The Gods and a Camera

Sometimes the Gods do smile on us and here is one reason why … Today I was in Savers in Newington, NH and was passing through the furniture dept when I had to move a chair to get by. Out of the chair tumbled a small red camera bag. I picked it up and found it to be rather heavy. Intrigued I sat down and opened it....

Back story … Years ago when I graduated from high school my mother gave me a Pentax K1000 as a graduation present. I carried that camera for years and took hundreds of pictures. It was my constant companion and I treasured and loved it more than just about anything else I owned. It served me well for over 25 years taking pictures of all my girlfriends and new family as well as every place I visited, but finally one day it stopped working. The shutter would no longer trigger and the local camera store informed me that it would cost $85 just to diagnose it with no guarantee of fixing it. Considering that new it was about $120 and realizing I could be into it for hundreds I quietly cried and lovingly put it away...

… So I could not believe my eyes when I opened the bag. Inside was a 35mm camera, a Pentax K1000 to be precise with two lenses and a flash unit as well as the instruction manuals. I caught my breath and began testing the mechanisms, they all seem to work. I checked the lenses and in short all seemed to be in order. I was stunned and upon closing the bag saw that it had been priced at $14.99. After years of using one digital camera or another I had come to understand their benefits and limitations, but always I wished for the versatility and true art of an actual 35mm SLR print film camera.

Well of course I bought the bag camera and all. I've replaced the battery for the light meter and tomorrow I will shoot my first roll of film in almost 8 years … I can't wait.