OT : Nikon D70 has spoiled me!

[sockdaddy]

It's probably close to blasphemy, but I am in love with my new Nikon D70.

Since I picked it up 2 months ago, I think I've only shot a roll of film on one occassion - and that was just to finish a roll that had been sitting in my GIII QL17 for a couple of weeks. Prior to picking up the D70, I was shooting on my last rangefinder (having sold the other two) about 50% of the time with a Canon digital and older Nikon SLR making up the remaining 50%. My rangefinder lust has been scaled back, I"m sad to say...

Should I join a different support group? 😉

 

[SolaresLarrave]

No need to feel guilty, Socks... Just make sure to find decent homes for your RF cameras if you like digital so much. 🙂

Give the Canonet a shot one of these days... It'll be like coffee with an old friend: you know the settings and the effects of your decisions, and the whole experience is refreshingly simple.

In any case, don't dismiss the D70 either. I'm lusting for one myself... but it'll come later.

 

[rover]

No, but sinking your head in boiling water may help. 😉

Digital, yuck!!!

Oh well, the new Sony EVF camera looks pretty hot.

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/sonydscr1/

 

[JoeFriday]

I'm just the opposite.. I've had a D70 for a year, and it mostly sits unused since I discovered the joys of RFs

but check out the DSLRXchange, that's RF's sister site.. it's a little slow these days, but with a few new members it'll get hopping again

 

[dexdog]

As several members have mentioned in the recent past, this site is about using RF cameras, but nothing requires that one use RFs exclusively. I have a couple of digital cameras, but like to use RFs too.

No need to boil your head, or feel guilty, unless you enjoy doing so.


BTW, dpreview.com is a great site.

 

[Goodyear]

I'm just the opposite.. I've had a D70 for a year, and it mostly sits unused since I discovered the joys of RFs

Read 300D for D70, and that's me as well.

 

[rover]

how about bumping your head against a wall? 🙂

 

[tajart]

every medium has it's uses, joys, pleasures, as do the various tools that aid human expression. i like film, i like digital, i like painting, drawing, printmaking, and make use of the various media depending on any number of reasons that range from immediacy to scale, to content, and somedays, just what i feel like doing. we get pegged, pigeonholed, and categorized way too much. no limits.

 

[sockdaddy]

I still really love my Canonet, but I think a big piece of the puzzle is that I've never had a RF camera with interchangeable lenses.

That is a big part of the allure to my Nikons - D70 and two film bodies, N80 and FG. Being able to choose the best lens for a given task make things a bit easier than with my fixed 40mm. Although, I'm sure some might say that I am being less creative b/c I don't have the challenge of making something work that might not be ideal. I'm not sure...

The funny thing is that I've been lusting after a Bessa for over a year now, and had actually been slowly saving up for one (or an M6, yeah right). Then, I had the opportunity to start a bi-weekly freelance assignment for a local community newspaper, and they insist on digital. I couldn't figure out how to make my workflow quick enough and cost-effective to do the gig - so I spent my Bessa savings + a whole lotta extra $$$ on the D70, SB800 (omg wireless flash is amazing) and a Dual 2.3 G5 to replace my aging G3 350.

Since then, I really haven't had the opportunity to shoot film, much less use my Canonet. I do miss it, the ends justified the means for me.

 

[Goodyear]

so I spent my Bessa savings + a whole lotta extra $$$ on the D70, SB800 (omg wireless flash is amazing) and a Dual 2.3 G5 to replace my aging G3 350.

That's a very large pile of extra $$$!

 

[SolaresLarrave]

In case you want to know... KEH has a few M3 selling for what I consider very reasonable prices. The ones I saw were going for less than $800... and that's a feat.

Again... just in case... So you don't boil your head in remorse water. 😉

 

[Rob]

Have to admit it also I have been shooting more digital than rangefinders. 500 shots on digital, 36 on film this year. Not interested is carrying a ton of gear around anymore so I will be getting the new Canon A610 after its released. They are calling it a smaller version of the G6 camera.

 

[vincentbenoit]

It's probably close to blasphemy, but I am in love with my new Nikon D70.

How do you like the squinty, tunnel-like viewfinder? That's the one thing I hate the most in my Canon 10D.

 

[jaapv]

Not much use for my 10D nowadays- just Macro and long tele I fear. I've just sold off a large part of my L glass, as it was relegated to the back of the closet by my Digilux2 and film gear- it will help me save up for my biggest GAS attack yet next year 🙂 🙂 (Anyone care to buy a M6TTL when the digital M hits the street?). Having said that, Film-Digital = 50-50 with me and nothing could induce me to part with my M3 and Elmar 3.5 /50 collapsible......

 

[VinceC]

Isn't the E3 the one that knocks two or three stops off any given lens?

Just as I was leaving one of my old newspapers, they bought about 10 of those for their digital conversion. I was shooting film with rangefinders and, by comparison, those things were the size of bowling balls and almost as cumbersome as Speed Graphics.

 

[Kin Lau]

Have to admit it also I have been shooting more digital than rangefinders. 500 shots on digital, 36 on film this year. Not interested is carrying a ton of gear around anymore so I will be getting the new Canon A610 after its released. They are calling it a smaller version of the G6 camera.

I've managed to go thru 2 100' rolls of b&w, so about 2 x 20 x 36 or 1440 frames, mostly on RF's since the beginning of the year. Of course, 99% of them suck 😀

On digital, my wife & I did 6000 shots the 1st year with the A70 digicam, over 10000 last year and about 10000 so far this year with the DSLR's. Most of these are wildlife/bird shots, so the throwaway rate is very high, but I do most of my vacation/colour shots on digital also.

 

[alfa]

A-R-G-H no, can you believe I did exactly the opposite thing?? From D70 to Bessa R2!

 

[Fred]

I have D70 and love it, very quick, plenty of good glass and I take five times more shots with it than I really need to. I spend ages going through all the images then lots more tiime in front of photoshop trying to get the ideal result. I send em off via the inter web and the results come back different (colur balance , contrast, brightness etc). I print them myself (expensive on ink and paper) and they are different again, send em somewhere else and we have three different views of the same thing. But it is very fast. Photo's for other people its great.

But!

When I shoot film, I have a very good idea what Fuji Velvia looks like and the sort of result I can expect from colour print film. For 35mm B&W that I do all myself or medium format colour that I also do myself, I know what to expect and the results are quite consistent.

But!

I have not used my film SLRs in a while, I also own an F80 (N80) but I am shooting with my RF cameras far more. I take a little more time on trying to get the shot and think more about it. With digital I tend to shoot all sorts of things and almost hope that one will be good.

In a nut shell, for me I'll pick up the RF 8 out of 10 times when I go out.

Anyway the important thing here is that you enjoy your photography, the above is just my view. Have fun.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

No blasphemy. I got my first digital SLR in June of 2003, and things have never been the same. I traded virtually all of my Hasselblad 500c kit for the Canon 10D. Of course, I later kicked myself for having done that, but it was OK. I got a 500 c/m later, only to sell it again but for other reasons, and off-topic.

The funny thing is that once I started pushing the limits of digital, I found myself gravitating towards film again. For most of this year I've been shooting film, probably more than before I got the 10D. The culprit is, well, my Leica gear and glass, but now I'm also hooked on the "art" of using rangefinders, and my Rolleiflex.

Digital is great immediate feedback. I admire the D70 for its sharpness; I like my 20D for its clear pictures at high ISO settings (in my website, the last two folders I set up for a friend of mine, all of those pictures I shot in a very dim cafe, at ISO 1600, hand-held). Still, there are shots I take at the same time with film, and the feel is just different.

Most people can't tell the difference and prefer digital over film for that very reason, but I still can.

Enjoy it, explore it, push all its limits. Some people find themselves happy with one camera, even one lens and one film; who knows, perhaps you'll find a sweet spot for some things with your D70 that you can't with your other gear, or the other way around. At least have fun with it --you paid the big bucks, now get some return!-- 😉

 

[GeneW]

I'm another multi-media shooter, using film and digital. For me it's largely digital for colour, especially nature photography, and film for B&W. I often go out with a Canon 300D, a couple of Zuiko lenses (via adapter), and rangefinder in one of the compartments. I shoot both media and enjoy them both!

Gene