Retiring FX-8 (Final Part)

In a less than 3 hours, I'd be embarking on a two-part road trip - first leg covering Brisbane, Gold Coast, Byron Bay and Yamba, and second leg covering Hobart (and the small towns around it) and Strahan. This trip will mark the transition from my trusty FX-8 to D90 and the eventual retirement of FX-8 from full-time photography to back-up photography. As such I think it's only apt that I pay a small tribute to my FX-8.

My FX-8 has served me really, really well. I can still remember buying it at Sim Lim just before coming here for uni. I had been shopping around and was fairly bent on buying a Fuji Finepix S9500. Shopping around the complex, I was hesitant to jump on the S9500 because it ran on AA batteries. Back then, there was a Nikon Coolpix lying somewhere at home but I was slow, had a small screen, ran on AA batteries and had only 3 or 4 megapixels. My bad experience with the Coolpix made me hesitant to purchase another camera that runs on AA batteries. Hence, I shopped around the complex a little more.

I didn't see anything that caught my eye until I spotted the FX-8 in one of the stores on the ground floor. It looked small and compact, had Leica lens which meant good, sharp lens, enough megapixels so that I didn't had to worry about pixelated shots and the price was right. I made my choice and decided against buying the S9500, something which I'd research thoroughly on. I'd never looked back since.

In these 4 years, my FX-8 has accompanied me, my sister and my friends to around the world, including Australia, France, Thailand, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, United States and Vietnam. Not to even mention the various outings in Singapore as well. I believed it has taken as least 40,000 shots and has never once let me down. Whether it's freezing cold at -5°C on Grandfather Mountains or under the crazy 40°C summer sun, it never once broke down and was always by my side. Even the screen protector that was put on since day 1 is still there! Being a point-and-shoot camera, it has its limitations but it'd served its purpose well, that is capturing the moment for me.

So thank you FX-8 for capturing some of the most precious memories for me. You will not be forgotten. I shall place you next to your successor in the camera bag and hope that you'd inspire it to do the same. =)