A Hug a Day and the Pentax Q

I think that camera junkies, at any time, have a camera fund and a collection of cameras. If a junkie has a lot of cameras, then no money in the fund. If there is a lot of money (what???) the junkie scans impatiently the online boards... for the next love affair.

At the end of last year, over the course of 2 weeks, I sold a lot of my things, to purge, to cure myself of this affliction. I know, it was futile; I was doomed. Anyway, my fund was overflowing with cash.

I monitor an aggregator site, that tells me all the best deals of the day, and the Pentax Q (S1) came onto my radar. Pentax??? Hmmmm???? I watched lots and lots and lots of videos about the Pentax Q. Everyone gushed, and I mean, it was obscene the way they coo'ed and stroked their Pentax Qs. The Q is tiny, said they. But, it looked simply small, not tiny.

Some kind of visual trick, I think. Because, several days later, I bought one, and won a bid on a second one. Speaking of buying two... I have a tendency to buy a camera, then acquire additional stuff (lens, batteries, etc) for it, thinking that I would be (this time it's for sure) forever committed to the camera, for life, to be faithful.

So I got the camera. I opened the box, and I gushed. OMG, it is adorable. So tiny. Not small, TINY.

This picture cannot possibly convey the adorable-ness of the Q. Instead of my V1, V2, Leica T, blah blah blah, I brought the Q with me everywhere. I giggled when the crazy art modes rendered neat images. Oh now I understand why everyone giggled in the videos, as they stroked (lovingly) their Qs.

I have very complicated relationships with my cameras. Sometimes I don't want to think and I want them to do everything for me. Sometimes I want to have all the control, and I want them to cede everything. Sometimes I want them to challenge me, "if you love me, you will find a way to make this relationship work."

Anyway, I have my two Qs, and I am thinking, perhaps it's time to finally have the Leica M9. Don't ask me about my decision process. You can't ask a camera junkie to rationalize his relationships with gears. I also secretly think that the significant other of a camera junkie is glad that, during late nights, when the computer is on, the camera junkie is reading about cameras (and believe or not, often, even those that he already owns). I know, we are weird like that.

It really doesn't matter, AT ALL, what cameras I own, or how expensive they are, or how easy or difficult they are to use. It doesn't matter to me, although it does to so many, that my images are utterly imperfect and incorrect. It does matter that I try my best to capture what I want to capture. And, it matters the most, that I am ok with that.