Back to Photography
Some of my friends think that I spend too much time with photography, in all its forms. But there is another hobby, better called passion, that affects me even deeper — listening to music.
About three months ago I decided that my (very average) home-theater system is not good enough for stereo listening. And so I got bit by the Hi-Fi Bug. First thing I realized is that I don’t know a thing about hi-fi. So I read about it on the Internet, got a thick book, read the book, read lots of magazine articles, visited a few stores, went to a hi-fi trade fair.
But all that just made me even more confused. At one point I decided that I should just keep my old system. Then I decided that since I spend most of my hobby-time in front of the computer, I should probably upgrade the sound of my computer. I learned about DACs and sound cards and I tried some equipment at home. But I discovered that I cannot listen to music in an involved way and sort or edit photos at the same time.
So the hi-fi had to go in the living room after all. Good, but at what price level? Hi-fi starts at the level of a Canon 5D mark II + 24-105/4 IS and can go above Canon 1Ds mark III + 600/4 IS + a two-week trip to Antarctica. But the good news is that hi-fi easily lasts 15 years, does not easily go obsolete and gives you great pleasure every day. After much soul-searching I chose a Naim system consisting of a second-hand CD5x, new Nait 5i and second-hand Allae. In photographic terms that’s like a Canon 50D, one step above entry-level and 3 steps down from top-of-the-line.
The system is finally up and running, and I notice how my whole being is looking forward to getting back to photography! I have several ideas and I’ll probably turn the first one into reality next week.
But maybe the very first step — sort of easing myself back into photography again — should be to photograph all those things in the two large piles in my living room that I intend to put up for auction on eBay soon. It’s mostly audio equipment, CDs, some photography books and a Canon EF 400/5.6 L.
