It’s travelled with me everywhere – 3 continents, 17 countries and 11 US states – and it’s never missed a beat.
It’s photographed an exhibition worth of material, produced photos hanging on people’s walls, published in books and newspapers.
It’s been bashed against rocks, weathered rain showers, and even a blizzard – and it’s still functioning like the day it left the factory floor.
I should owe this camera some sentimental thought, but really it’s just a box of circuits. Still – Canon really do make excellent digital SLR cameras.

My equipment doesn’t owe my anything – even as nothing more than a hobby, I’ve been lucky enough when younger to land enough commercial photography jobs to have it pay for itself. I’m also graced from a photographer father from whom to “borrow” equipment from!

I’ve stubbornly refused to upgrade SLR for almost ten years now. Since the 20D, all that’s happened is a statistics upgrade – more megapixels, slightly faster, bigger screen, more pointless in-camera creative effects.
It’s been so long, however, that some genuinely useful features has passed me by: I want to use my expensive glass to capture moving film, rather than a camera phone. A tilting screen with live viewfinder is incredibly useful as somebody who’s often balancing the camera on slippery rocks, the edge of a cliff, or anywhere else the optical viewfinder isn’t within head reach. I’m also incredibly lazy about sensor cleaning – so the introduction of vibrating plates, making self cleaning sensors is a big deal. It’s time to upgrade.

Enter my shiny new servant, the 60d. It can expect a similar life of hard knocks, all in the interest of making pretty pictures.
Already it feels less solid in construction, but time will tell how it stands up. I’m excited to try some videography, and the open source Magic Lantern firmware opens some exciting time lapse additions to the software which should be fun to try.
Still – my old trusted servant, the 20d lies in reserve – for all the times Magic Lantern decides to nuke the battery, or for use with a second lens.
Let’s see if the 60d can outlast my “antique” DSLR of times past!