May your smile shine on (Oasis)

Dad loved gadgets and he especially loved cameras.

I was very lucky, because, apart from my very first camera (a Kodak Instamatic), my dad always passed his old camera on to me when he bought a new one.

And, as he was a classic Early Adopter and a world class gadget lover, that was pretty regularly and so quite a few cameras came my way.

In my teenage years they were Asahi Pentax 35mm cameras and by the end of his life they had become FujiFilm digital cameras.

Last year in Doha I bought my second camera ever – a Canon 1000D. It’s not a state of the art Canon but it’s a great entry level digital camera. Not only that but it’s a beautiful looking camera, and a dream to use. Consequently it takes great pictures.

There wasn’t any great tortured selection process ( a là my Jovial watch and the RayBans sunglasses). It was on sale for a ridiculous price (with a zoom lens, case, data cards thrown into the deal) and I did some shallow online research on it before buying it.

Sadly, today, I have had to retire the last camera my dad gave me. It was a largish mini camera if you know what I mean. I’d been using it at school for some time but it’s developed some nasty imperfections so it was time for a new mini camera - my third camera.

Again there were no protracted selection issues – a new shop in the Al Ain mall has a fantastic display of electronic goods. I wanted (and got) a Canon power shot camera made in Japan (rather than elsewhere in Asia). I also got some extras thrown in – data card, case and free phone!

It’s a beautiful grape/purplish colour and so easy to use. It has such a sleek design and a huge zoom on such a little camera.

I love it and I’m sure dad would approve!

Love and peace - Wozza

P.S. Happy birthday to Jade for the 28th. I wish I could be in Nu Zild right now to take your picture with my new camera. Maybe you could bring back the bob to celebrate the 20th revolution around the sun?