That was a camera that I liked the features of even more than the KM 7D, but it was also defective and Sony wasn't able to fix it. Still have that one packed away in the States. Fortunately, all the cameras that cost less (Canon 60D, 30D, 300D; Olympus E-M10, E-M5; Panasonic G3) have all been wonderful and I have not discovered any manufacturing defects with any of them.
Anyway, just some musings on this late afternoon. About time to crack open an Asahi Super Dry, I think. Kanpai!
No real point here except I decided after the KM debacle to never again spend that much money on a camera body. The funny thing is that my second most expensive camera was the A700 I paid about $1250 for in 2008. About $1400 now. That was a camera that I liked the features of even more than the KM 7D, but it was also defective and Sony wasn't able to fix it. Still have that one packed away in the States. Fortunately, all the cameras that cost less (Canon 60D, 30D, 300D; Olympus E-M10, E-M5; Panasonic G3) have all been wonderful and I have not discovered any manufacturing defects with any of them.
Anyway, just some musings on this late afternoon. About time to crack open an Asahi Super Dry, I think. Kanpai!