This is the end

I think The Doors put it best: 

This is the end

Beautiful friend

This is the end

My only friend, the end

So for the last 6 years or so, the Canon RP has been my main and only camera. This camera has become my all-time favorite camera, not that I have a ton of different cameras in my photo journey, but the images I have gotten from it have been amazing to me. 

This camera has become a more of a friend and less of a tool. I know its ins and outs, little quirks, limits, and button layouts by heart. This camera might not have been reviewed great, was panned by critics, but I had zero issue with it and to this day still recommend it to people looking for a good, cheap camera to either upgrade to or get started with. 

But the time has come where I need to move on. I need to get something smaller and lighter. Canon refuses to allow 3rd-party lenses on its full-frame mirrorless system bodies, so I am stuck with big, heavy glass that is just wearing me down in both using and lugging around. 

I wish I had other options from manufacturers, smaller/lighter glass, but I don’t, and because of that, I need to let an old friend go. Not a darn thing wrong with the RP, 6 years in, tens of thousands of images taken, and still working like a champ. This body is very much a victim of circumstances, and that is a true crime I 100% blame Canon.

So the process begins with my boxing it all up, sending it off for trade and the wait for my new camera. 

A month ago I rented the OM System OM-3 and that is the camera I am going with. The size and weight sold me, the computational photography was a nice bonus and maybe a change is something I really need in my photo journey at this point. 

Canon has been the brand I have used since I really started doing more “serious” photo stuff since the early 90’s, scared to leave a company that I know and trust, but a little excited for a new change. I’m not going into the new camera comparing it to what I left, I want to treat the OM-3 as something new and fresh, something to learn and explore, hoping that in time this camera will become my new best friend instead of just a tool.