By @Golding, 1727116502
Sometimes the kindness of people is just incredible.
I met a photographer for the first time the weekend before last, I had chatted to him on Facebook on occasion and he had been really helpful with occasional computer problems and has always said nice things about my pictures, so it was really nice to actually meet him in person and have a proper chinwag. We were down on the Basingstoke canal for a little camping weekend with some folks from the Reading Social and we had a huge BBQ and some beers and 9 of us ended up in our van playing cards against humanity when it got dark. it was fun!
Anyway, we were chatting about this and that and I mentioned that I had taken on a little evening job a couple of nights a week to save for a new camera. I had been looking at Fuji's (I don't want a Sony, everybody and their wives have Sonys) I had kind of decided to save for a Fuji XH2, but that it was going to take a while to save for it because I don't do credit, if I want something I have to save to buy it outright)
He asked me if I fancied a Fuji XT4, which is a beautiful little camera, and I asked him if he had one for sale. And he said that yes, he had one, and he wasn't shooting anymore. He then said he would much rather it was used rather than sitting on a shelf at home, and he would like to give it to me.
Honestly you could have knocked me over with a feather, and of course I said there was absolutely no way I could accept something so valuable, and he should sell it and at least get some money back from it, but he wouldn't hear of it. 'I'll contact you next week and arrange to get it to you' he said.
I tried to put it out of my head, nobody is going to give away a fantastic camera to someone they have just met, and I was sure he would wake up the next morning thinking, 'what on earth have I done?', but surely enough, just the following weekend he drove down all the way from Oxford to West Sussex with this absolutely beautiful camera, boxed with all the paperwork and gave it to me. It is absolutely pristine! it looks like its never been used.
I've offered money, even if he needs it in 6 months time, but he insists its all good and he wants me to have it.
So now I get to learn how a Fuji works a bit earlier than i expected!
I'm forever grateful to Steve Westwood (I think he is gone from this site now), what an incredibly kind human. I am genuinely touched!
Edited by @Golding
