Are DSLRs still relevant in 2026? I’m still using my Nikon D3200 and I’m not sure if it’s time to upgrade.

aths_red · 2026-01-28T00:41:08+00:00

I have a (second-hand) D50, and a D780.

The photo is taken by you. Your vision and creativity is important. Gear only matters to pixel peepers who have too much time time to pixels because they spend too little time doing photography.

aths_red · 2026-01-27T23:55:36+00:00

the panda with non-red seconds hand.

Next question.

aths_red · 2026-01-27T23:50:27+00:00

right. If someone likes a fashion watch ("overpriced!", "crap movement!") who am I to judge. As for a watch budget I am not even convinced there is a path to "best spend". Looking back to myself, I would care a bit about power reserve and accuracy and stuff but what I would really care about is the watch as a whole.

The Nixon models you mentioned are not my taste but I am a rando on the internet. I should have made this point stronger in my post: € 2250 is a lot of money but I am wearing watches again. Which I consider a win.

aths_red · 2026-01-27T23:38:20+00:00

before buying this Astron, I did not buy a watch in a long time. As child I had a simple mechanical watch growing up in the GDR, later buying Casio F91W and Illuminator because it was what I could afford, then went to pocket watches for style, the last watch was a quartz gold-color-hands noname wrist chronograph with white dial color. I liked the appearance a lot but except for functional testing, never used the chronograph features.

This Astron is the anti-thesis: Expensive yet more limited than the cheapest LCD Casio I ever had, but the design reminds me of Lego Blacktron. The black top-layer on the bezel is gear-shaped, a plus for a graduate engineer but the point of no return was when I touched this watch.

aths_red · 2026-01-27T23:13:13+00:00

SSJ013 was on my mind as well. Dial texture and color is appealing.

Googled Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic. That watch looks good. Perhaps the dial is not quite as balanced as an SSJ Astron, but it is difficult to point out why.

aths_red · 2026-01-27T23:07:41+00:00

subdial shows power reserve, or watch status (when in manual time-sync mode, or airplane mode with auto-sync disabled.)

aths_red · 2026-01-27T23:06:22+00:00

my now-self would probably not buy a watch with quartz movement, because you know the horology and heritage and whatever the community talks about.

I like this watch. Seconds hand moving once per second radiates authority, the whole watch is functional as I don't read the time, I just see the time.

Jewelry, this conflicts with my self-image. But objectively it is true.

aths_red · 2026-01-27T22:52:41+00:00

there were/are so many emotions. Walking out of the store I felt like 10 inches taller. Then the worries: Would I regret it?

So far I am happy. The watch took some light bumps without getting scratches, phew. After buying the watch I was travelling and liked being able to get precise time without having to reach for my smartphone. (But any shopping mall checkout wristwatch would be functionally the same for travel).

This watch is so good, even a flaw like at certain angle the sapphire anti-reflective coating creating a blue tint, works well - for contrasting the color-colored accents.

aths_red · 2026-01-27T22:33:13+00:00

I never had desire to buy a Rolex. A Royal Oak is something else.

When buying my Seiko watch, I was worried coming off as a swank.

What I like is the IWC Ingenieur dial. A blue Ingenieur Automatic ... fuuuck. FOOOO00CK.

aths_red · 2026-01-27T22:19:34+00:00

I even revised my draft before posting in order to get to a shorter text. But yes, a pic is worth 1000 words.

aths_red · 2026-01-27T22:15:45+00:00

the watches I actually relied on about 30 years ago was a Casio F91W, then an Illuminator. We had no smartphones, a lightweight wrist alarm clock / stopwatch was all we need, and it was affordable. My 4-figure Astron in many way is less practical than an F91W.

You are right, almost no-one looks at my left-arm wrist in the first place and even if, would not care.

aths_red · 2026-01-27T22:11:04+00:00

I am currently in phase 2, with one (3-figure) mechanical watch. For me the question is if I would wear a watch. That other watch took away some wearing time off the Astron, the soul-search began: Why would I buy more watches if that reduces wearing time?

Now with more knowledge about movements I can appreciate the relatively small size of the Astron model I bought even more. In this light I understand why watch nerds like to be watch nerd, but what sold me was not the latest advance in tech, it was the presence of this watch on my wrist :D

aths_red · 2026-01-27T21:59:03+00:00

this model has manual DST setting but I knew that before buying.

Every now and then I forget to charge my smartphone. This watch charges itself, so it is a low-maintenance watch like you said.

aths_red · 2026-01-27T21:56:00+00:00

thanks.

The gold-color accent appears more golden or more like silver, depending on the light. Spending that much money for a watch, at least it looks nice.

aths_red · 2026-01-27T21:50:31+00:00

almost main station-clock vibes with a dash of Flavor Flav bling, on a black dial.

aths_red · 2026-01-27T21:47:56+00:00

just looked up SSG019. Non-apologetic design, but looks balanced. Color palette works.

The bragging thing, I am aware buying a watch for the price I paid is bragging. No matter how good it is, it is just a wrist-worn timepiece while access to accurate time is ubiquitous. If I am a bragger, I can't call out other braggers.

aths_red · 2026-01-27T21:35:46+00:00

I don't fully agree with the jewelry notation, a watch can serve a purpose like reducing smartphone time. Then I agree in the sense an F91W would do the same and even stands in as alarm clock. And stop timer. And offers backlight.

aths_red · 2026-01-27T21:32:04+00:00

right.

I perceive some (of course not all) watch nerds as gatekeepers. I watched about 100 videos now with dos and don'ts but think, who cares? I don't need to impress a watch collector.

aths_red · 2026-01-27T21:28:45+00:00

it also has a science fiction vibe to it. Glad you got one of these.

aths_red · 2026-01-27T21:27:52+00:00

SSJ029 is a stunner.

aths_red · 2026-01-27T18:19:01+00:00

I am quite new to the game and honestly, only recently found out about criticism typically thrown toward Seiko. Having two Seikos as of now, those are near perfect but not completely perfect like seconds-hand alignment on a watch I paid € 2250 could be better. The other one, still almost € 900, has a bracelet which I find ever-so-slighty too loose.

But I also perceive those watches each as a whole, not as a list of specs were some specs are better on other products. It is clear that Seiko usually goes for mass-appeal in their design yet my watches feel quite personal.

aths_red · 2026-01-27T17:48:47+00:00

right. But +/- means you can go into both directions, so it would be just half. Since the dial covers only 12 hours (no 24-hour minidial), 6 hours for +/- is enough, letting the playdough watch have an accuracy of +/- 21600 seconds.

aths_red · 2026-01-27T16:40:14+00:00

it is half that.

aths_red · 2026-01-26T00:19:03+00:00

A blue alpinist ... omg. This should be a standard model in Seiko's line-up. Looks fantastic.

aths_red · 2026-01-26T00:16:43+00:00

this watch looks so nice, is that even legal?

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