午後、新しいカメラを肩に下げて近所を歩く。稲城の中央図書館に寄って、武田百合子の著作を初めて読む。
読んだのは『犬が星見た──ロシア旅行』。ほんとうは『富士日記』を読みたかったのだが、ちょうどその本が収まっていたであろう棚の場所がぽっかり空いていた。検索端末では「貸し出し可」となっていたから、館内にいるだれかが読んでいる可能性が高かった。そのことが妙に不思議で、またうれしいことであった。本で繋がっている。それに、仕方なしに手に取ったロシア旅行記もなかなか読み応えがあった。
夕方、図書館を出て、多摩川の河川敷で写真を撮った。新しいカメラはフジフィルムなのだが、このカメラにも今日で慣れた。そして知るのは、長年使っているニコンがどれほど優れたカメラか、ということ。温故知新とは反対のことだ。フジの最新機に触れて、ニコンの歴史を知った。ニコンは間違いなく偉大なカメラ・メーカーである。
フジフィルムはニコンに代わるものではなく、まったく別の用途に使う。つまり、これからもニコンで撮る。
夜遅く、いままで所有したニコンをぼんやりと思い出す。F2、D3、D500、そしてZ6。ほかにも何台か使ってきたが、とくにこれらの機種は素晴らしかった。手が覚えている。
以下はすべてフジフィルムで撮影。
In the afternoon, I slung my new camera over my shoulder and took a walk around the neighborhood. I stopped by the Inagi Central Library and, for the first time, read a book by Yuriko Takeda.
The book was The Dog Watched the Stars: A Journey to Russia. I had actually wanted to read Fuji Diary, but the spot where the book should have been was conspicuously empty. According to the library terminal, it was “available,” so someone else in the building was probably reading it. There was something oddly moving—and quietly delightful—about that. Connected by a book. The Russian travelogue I picked up instead turned out to be deeply engaging as well.
As evening fell, I left the library and took some photos along the banks of the Tama River. My new camera is a Fujifilm, and by today, I was getting used to it. What I came to realize, though, is just how exceptional Nikon cameras are—the ones I’ve used for many years. It was a kind of reverse onko-chishin—a fresh awareness of tradition born from experiencing the new. By handling the latest from Fujifilm, I gained a renewed respect for Nikon’s long history. There’s no doubt it’s a truly great camera manufacturer.
Fujifilm won’t be a replacement for Nikon—it will serve a completely different purpose. In other words, I’ll continue using Nikon.
Late at night, I found myself thinking back on the Nikons I’ve used over the years: the F2, D3, D500, and Z6. There were others too, but those four were especially remarkable. My hands still remember them.
All the photos were taken with the Fujifilm.
Konome-ame 