3 years ago, I got a Canon 550D. It was my first DSLR camera that shot video, and I was traveling around the states to shoot yoyo contests. I actually didnt even shoot any pictures with it at the time. With that camera I shot one of the most popular videos on my channel - NER2013 with around 35k views. I was using a lot of Nikon lenses before - so I had these complicated adapters that meant I could only shoot in manual. I got rid of that thing, and traded it for a Nikon body - the D5100. I traveled central Europe for 4 months with that camera - but I didn't fall in love with it like I did with the 550D.
When I got back from my trip I sold everything. I sold my all the DX lenses I owned and I sold the body to a close friend. I hunted down to switched to Full Frame - because Nikon released the D610. A full frame camera that could shoot video at a more reasonable price. And like everything I own - I went online to hunt down a used example. But instead I found this body.
For the price of a used D610 at the time, I found this, the D800. There was an ad online for it on Kijiji (Canadian Craigslist) with a breif description and no pictures. The price was way too good to be true. Most would have easily dismissed it as a scam. I took a leap of faith and emailed the guy, and the same day we met up at our local mall and I brought her home. A week later I left for USA, and backpacked the west coast for 2 months.
I returned from that trip so energized. That is when I started Luftverk - and that is when the D800 really showed its value. It suddenly became a tool for my main income - which paid off in the end.
Asia was the first big trip for the D800. I climbed Mount Fuji with that thing, and it didn't disappoint. It was Japan where I started collecting silly stickers and such on the bottom of my camera. And through the 40 degree heat of Ebisu Circuit, humidity of Hong Kong, the fine grit sand and salt water of Thailand - it survived it all.
I started collecting random stickers. The TWS Princess was from a racing queen at Ebisu Circuit. The big pink one that is ripped was from Mount Fuji. There are so many memories with this camera. And it has some bad battle scars as well. Its been beaten, banged around and thrown in my bag. Its been in piss pouring rain, and splashed with salt water. Some how it still works.
Its what you pay for when you make the switch to a pro level camera. It isn't just the performance. Its that it can go from hell and back, and still work normally. I feel like its likely the last camera I will ever need. Maybe mirror-less will convince me to change - but I think I will have the D800 for a long while. It just feels unexplainably right.
It has been nearly 4 months since Ive been in Japan, and 5 months since I left Toronto. Writing that out makes it feel short but in reality it feels like forever ago. The last launch of the Plastic Peak was an overwhelming experience. I felt so grateful to work with CLYW, a company I grew up with. When the World Yoyo Contest hit I didn't know what to expect, but I had started noticing a feeling of burn out after grinding out so many yoyo related projects and in a weird introverted way I was a bit reluctant to go.
CLYW is a Canadian brand that started in 2006. I was 14 at the time when I watched this new brand unfold on the Yoyonation forums. They released their first yoyo named the "Peak" with 50 pieces retailing for $85. Today, that yoyo has used asking prices north of $2500 making it one of the most insanely rare and expensive yoyos to date. This "OG Painted Peak" featured a custom painted surface by a Canadian airbrush artist named Levi. Overtime as the Peak was impacted or dinged, the paint would chip off meaning there are only a handful of units in the world that survived in mint unused condition. Later versions would be released in more durable anodized finishes, but these first 50 "OG Painted Peaks"cemented CLYW into yoyoing history.
This one will interesting - since mine and Augie's relationship go a far distance back. Its also kind of a weird story of how like minded free sprits will seemingly eventually cross roads no matter how unlikely that is.
Growing up in what I like to call the golden area of competitive yoyoing I was blessed to be inspired by yoyoers with so much unique style. These players helped me stay hooked in yoyoing and I often wonder if I would have even stuck with it without them. Players like Yuuki Spenser, John Ando, Eric Koloski, Paul Han, Shinji Saito and of course Augie Fash were some of my favourites. Before there was a yoyo "meta" all these yoyoers had their own 1A style which is why I think fondly of this era.
Jeffrey Pang
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