New gear, but not that new gear

No, this isn’t about the L10 I pre-ordered a few weeks ago. It should be shipping next week. I hope!

Anyway, for the longest time, I have wanted a point and shoot camera to pop in my hiking bag or running pack to have when and if I needed it. At the beginning of the pandemic, I bought a Fuji Film 100XV. I had wanted to try something not Canon or Sony and see what I thought about it. The camera was nice, full of features, but I didn't love it. I kept it for maybe a year and flipped it.

And then a few years ago, I picked up a Panasonic LUMIX ZS80D. It just didn't impress me with its picture quality, and it was just too small in my hands. I sold it to a co-worker for a deep discount and didn't miss it.

What I expected to love, the Sony RX100 VII wasn't to be either. Used, the camera was damn near the new price, but I caved and bought one. It was tiny in my hand. I bought a wrist strap and a grip, but I never fell in love with it. Picture quality was amazing, as was the zoom range. But I never felt comfortable tossing it in my hiking or running pack to have with me on the trails. It was too damn expensive and slippery in the hand to do something like that. At least that’s what I told myself when it didn’t make it out of the house. Anyway, I kept it for almost a year and then moved on from it.

Recently a friend wanted me to sell their camera, an Olympus TG-7. Now we're talking! Inexpensive, tough, and waterproof. I had researched the TG-5 during Covid, and found it to be perfect for the conditions I spoke about above. Yeah, it is only 12mp, but who cares? I wanted something tough, durable, and that I could use for a photo on the trails. Many times I see a scene I want to capture, maybe in hopes of returning with my R5 to do it justice. Mission accomplished!

Anyway, I haven't taken it out yet, but plan to soon. I may share photos here, hard to say. Happy to have finally gotten what I wanted and needed.