Image is Everything
From a Canon Rebel to R5 II Mirrorless Camera
In 1990, tennis phenom Andre Agassi was pitching the new Canon Rebel 35 mm camera in the “Image is Everything” advertising campaign. He was a highly paid pitchman making over $10 million, and I bought in.
For years, I would vacation in Estes Park with my Canon Rebel in hand. I would rise with the sun, heading into RMNP in search of velvet antlered elk and mule deer to photograph. I was like an explorer sailing the ocean in a small boat with limited knowledge but a determined spirit.
The Canon Rebel had settings called f–stop and ISO which meant absolutely nothing to me. So I became a master of out-of-focus pictures with the wrong exposure and blurry action shots taken at 100 ISO. To this young photographer, the concept of “Image is Everything” should have read “Blurry Images are Everything.”
After twenty years, three versions of the Canon Rebel, and thousands upon thousands of discarded pathetic pictures, I told my wife, “I think I’m going to upgrade my camera a bit.” Then one morning I was above the treeline on Trail Ridge Road. There I met another photographer who shared the images he’d captured. Fabulously clear shots of animals high on the tundra. No fuzziness, no blurriness, color outstanding, and my dreamed of clarity, I asked about his camera.
It was the most advanced (DSLR) Canon EOS-1D Mark II offering exceptional speed and autofocus performance making it the pinnacle of Canon’s EF technology.
I went home excited, searched the Canon site, checked the price, and gulped. I shivered at the dollar signs. Ten times the cost of my trusty but inferior Canon Rebel. Slyly, I suggested to my wife, Carolyn, “I think I’m going to do a bit more than just upgrade my camera.” In her supportive nature, and without understanding the cost, she encouraged, “This is probably the last camera you’ll buy, so why not give yourself a gift?”
By that time, my camera knowledge and photography skills had begun to catch up with the Canon technology. Suddenly, I became a much better photographer. Elk in a field became bugling elk in the height of the rut, challenging other bulls, and moose…their population had grown, and I was able to capture images I’d only dreamed of.
Then, seven years later the advanced technology of mirrorless cameras had become the new rage. That’s when I cautiously said to Carolyn, “I don’t think my Canon EOS-1D Mark II is the last camera I’m going to buy.” She rolled her eyes. She didn’t understand I meant a whole new system of an expensive camera body, a variety of lenses with varying length and speed, and all of the fancy-spancy support equipment that came with it.
I got my Canon R5 II mirrorless camera two years ago, and miraculously, I became an even better photographer. With hundreds of customized settings, it included AF operation modes with one-shot, servo, AI focus; numerous AF area selections; 30 fps electronic shooting; pre-shooting; and detailed movie recording options.
It was my handheld computer. Bull elk became incredibly sharp showing the distinct details of the antler velvet, and images of moose running through a mountain lake captured the action of splashing water drops in mid–air.
Accompanying this article are images past and present. The Canon Rebel produced my first cow moose and calf crossing a distant field and two fuzzy bull elk on a snowy winter day, looking back at the photographer. Upgrading to the Canon EOS-1D Mark II helped me capture a curious black bear in a ponderosa pine, a ram standing majesticly on a mountain cliff, and the well-known elk Droptine bugling for potential mates.
Finally, in the past year with the Canon R5 II mirrorless camera, I have extended my photography to capture humpback whales breaching in the blue bay waters near Puerto Vallarta, an intently intimidating alligator in the swampland of Florida, and Yellowstone grizzly bears in their mating ritual.
Today, my photography skills have matched the camera’s technology, and the reality that “Image is Everything” has come true. Thank you, Andre.
