Having been a film junkie that started out with a Kodak Instamatic 110 and worked my way up to a Nikon F4s and enough Nikon glass to buy a good used car, I have talked myself out of going digital for years.
The amazing thing is I've had a home computer since 1982, know some programming, and love every high tech thing that comes out...as long as it didn't touch my film. I accepted auto exposure, matrix metering, TTL 3D color flash, auto focus, but @*#&$% it a camera is supposed to have film.
I have watched megapixel counts grow and prices drop since the original Apple QuickTake. A couple years ago we won a Nikon digital point and shoot which I loved to make fun of as being so inferior to what a "real" camera did. In the back of my mind though I knew that if I compared it to a film point and shoot it came out quite well.
Anyway last week I'm walking through the local CompUSA store to grab some even at discount prices expensive ink cartridges. I made my obligatory tire kicking cut through the Apple section to see the tiniest new iPod and the newest futuristic looking iMacs. Next it was to be amazed at the latest in PDA and cellular telephony technology. Last I cut through the DSLR section to see what the latest overpriced not quite film but more expensive baubles were running.
Well out from the blue is a Nikon (can't buy anything which makes me give up my ED glass) D50 with 18-55 ED zoom for $599.00!
At that point the cost is similar to a high end point and shoot of a few years ago. I also am married to someone who is terrified of picking up and using something like an F4, even had problems with film point and shoots.
Well anyway in a rare moment of impulse buying I buy it. It is $200.00 cheaper than the lowest I have ever seen it anywhere. I also ended up with Adobe Elements 3.0 Mac, abandoning Adobe Photo Deluxe after many years. For those out there who have went through similar angst over the switch, let me relay my thoughts.
First off it's a lot better than I ever thought it would be. The ability to pull fine detail is similar to film in fine grain. In bright sunlight the colors are very accurate. If you like the color bump of some films it's easy to do in software. If the sky is overcast the color seems faded or washed out a little, but is easily compensated for in software again.
I have done no print larger than 8.5 X 11, but I have pulled a section from one pic and enlarged it to what would be an equivalent of about 14 X 20 and it still looked pretty decent.
Getting used to some settings is a little different but mostly intuitive. If I were learning from scratch I would say the D50 is less complicated than the F4s.
It is almost 20 yrs newer technology than the F4s, and adjusted for inflation it would have costed about 20% of the F4s. That being said it's meter is more accurate, it's AF is much quicker, it is far lighter, it's VF seems brighter. It also does not have near the ergonomics or precision feel of any of the F/F2/F3/F4's I've had. It is obviously far more fragile.
To make a short story long I am impressed with it's ability, and especially at the price point. With mirror lockup the D50 has all the features of the F4s plus some. Unlike in the film era, cameras that last 20 yrs+ in an era of 5 yrs old being obsolete may themselves be obsolete.
This may be a sign of the Anti Christ, but I think the day of the throw away pro level camera is here.
LWW
The amazing thing is I've had a home computer since 1982, know some programming, and love every high tech thing that comes out...as long as it didn't touch my film. I accepted auto exposure, matrix metering, TTL 3D color flash, auto focus, but @*#&$% it a camera is supposed to have film.
I have watched megapixel counts grow and prices drop since the original Apple QuickTake. A couple years ago we won a Nikon digital point and shoot which I loved to make fun of as being so inferior to what a "real" camera did. In the back of my mind though I knew that if I compared it to a film point and shoot it came out quite well.
Anyway last week I'm walking through the local CompUSA store to grab some even at discount prices expensive ink cartridges. I made my obligatory tire kicking cut through the Apple section to see the tiniest new iPod and the newest futuristic looking iMacs. Next it was to be amazed at the latest in PDA and cellular telephony technology. Last I cut through the DSLR section to see what the latest overpriced not quite film but more expensive baubles were running.
Well out from the blue is a Nikon (can't buy anything which makes me give up my ED glass) D50 with 18-55 ED zoom for $599.00!
At that point the cost is similar to a high end point and shoot of a few years ago. I also am married to someone who is terrified of picking up and using something like an F4, even had problems with film point and shoots.
Well anyway in a rare moment of impulse buying I buy it. It is $200.00 cheaper than the lowest I have ever seen it anywhere. I also ended up with Adobe Elements 3.0 Mac, abandoning Adobe Photo Deluxe after many years. For those out there who have went through similar angst over the switch, let me relay my thoughts.
First off it's a lot better than I ever thought it would be. The ability to pull fine detail is similar to film in fine grain. In bright sunlight the colors are very accurate. If you like the color bump of some films it's easy to do in software. If the sky is overcast the color seems faded or washed out a little, but is easily compensated for in software again.
I have done no print larger than 8.5 X 11, but I have pulled a section from one pic and enlarged it to what would be an equivalent of about 14 X 20 and it still looked pretty decent.
Getting used to some settings is a little different but mostly intuitive. If I were learning from scratch I would say the D50 is less complicated than the F4s.
It is almost 20 yrs newer technology than the F4s, and adjusted for inflation it would have costed about 20% of the F4s. That being said it's meter is more accurate, it's AF is much quicker, it is far lighter, it's VF seems brighter. It also does not have near the ergonomics or precision feel of any of the F/F2/F3/F4's I've had. It is obviously far more fragile.
To make a short story long I am impressed with it's ability, and especially at the price point. With mirror lockup the D50 has all the features of the F4s plus some. Unlike in the film era, cameras that last 20 yrs+ in an era of 5 yrs old being obsolete may themselves be obsolete.
This may be a sign of the Anti Christ, but I think the day of the throw away pro level camera is here.
LWW
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