One Month, One Camera – July 2019 (IV) – Pentax K30 Summary

So throughout July I used only my Pentax K30 DSLR, the fifth chapter of my One Month, One Camera (OMOC) project this year.

I’ve spoken in other posts about the K30 specifically, so rather than rehash a partial review of it here (very briefly, it’s great, but exposures aren’t as consistent as I’d hoped, I’m not overly keen on the 16MP CMOS sensor’s sharp output, and it’s too highly spec’d for me really), I just want to return to the purpose of shooting just one camera for a month, and what I’m learning from it.

What’s worked well

– Shooting with just one camera eliminates all camera decision making.

As someone who used to agonise endlessly over which camera to use when I had too many, it’s such a joy to just know which camera you’re going to use, and completely eliminate all that time wasting deliberating.

I just grab it and go.

– Using just one body increases your familiarity and connection with the camera.

Which means you become more fluid in using it, and it becomes more and an extension of your eyes, hands and mind, rather than an intimidating device in your hands you’re not quite sure what you’re doing with.

Starting to feel that muscle memory come into play after a few sessions is a very satisfying feeling, something that doesn’t happen if you’re constantly reminding yourself which camera you’re using and mentally scanning through a virtual instruction manual to try to remember where a particular function is.

– Using one camera encourages more experimentation.

Because you can try something different get immediate feedback on what works and what doesn’t, then take that learning into a further experiment.

When you’re constantly switching cameras, this knowledge gained becomes almost entirely lost, because you struggle to remember exactly what you did the 10 days/weeks/months ago you last used it.

Put another way, when you repeat experiments over a short space of time, it embeds the learning, and you evolve more quickly.

What’s not worked so well

– Having this project has somehow given me permission to buy more new cameras to try, rather than just using different cameras I already had.

This wasn’t the original intention at all, though I have enjoyed every camera I’ve used, and gained something from the experiences.

I don’t want or need to buy any more cameras.

– At times towards the end of a month, whilst I’ve been committed to the camera I’ve been using, I have started thinking about which camera to use for the next month.

Again this wasn’t quite the intention from the outset, it was more to emulate how it would be to have only one camera full stop, not a new one every month.

So perhaps now I need to try one camera for more than one month?

What next? 

Well, picking up on all of the points above, I’ve already started my August OMOC with the Pentax K100D DSLR I’ve recently acquired.

I know I’ve said this before, but it does feel like this could be a camera I could use for a much longer period exclusively.

Partly because I love using it and feel very at home with it (surprisingly more so than the K30). And partly because it’s a DSLR, so I have a few different lens options to keep it interesting.

What’s the longest you’ve gone using just one camera?

Please let us know in the comments below (and don’t forget to tick the “Notify me of new comments via email” box to follow the conversation).

Thanks for looking.

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