Passing of the 'Shutter'

I'm tough on gear. Just no doubt about that. I demand a lot out of my 'stuff' and I don't treat it particularly well. The same could likely be said about the people who share my life, but that is another blog for another day.

Back in 2006 Mark and I were heading to Cuba for our slightly delayed (20 years) honeymoon and bought ourselves a new point-and-shoot camera. Because in my days as a photographer/camera salesperson I had been very impressed with the Pentax point-and-shoots we bought a little Pentax Optio. Weatherproof, somewhat shock proof and very compact, it seemed like the perfect camera for our crazy lives - and indeed it was.
The first day we arrived in Cuba the camera had an accident and hit a tile floor in our hotel room. I was crushed when it quit working. A week in Cuba with no functioning camera seemed like torture to me. Unbelievably, the next day the camera got dropped a second time and proceeded to work like a charm for the rest of the trip!!!!

Unfortunately, the day after arriving home, I accidentally knocked it off our kitchen counter and onto the floor (I told you I'm hard on gear). This time it totally rolled over and played dead. I didn't have the nerve to drop it again to see if the problem would resolve!!! I took it in and paid to have it repaired.

Since then it has shot off tens of thousands of pictures.....
It has been mushing, ATV'ing, hiking, biking, horseback riding, para-sailing, jet boating, flying, kayaking, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting......
It has been all over Canada, Cuba, the US, South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia....
It has been dropped, frozen, scratched, banged, and soaked.....

....And it has always taken fantastic pictures, although lately composition was hit and miss because the viewfinder was so scratched and the camera required the flash for all shots that were not pointed into the sun.

The writing was on the wall...it was time for a new one.

Of course, with how good the Pentax had been over the years, I pretty much had to go with another one. In fact, I went with the same camera as my old one, just the 2013 version.

Optio WG-2

I figured that it was only fitting that the first images the new camera took were of its predecessor.

I think I felt the new camera "shuttered" a little when it got a look at the old one.
Hang in there, Buddy. You are in for a hellava ride!!!!