This is not a gear review.
It’s simply the story of how cameras entered my life, stayed, evolved, and has kept surprising me. And, it has always allowed me to see the world from a different lens (pun intended)
Let me begin with a confession.
I had absolutely no idea about the difference between a DSLR and a normal camera.
None.
Zero.
Zilch.
I just knew there was a camera, and then there were big cameras. That was the full extent of my technical knowledge.
So when Umang decided what I should use, I played along. He researched. He compared. He debated brands. I nodded wisely and carried whatever was handed to me.
The First One
My first camera entered my life quietly. No excitement, no announcements, no long-term plan. Just something to hold while stepping into the wild.
Then we went to Bharatpur.
That trip taught me an important lesson very early on.
The camera didn’t matter.
The place did. The stillness did. The birds did!
Bharatpur had a way of humbling you. It didn’t care what was hanging from your neck. It only cared whether you were present.
Meanwhile, at Home
While I was busy discovering wetlands and waiting for birds to appear, Umang was already ten steps ahead.
He was reading. Researching. Watching reviews.
One day I heard him say a word with great seriousness.
Mirrorless.
I had absolutely no clue what it meant. But it sounded important. And slightly expensive.
Soon after, he bought one.
And I possessed it 🙂
The Z Series Enters Our Lives
That was when the Nikon Z series quietly took over our household.
The first one was the Z6ii. Sleek, sharp, and far more advanced than anything I had previously known how to use.
Meanwhile, I continued happily with my chiriya ki aankh wala camera, the Nikon P1000. If a bird was sitting on a tree three kilometres away, I could see into its personal life. I was perfectly content.
Wait. I Wasn’t Using a DSLR?
Then one day Viral casually said,
“You should also own a DSLR.”
I froze.
What.
Then what exactly had I been using till now?
Before I could process this existential photography crisis, Umang upgraded to the Z8 and generously passed the Z6ii to me.
Hand-me-downs have never looked so good.
My framing, however, continued to be better 🙂
Some things have nothing to do with gear.
The Weighty Decision
Soon enough, the conversation returned.
This time with the Z9 in the frame.
I did what any practical person would do.
I weighed it. Literally.
It wasn’t that heavy.
I decided I could handle the 9.
And just when I had settled into this decision, guess what happened next.
Umang bought a Z9 for himself.
By now, you’ve probably figured it out.
We are very much a Nikon family.
Where We Are Now
Somewhere along this journey, I stopped caring about what the camera was called.
The bodies changed.
The weight shifted.
The buttons multiplied.
What stayed constant was the joy of waiting, watching, and framing moments that don’t announce themselves.
The gear evolved.
The curiosity stayed.
The lenses, though…
They deserve a story of their own.
Note: I don’t have photographs of my very first camera. But some beginnings are meant to live only in memory.