Camera Issues (or problems)

Here's a photo from a ride to Tübingen on Friday. It's a bike path that goes through the countryside, and the weather was perfect. I put on my Carradice Sackville saddlebag, and tied on a Derby Tweed cardigan with toestraps just in case it got cool.

My Canon 400d began giving me error messages randomly yesterday. I got canon error 99, and canon error 01, saying that my lens contacts needed to be cleaned, because the camera could not communicate with the lens. I inspected the contacts, and they appear clean, but just to be sure, I used a lens cloth and cleaned the contacts on both the lens and the camera, as well as using a pencil eraser, like Canon tech support suggests. It didn't work. So now I'm probably going to take the camera to a local Canon service center for warrantee work. I think it's probably something with my Thrifty 50 lens, so I'll try my friend's kit lens from his Rebel, and see if my camera recognizes it.

This has got me thinking, fully manual film cameras wouldn't have this problem, in fact, the only electronic bits they have are light meters. I've been interested in a film rangefinder for a while, and this little "problem" has sort of shaken my confidence in the fully electronic computerized camera, even though I use it strictly in fully manual mode. I like things that are built to last, take abuse, are simple enough to repair, and allow a large degree of user input. The Canon allows user input, but it is also largely dependent on a computer chip and susceptible to weird issues like this one.

I like having the convenience of uploading photos onto my computer right away, but I don't necessarily need the instant gratification of seeing the image immediately after it is taken. I'll probably keep this camera in the long run, but I'd like to add a camera like a used Leica M6, or a Voigtländer Bessa R series rangefinder. I'm already using a prime lense, and a rangefinder focuses more accurately than an SLR anyway, since it uses triangulation instead of simply looking through the lens until everything seems in focus. I guess it's more of an issue when you're shooting in low light with a fast-ish lens.