I sold my DSLR today

[JoeFriday]

that's exactly the way I looked at it too, Gene.. a coworker has a slightly older Lumix model (not sure which) that I borrowed once, and the photos were excellent.. so I expect the FZ20 to be top-notch.. and a lot less complicated than my D70.. it'll still be the same size, more or less, but it will keep it a lot simpler, with excellent quality

now I have to figure out what to spend the money I'll recover from selling the D70.. I'm expecting about $1500.. any suggestions?

 

[wlewisiii]

Sheboygan? Oh you poor soul...

😀

What? You expect someone from Madison to think otherwise???? 😉

William

 

[JoeFriday]

oddly enough, I hope to move to Madison this spring.. just need to find a job

hey Gene.. where did you get your FZ20 from? I bought mine through Abe's of Maine.. they had the best price of any reputable dealer.. and I bought a 1Gig SD card from OfficeMax online.. only $60 after rebates

 

[GeneW]

that's exactly the way I looked at it too, Gene.. a coworker has a slightly older Lumix model (not sure which) that I borrowed once, and the photos were excellent.. so I expect the FZ20 to be top-notch.. and a lot less complicated than my D70.. it'll still be the same size, more or less, but it will keep it a lot simpler, with excellent quality

now I have to figure out what to spend the money I'll recover from selling the D70.. I'm expecting about $1500.. any suggestions?

Well ... in keeping with the recent RFF tradition ... how about an M3? 😀

I find the FZ20 smaller than an SLR though it looks a lot like one. And far lighter. Kinda like a compact SUV (Honda CRV) compared to a station wagon (Ford Taurus).

I purchased mine locally at Henrys in Toronto. Probably not the cheapest I could have done, but they flexed a bit on the price and I like being able to walk it back to the store if anything doesn't work right.

I'll be carrying the FZ20 and the Bessa R2 in the same smallish shoulder bag (they both fit well into a Lowepro Nova 2). The FZ is for col and nature shots, the Bessa for B&W and everything else.

Gene

 

[Socke]

that's exactly the way I looked at it too, Gene.. a coworker has a slightly older Lumix model (not sure which) that I borrowed once, and the photos were excellent.. so I expect the FZ20 to be top-notch.. and a lot less complicated than my D70.. it'll still be the same size, more or less, but it will keep it a lot simpler, with excellent quality

now I have to figure out what to spend the money I'll recover from selling the D70.. I'm expecting about $1500.. any suggestions?

Hm, I'm used to shooting ISO 400, so a small sensor digital is not the way to go. When I compare my scanned Fujipress 800 from the Contax TVS to a friends images from a Pentax Optio S50 the small sensor doesn't stand a chance.
My D60 compares fine on prints up to A3 against ISO400 print film.
When I get to ISO100 slide film out of my Contax G2 the D60 loses big time. But a Carl Zeiss Planar 45 against a Canon 24-85 is not fair, is it?

So before you go the M3/50 'cron route, are you happy with a meterless camera which is tricky to load?

Hm, here's a sample, Contax G2 Sonnar 90 F2.8 1/60th Fujipress 800 at the Teatro Saudo in Matanzas, Cuba.
Of cause photography was prohibited there 🙂

 

[Pherdinand]

nice picture, pity about the head. 🙂

 

[l.mar]

"Sheboygan? Oh you poor soul...



What? You expect someone from Madison to think otherwise????"

(William)


Now, now, it's a nice town. I certainly wouldn't think the
wurst of anyone from Sheboygan. 😛

Welcome to RFF, and hope that you are shoveling as much snow as I am right now.😉

 

[GeneW]

Socke, there's no contest. For high iso images, the larger DSLR sensors win every time over the smaller ones. My Canon 300D images looked quite good at 800 and acceptable at 1600. However, I rarely use a digicam at higher than its lowest ISO rating so that was not a factor in my decision.

The image you posted is nice but the highlights are blown. Was it blown on the film or was it the scanning/post-processing?

Gene

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Good! Another midwesterner to the mix! 😀

 

[Socke]

The highlights where blown on the film, pretty bad and varying lighting, no photography allowed and from the second row 🙂

To be true, I couldn't have done that with my D60. I was lucky nobody saw my G2 and those flashing their digicams distracted the personal 🙂

The weekend before I had my TVS with me but the 28-56 was neither fast nor long enough so I tried the G2 with 45 and 90 on the next show.

Next time I'll be better!

Ah! I forgot, next time I have an Epson R-D1 with a fast 75 🙂. One can hope, can one?

 

[GeneW]

The highlights where blown on the film, pretty bad and varying lighting, no photography allowed and from the second row 🙂
[snip]
Next time I'll be better!

Ah! I forgot, next time I have an Epson R-D1 with a fast 75 🙂. One can hope, can one?

Yes, one of the most difficult types of lighting! R-D1?? Wow! Wouldn't *that* be nice.

Gene

 

[Socke]

Think of the Leicas as Porsches -- the Contaxes are, well you know...😀 😀 😀

D2

This reminds me to something my grandfather said to me:

"A Leica is a jewel, a Contax is a camera"

There is a reason why I have three Contax SLRs, one G2, one TVS and a Contessa 🙂

 

[GeneW]

Love the Joplin lyrics, D2! I was just playing that album (Pearl) the other day. A classic!

Do I miss the DSLR? I know I'll miss the image quality of the sensor at times, and the Canon lenses were beautiful. Nothing but praise for the gear itself.

But I don't miss the weight and bulk a bit. The Lumix 'looks' big in pics, but in real life it's quite compact and fits easily into my shoulder bag along with my beloved Bessa. I had my first good photo op with the Lumix today and was amazed at how nicely it performs. That wonderful Leica (Porsche) lens, 12x optical zoom AND image stabilization in a tiny little package.

I respect DSLR's immensely, but I'm travelling light and travelling happy! 😀

Gene