Photography.

My digital camera sucks.  When I first got it it was a huge step up from my old one.  At the time 8 mega pixels was awesome.  It was super fast, took nice shots and was a great point-and-shoot camera to have.  (Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS Digital ELPH)  However, something happened to it recently.  It takes forever to take pictures, especially if the flash is used.  They come out blurry unless you take the time to focus over and over and over on the subject of the shot.

Now in order to get a good shot I have to take way too much time refocusing and retaking the picture only to have it come out sub-par in the end.  If I resort to using the flash I loose details and wash out the subject.  I don't like this aspect of digital photography with simple cameras, but I already know I will never intentionally buy a professional digital camera, let alone a point-and-shoot one.  (All my digitals have been gifts.)

I love photography.  I love walking around looking for interesting things to take pictures of.  I've taken well over a thousand pictures of Conker since I got him at the end of last October.  Back in Vancouver Washington I took a photography class while going to school for Welding.  It was a black and white SRL film course and I fell in love with it.  I used an old Minolta XG-M that my Dad had since the early 80's and never want to buy another camera again because of it.  It's not the greatest camera out there but it works well for the type of photography I do.

I took this picture a couple years ago in downtown Vancouver.  It was part of my final project for my photography class.  The scan doesn't do it any justice as it's not that grainy and doesn't have fibers scattered all across it.

In order to get a quality shot you either need to have a really expensive digital camera (or constantly amazing lighting) or take the time to do things the old fashioned way.  Since I don't have the $500+ it'll take to get a digital camera I'd find remotely worth my time and money (not to mention the additional lenses and supplies), I'm going to stick with the old durable Minolta I've had for years.  Plus I'm a sucker for old fashioned.

Taking pictures of dogs is hard.  They move around a lot, get distracted easily and don't like to sit still for pictures.  Conker is no exception to this rule.  While he does like to have his picture taken he isn't one to stick around if you decide to take your time refocusing the camera because the last shot was crap.  That's what I like about my Minolta.  Even if his face is out of focus his butt may not be.  With my digital point-and-shoot if his face is out of focus his butt is going to be as well. 
I'm not going to ditch my digital entirely simply because it's very convenient to have around.  The Minolta requires two hands or a tripod to use, the digital can be used one-handed, like when you're scratching a dog's chest.