Two Realizations before Lunch
Summit One Vanderbilt, Manhattan NY or How My Brain Feels Most of the Time.
I realized two things about myself this morning — both embarrassingly self‑centered and exactly what a blog is for.
First: camera gear.
After a week in NYC carrying a Canon 5D Mark II (an excellent 18‑year‑old DSLR), I finally hit its one real limitation for me: the screen doesn’t tilt or articulate. That matters more than I expected. If you always shoot from eye level, everything ends up looking like “a person holding a camera.” And if you want a low or high angle, you either squat like a gremlin or climb something like an OSHA violation. At my age and girth, neither is ideal. So when I shoot from above or below, I’m basically guessing.
I used to have a camera with a fully articulating screen — the kind that swings out like a 1990s camcorder. I hated it. It stuck out, it looked goofy, and I was constantly flipping it open and shut just to carry the thing. So, I swapped it for the Canon, which feels fantastic in the hand and takes beautiful photos… but damn, do I miss being able to compose a shot without kneeling in public like I'm tracking banditos.
Tilt‑only screens do exist, but they’re rare and weirdly expensive. Think “$5,000 Leica” expensive. Today, most modern cameras use fully articulating screens because videographers demand them, and the hinge design makes simple tilting impossible. I don’t shoot video with my camera. If I want video, I’ll use my phone. I want my camera to be a camera, not a YouTube machine. Which leads to realization number two.
Second: I finally understand why I prefer Apple’s walled garden.
I always told myself it was because I disliked how Google monetizes personal data — and I do dislike that — but the deeper truth is simpler: Apple limits my choices, and that calms my ADHD‑adjacent brain. I don’t have to sift through 1,000 options to find the “right” one. The ecosystem is intentionally narrow, and for me that’s anti‑anxiety design at its finest.
So, I’m swapping my 18‑year‑old Canon with its fixed screen for a 13‑year‑old Olympus with a tilt‑only screen and, bonus: physical knobs for shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. Heaven. Even though I usually set the aperture and let the camera handle the rest, it’s nice to have the option to intuitively lock down the other two variables when I want motion blur or need to freeze something fast, without diving into a complex menu.
Two realizations before lunch. A glorious Memorial Day to us all.