| FACE
TO FACE WITH THE VR
I went to my local
photo shop, just in time to browse before the year-end holidays
and to get film in enough quantities to be prepared for the family
crowd reunions. I had not
yet succumbed to digital by then.
|
My
local photo shop, Foto Regis. Downtown Monterrey, Mexico
The VR at left, over the counter, enticing
me |
As
for most local shops, it seems to be very difficult for them to
be well stocked. That is, having everything we may wish for at
hand. They cannot afford it. Margins shrink, typical customers
are P&S shooters only requiring the 4X6 1-hour prints. The
big spenders have migrated to the online stores, to save on import
duties and taxes. These stores in fact make their money by selling
X-Ray film to local hospitals and paper and chemicals to smaller
printers.
I
make my small contribution to support them by sending in my film
rolls for prints (6X8 proofs) and buying all of the small relatively
well priced stuff I can find (filters & film, aluminum tripods,
occasionally books, and ordering the difficult to find small items).
We
were close to Christmas time. I had promised my daughter a Pelican
waterproof case. They still had one so I went in to get it. As
always, I started to chat with the manager and the conversation
turned into lenses; incredibly enough they had received a single
brand new VR, most likely one of the first in the market.
As
said before, I had no interest in the VR technology, I thought
I had no use for it. My monopod or tripod were always at hand
for a slow shutter speed shot.
But
they took the lens out of its case for me to see. Immediately
mounted it on my F5 and proceeded to play with it inside the store.
It
was really short, (3.6" x 6.7") compared to the 80-200mm f/2.8
AF-S (3.5" x 8.1"). Focusing was very fast even at 400mm and inside
the store, with artificial light. Loaded the camera, shot an entire
roll inside the store and ...
It
had been a long year. I had turned around certain enterprise and
it had been quite a success. Since nobody else was doing it, I
rewarded myself and overpaid for the lens. What the heck. It is
only money and we take none to the grave. |
