Despite many years of taking photos, I have only visited a camera shop twice. Once to sell all my gear and another to purchase a new camera. It was the second visit that really stuck with me. It opened my eyes to the fact that the things you use should ‘fit you’ in more ways than one, and it’s how I look at the world now.

I intended to buy a new A7iii. It was the camera I had previously, it was in my price range and ticked all my use case boxes. Yet, the helpful chap in the shop made me try almost every camera in that price range and see what they felt like. To paraphrase his words:

The camera needs to fit you. In your hand and in your person. Does it do what you need it to do, or are you changing things because of what it can do?

The A7C I left with fits in my hand so much better than anything else. It has features that I value, like an articulating screen, and is the camera that ticked the most boxes. Yet, the one I absolutely wouldn’t have bought had I not gone to a camera shop. I would have leaned on all the reviews that exclaimed how this camera was pointless, or only useful for travel.

This isn’t a pitch for a specific camera, either. I get a lot of stick online, and in person for my choice of “tiny phone”. Of course this is all tongue in cheek (I think) but this plays into the same feelings I had when new MacBooks launched. I bought the phone that fit me best, and I am starting to think I might have small hands.

For these two things that I handle the most, it's important to me that they feel right. Indeed, they feature the things that I want, but if they are uncomfortable to use or something doesn’t feel right, I won’t use them. More significant than the specs or features, is the feel of a device, the ergonomics of use and its ability to work with you. You shouldn’t be changing your life or your use case to fit a device, it should fit you.