Well, yeah, if you try to keep up. But any of us in the OM camp were
content not to keep up with developments in photography thanks to a
very nice camera and system that, although no longer cutting edge
technically, makes very fine images. However many of migrated from the
slide projector/darkroom/commercial processor to digital scanning and
many of us moved on to a second or third better scanner. The point is
that nothing stands still, ever. But film is not obsolete. It is just
adjusting to share the market place with digital, I think, in spite of
some of my amused jibes in the past.
You can continue to do film without spending anything except for
materials and processing, or be happy with digital any time you want.
The prices will continue to drop some and if you are not insistent on
getting top of the line equipment you can get very fine picture taking
equipment. If something new comes out it does not mean your current
stuff no longer works. It is already happening. Any of the $1000 six MP
cameras are great. Of course you can get something a little better for
a lot more money, but gains cost a lot and not all the new stuff is
that great. The digital noise levels in 8MP digicams is ridiculous at
anything other than ISO 50 or 100. Great image under perfect
conditions, but 5MP is a better picture taker over all, I fear for the
noise levels in the new Nikon D2X as they jump into the MP race. If you
look at side by side jpegs at test sites that do similar photos the
difference between the image of a D70 and 20D with 2 million more
pixels is not that different. In order to keep noise in check there is
built in noise reduction that obscures the fine detail you hoped the
extra MP would capture. So you can get a good camera that will do you
well for a while although not like a fine mechanical camera.
I think I would make my move at the point where I think that I need a
better film scanner. Rather spend the money then on a digital camera.
Winsor
Long Beach, CA
USA
On Sep 16, 2004, at 1:39 PM, Wayne Culberson wrote:
> One of the frustrating things about the digital camera race is that
> not only
> are the digital cameras "obsolete" in a few months, but they are also
> making
> film cameras more or less obsolete at the same time. I think if you are
> looking at either one as an investment, rather than a short term tool
> right
> now, you may be disappointed. It is interesting to me to watch the big
> change in tone of this list in the last year, for example.
> There is no question pictures will continue to be made two years from
> now,
> but by what photographic tools is another question. Makes it difficult
> to
> know what equipment to keep, or buy, if you are price conscious.
> Wayne
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