Ponderings of a Digital Future

[Steve Bellayr]

I have come to the opinion that most articles in Camera Magazines are extolling the virtue of the purchase, nothing else. Just like movie reviews all movies are worth seeing because "they are fun." And, advertisers pay for advertising and don't like bad reviews. Just my jaded opinion of reviews.

 

[farlymac]

I guess it wasn't really a big u-turn. I'd always wanted a mono-rail 4x5 since the days I had a couple of Graphics. So I saw one for a decent price, and went for it. Going to use a 6x7 rollfilm holder on it for a while until I can get the hang of using all the movements.

I've spent a lot of time building up my Nikon gear this year, and while doing that came across some deals on Contax/Yashica lenses, and Leica R system. I think I've learned more about how to make a quality photo by using all the gear I've experimented with over the last few years (Canon, Minolta, Olympus to name a few). And the one thing I found that had been lacking was a decent set of lenses. The cameras always seem to be the weak link between me and the image I want to capture, either through being mechanical disasters, or ergonomic nightmares.

Just today, I was shooting an event (The Great Road Encampment) with a Nikon N5005/Nikkor AF-D 35-80, and a Zorki-6/Industar-26M. It was just the sort of event where I felt that an APS-C DSLR with a moderate zoom would have been nice to have, as there was so much to capture, my two 36 exposure rolls weren't going to do it justice. But I found myself more enjoying the moment, than concentrating on getting a shot. Had to worry too much about burning the shutter in the Zorki, but it was fun when one of the participants came rushing over from his tent to see if I had a Leica.

So now I'll be able to satisfy my longing to learn more about large format, and maybe capture the type of landscape shots that have eluded me over the years.

It's all a process, long and drawn out, with opportunities abound. I now have some time in my life to do what I enjoy without the pressures of a job holding me back. I sometimes wish digital hadn't come about, but then I hearken back to the evening I took a tour of the local pro lab in Norfolk, VA in 1972 or 73, and stood amazed as the technician manipulated my color negative on their brand new previewer (showing it in positive) to a point where I would be satisfied with the print. And I thought to myself "Wouldn't it be great if you could do that in-camera?".

PF

 

[farlymac]

As an update, I was looking around for some more AF-D lenses, when I came across an AF-Micro Nikkor 60mm 2.8D. It comes with a D80 rear lens cap, so I guess I'll be experimenting with a digital SLR sooner than I expected. That is, if the camera works.

DP Review liked it in their review, saying it was a nice improvement over the D70s, with parts from the D200. It's even got a real pentaprism.

PF

 

[kuzano]

No future for Digital

No future for Digital

In view of the nature of countries that are about to become Nuclear, and those who are nuclear, but near developing delivery systems, I question the future of Digital, and may just stay with film. I can mix ingredients for film with the best of them.

Considering the wars we are about to experience, and well placed EMP's (ElectroMagnetic Pulses) moving to digital is a losing proposition.

The OP's choice to go to film 4X5 is wisely taken. We can all mix solutions and natural ingredients in a dark tent, alongside the rivers and in the landscapes we are bound to be living in, without electricity.

Carleton Watkins mixed and loaded his glass plates along the Columbia River and other glorious scenics.

He was unfortunate to lose all his work in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire. Digital would not have saved his work however at the time, and doubtfully today.

Look up Carleton Watkins on Wikipedia.

 

[Prest_400]

As an update, I was looking around for some more AF-D lenses, when I came across an AF-Micro Nikkor 60mm 2.8D. It comes with a D80 rear lens cap, so I guess I'll be experimenting with a digital SLR sooner than I expected. That is, if the camera works.

DP Review liked it in their review, saying it was a nice improvement over the D70s, with parts from the D200. It's even got a real pentaprism.

PF

That's interesting.
I myself thought out of 35mm and ramping down on m43 as I enjoyed more the film process and results.
I got an F80 with 28-80D that has been quite fun to use and I'm always pondering to get a 50mm or something, yet keep not doing and instead putting it into film as it is fairly decent.

It's a time where some older Digicams are available at cheap prices and well, that's great. I have to keep myself away from the classifields (not these, the local ones) because really decent stuff is so cheap nowadays. BTW, I do have my dad's F401s (N4004) which I shot my first couple rolls on film, before moving on to Olympus OM. It was quite heavy, noisy and exudes too much 1980s to my taste, so it sits pristine.

I am happy to use whatever equipment is at hand. I will always have my memory... or the iPhone.

 

[Spanik]

In view of the nature of countries that are about to become Nuclear, and those who are nuclear, but near developing delivery systems, I question the future of Digital, and may just stay with film. I can mix ingredients for film with the best of them.

Considering the wars we are about to experience, and well placed EMP's (ElectroMagnetic Pulses) moving to digital is a losing proposition.

Aren't we being a bit overdramatically here? Seriously, if an emp that would ruin your digital cameras came around, the chance is great that not any digital piece of equipment would survive. Not even (and probably even less) your phone. It will probably not even be possible to buy food (everything is digital remember) because no cash registers working, no atm working, no freezers or fridges working.

And you worry about taking photos?

 

[farlymac]

In view of the nature of countries that are about to become Nuclear, and those who are nuclear, but near developing delivery systems, I question the future of Digital, and may just stay with film. I can mix ingredients for film with the best of them.

Considering the wars we are about to experience, and well placed EMP's (ElectroMagnetic Pulses) moving to digital is a losing proposition.

The OP's choice to go to film 4X5 is wisely taken. We can all mix solutions and natural ingredients in a dark tent, alongside the rivers and in the landscapes we are bound to be living in, without electricity.

Carleton Watkins mixed and loaded his glass plates along the Columbia River and other glorious scenics.

He was unfortunate to lose all his work in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire. Digital would not have saved his work however at the time, and doubtfully today.

Look up Carleton Watkins on Wikipedia.

So how will they make film, if the EMP takes out all the controllers for things like power plants?

I'm not going to worry about such nonsense, as life is too short to begin with, and I've already lived most of mine. And if it would happen tomorrow, I think photography would be the least of my interests, since I don't have a bunker full of canned goods, and Tri-X.

PF

 

[sepiareverb]

Ah washing film in a creek. My main concern would be deciding whether the remaining coffe was better used for me or my film...

 

[farlymac]

The D80 arrived today. I put an MB-D80 grip on it with the AA adapter pack, and six fresh cells. The 18-105 DX VR I repaired (replaced broken mount) is working fine on it, and I went through the Settings Menu.

From what it says in the manual, apparently it is recommended to use only up to a 4GB memory card. Now I don't have any of those lying around, but one did come with the camera. There are eighty images of too low ISO; odd body parts getting in the way; weak flash; a large percentage of just plain out-of-focus images. Nothing to write home about. I'm just going to format the card, instead of trying to find another one that size.

You know, it's a lot like my N80, only digital.

PF

 

[Keith]

I think for a film shooter making this type of shift to digital, personally, I would ditch the DX lenses, buy a couple of vintage Nikon lenses in 35 50 and possibly 85mm and find a low mileage D700 to put them on. The D700's 12 megapixel files are a pleasure to work with and convert very well to monochrome, the dynamic range of that old sensor is sensational for its time and is usable up to 6400 ISO ... and the camera itself is bullet proof.

 

[MikeMGB]

I'm late to this thread but having just read it I'm glad you didn't abandon your film gear. Back in 2003 I bought my first digital point and shoot, that replaced my APS fuji but I kept using the 3 film SLR cameras I owned. A couple of years later I bought my first Nikon DSLR and put two of the SLRs on eBay.

The first DSLR I owned was awesome, a Nikon D40 with a 5MP CCD sensor, the JPGs straight out of the camera were amazing. Then it was stolen. I replaced it with another Nikon and carried on using that for a few years, but something was missing, using it was never truly satisfying, plus I found that the DSLR was a pain when traveling.

After some research I bought myself a travel camera, a Leica D-LUX Typ 109. After a couple of weeks of using that the Nikon, all lenses and flash went on ebay.

But something was still missing.

Then my wife came home from Goodwill with a Mamiya Sekkor SLR and I knew what was missing. Then came the regret, those SLRs I sold? I should never have sold them, I still have one, but I miss the other two. However I have managed to collect several other film cameras, I have run film through seven of them recently, last weekend I processed my first films in 20 years, and my new scanner will be delivered on Tuesday, because even though it is film, I do want to digitize the result.

Also, I bought some supposedly frozen APS film on eBay and the Fuji camera is in my pocket again.

The moral of this story? Enjoy the digital, digital is awesome and convenient, but never sell the film gear, you would regret it one day.

Oh yeah, chromatic aberration on Nikon lenses is a bitch, even on the pro versions, that was one of the things that put me off the whole system.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

With my film cameras I may be able to photograph the end of the world,
however I won't be around to see the photos.

Chris

 

[willie_901]

...
Oh yeah, chromatic aberration on Nikon lenses is a bitch, even on the pro versions, that was one of the things that put me off the whole system.

Me too.

The high levels of longitudinal CA in most contemporary Nikkor lenses is one of the main reasons I abandoned Nikon.

 

[skopar steve]

Yea, I ditched all my film gear and went digital. Including , embarrassed to say, An M6 kit with 35, 50 crons and a 90 tele Elmarit. Not to mention a wonderful darkroom. It was a bit like jumping in the lake to learn to swim.

What I gained was the ability to change ISO for any shot. No more partial rolls of film in the bag. And not worrying if it would have been better in color or B&W. Not to mention over time photography became much more economical in time and money.

Shooting only digital for years and being happy with the results, I would pull out a box of fiber based prints I'd made on occasion. Viewing the prints I realized there is a different aesthetic to the wet print versus the ink jet print. Perhaps it is just my lack of skill in digital workflow. But I even like the look of my film images scanned to digital. Not that they are better, just a different and pleasing aesthetic.

So, long story short. Keep your film gear! Or you will be like me kicking yourself and buying it back at some time in the future.

 

[farlymac]

I think for a film shooter making this type of shift to digital, personally, I would ditch the DX lenses, buy a couple of vintage Nikon lenses in 35 50 and possibly 85mm and find a low mileage D700 to put them on. The D700's 12 megapixel files are a pleasure to work with and convert very well to monochrome, the dynamic range of that old sensor is sensational for its time and is usable up to 6400 ISO ... and the camera itself is bullet proof.

Well, someone gave me the 18-105, so I'd hate to ditch it. And I got the 55-300 at a song seeing as it was used once, and put back in the box. But I appreciate the advice, Keith, and have been looking at getting an FX camera. It's just not in the budget at the time. This D80 will suffice me until I get tired of it's limitations, since it is just a step up from my P7700. Still have a lot of learning to do when it comes to quick setting changes in the field.

As for vintage lenses, I've already got quite a few non-AI, AI, AIS, AF-S, and AF-D. As well as a brace of Tamron AF.

I'm kind of set for the long run.

PF

 

[farlymac]

Mike, Chris, Willie, and Steve, I'll never abandon my film gear, though I plan to jettison quite a bit of the excess.

PF

 

[Keith]

Well, someone gave me the 18-105, so I'd hate to ditch it. And I got the 55-300 at a song seeing as it was used once, and put back in the box. But I appreciate the advice, Keith, and have been looking at getting an FX camera. It's just not in the budget at the time. This D80 will suffice me until I get tired of it's limitations, since it is just a step up from my P7700. Still have a lot of learning to do when it comes to quick setting changes in the field.

As for vintage lenses, I've already got quite a few non-AI, AI, AIS, AF-S, and AF-D. As well as a brace of Tamron AF.

I'm kind of set for the long run.

PF

One of the issues I have with the DX cameras is the viewfinders ... they tend to be a bit of a tunnel. They are more suited to AF I guess.

 

[Talus]

Yea, I ditched all my film gear and went digital. Including , embarrassed to say, An M6 kit with 35, 50 crons and a 90 tele Elmarit. Not to mention a wonderful darkroom. It was a bit like jumping in the lake to learn to swim.

What I gained was the ability to change ISO for any shot. No more partial rolls of film in the bag. And not worrying if it would have been better in color or B&W. Not to mention over time photography became much more economical in time and money.

Shooting only digital for years and being happy with the results, I would pull out a box of fiber based prints I'd made on occasion. Viewing the prints I realized there is a different aesthetic to the wet print versus the ink jet print. Perhaps it is just my lack of skill in digital workflow. But I even like the look of my film images scanned to digital. Not that they are better, just a different and pleasing aesthetic.

So, long story short. Keep your film gear! Or you will be like me kicking yourself and buying it back at some time in the future.

Likewise. I've gone fully digital and it suits me. I had a DSLR die on me while out in a village in Guatemala and I couldn't recharge my batteries. So I swore it'd never happen again and bought an M6. I enjoyed shooting film for a few years but came across the same issue. Changing light throughout the day left rolls half used and the cost of developing color film and scanning was just too much. Digital is my only option for now.

 

[farlymac]

One of the issues I have with the DX cameras is the viewfinders ... they tend to be a bit of a tunnel. They are more suited to AF I guess.

I've noticed that too. One of the things on the Limitations list.

I basically got the camera for free, because I was in reality bidding on the AF 60 Micro 2.8D attached to it. For what I paid, it was a steep discount for the lens. The only money I have in the camera is for a used MB-D80 grip with the AA pack adapter, 6 new AA batteries, two used MH-18a chargers, and three used EN-EL3e batteries, and that was all under $80 total. Small price to pay for training wheels.😀

PF

 

[willie_901]

One of the issues I have with the DX cameras is the viewfinders ... they tend to be a bit of a tunnel. They are more suited to AF I guess.

Yes.

Nikon seems to enjoy making DX cameras unpleasant for some photographers.

Fortunately other brands have a different approach.