Chinese Lunar New Year Parade

The best camera is the on that's with you

As Chase Jarvis¹ once said, “the best camera is the one that’s with you”, and up to very recently that would be my phone. How good is a Leica, if it is at home when you see a great shot?

In early February, my wife and I attended the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Blood Conference in San Francisco and made it into a one night getaway in the city, staying overnight to go out to dinner, before returning home the next day.

We were staying in a hotel on the south side of Market Street. Our plan was to have a pre-dinner drink near the hotel at The House of Shields (oldest bar in San Francisco), and had dinner reservations at the Wayfare Tavern on the north side of Market Street. Unbeknownst to us, that evening the Chinese Lunar New Year Parade was happening on Market Street. Crossing from one side to the other was going to be a challenge.

We tried to watch the parade a little, but the sides of Market Street were packed, and seeing the performers going by was difficult. We stuck to our plan and went to get our pre-dinner drinks and discuss how we should cross the street, and make our dinner reservations. We learned that the start of the parade route was on 2nd Street, not far from where we were. So we decided to walk towards the start of the parade, to cross Market Street. That ended up being the best decision, as there were no fences, and the public was not lining up to watch the parade. That meant that we could freely navigate through the performers as they were either waiting around, or staging their entrance, which turned out to be a great photo opportunity.

Performers at the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year Parade in San Francisco

Having only my phone with me that night allowed me to get some OK photos, but if I had a real camera, I am sure I would have gotten better results. I’ve been thinking about investing in a new compact camera that I could have with me more often, so when the opportunity arises, I have the right tool to capture not just an OK photo, but a great photo. The FujiFilm X100V seems to fit the bill, and despite being a camera in high demand, I only needed to wait 4 weeks to get mine, once I placed the order with Camera West in Walnut Creek. I picked it up on March 8th, and I am looking forward to start shooting with it.

But that evening, my trusted iPhone was the best camera, as it has been for the last many years.

The House of Shields - oldest bar in San Francisco

1. Back in 2009 the photographer Chase Jarvis created a great photo editing and sharing app called Best Camera, the precursor of Instagram. I used it and loved it, when it was around. He had the vision of how mobile photography was changing the industry and embraced it. It was a great app, but unfortunately it went down in flames with legal battles between Mr. Jarvis and the app developers he involved in the project.