Older Digital Cameras

It is for this reason I kept my old CCD-sensor DSLR - Pentax K10D, and I even got its twin Samsung GX10 a few year ago to have as backup (It may have been the best $50 I spent in recent years).

Found an old image from K10D in my DPR gallery.

I had two Panasonic point-and-shoot models around 2008 to 2012. No raw files, zoom lens adequate, but what is noticeable today is how good the colours are.









Topaz Sharpen gives a bit more crispness and is worth trying:





Judging from what I see posted on the L-mount forum, Panasonic still offer very good colour from their full frame cameras such as the S5.

The camera after these (2012) was a NEX-5N. Very useful, but I only got good colours from it years later when I re-processed the raw files using a custom profile made with the Color Checker.

Don Cox

Another from my archives. This from a Panasonic FP3. Cameras like these were extremely pocketable and used folded optics: the lens system was all internal. The added bonus was that they could focus very close. Pretty good for an ultra-compact camera with a tiny 14mp CCD sensor.

Almost all of my favorite photos are from cameras with 3MP to 8MP. I happily bring them out and shoot with them regularly. They don't have the performance that a newer camera would but the IQ is better in most cases.

Hike Pics said:

Almost all of my favorite photos are from cameras with 3MP to 8MP. I happily bring them out and shoot with them regularly. They don't have the performance that a newer camera would but the IQ is better in most cases.

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;-)

Don't know if down the line the "gotta have the latest greatest FF mirrorless or nothing" folks will back off and decide maybe that is not really the case or not. But it seems more and more folks are realizing that "great enough" happened long ago with digital cameras and finding they can be quite content with stuff that's been out there for years. I still have a 16x20 print hanging on the wall from my 2.7 mp Nikon D1h and it still looks great. Actually still have the D1h still also, but batteries have all gone to battery heaven so it's dead for now. I'm glad that I kept most of my previous digital cameras as now in retirement if I get a bad itch for a new camera I just go back in the spare bedroom closet and pick out a new/old one and satisfy the urge. And in the last couple of years ended up pulling one out of the closet that surprised me enough that they never went back to the closet and are being actively used today. And left me wondering "why did I replace this?"

Bob A L said:

Don't know if down the line the "gotta have the latest greatest FF mirrorless or nothing" folks will back off and decide maybe that is not really the case or not. But it seems more and more folks are realizing that "great enough" happened long ago with digital cameras and finding they can be quite content with stuff that's been out there for years. I still have a 16x20 print hanging on the wall from my 2.7 mp Nikon D1h and it still looks great. Actually still have the D1h still also, but batteries have all gone to battery heaven so it's dead for now. I'm glad that I kept most of my previous digital cameras as now in retirement if I get a bad itch for a new camera I just go back in the spare bedroom closet and pick out a new/old one and satisfy the urge. And in the last couple of years ended up pulling one out of the closet that surprised me enough that they never went back to the closet and are being actively used today. And left me wondering "why did I replace this?"

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You can get 3rd party batteries for the D1.. cameras

Since others are contributing, thought I should too. This was taken with a 12mp Nikon S9100, introduced in 2011. It was given to me in 2013 by a friend who was buying a replacement because she thought this one was on the way out. I asked her at the time how diligent she was about keeping the battery charged. She said she was not. With a charged battery It turned out to be completely reliable. It still is.

We had just checked into our hotel room in Williams, AZ when I heard the train horn and knew the GCRR was coming into the station very late in the afternoon. I had not yet unpacked my APS-C camera, so I grabbed this one and made a quick walk to the platform. The light was perfect, and the sun dropped below the horizon right after I took this photo, but in that very brief opportunity I got this. This is one of the 11X14" prints I described in my earlier post.

This camera has turned out to be a great little workhorse over the years. I carry it in a Pelican Micro Case which keeps it completely safe yet quickly accessible. I don't have a cell phone since I don't want to be interrupted to talk on the phone. The One For Whose Happiness I Live handles phone traffic. I prefer to have a camera with me in the event a photographic opportunity presents itself. This camera, along with several other similars, gets me the photographs I want.

I have intended to take one of my old ones apart and adapt it to lithium batteries at some point in time, but it's one of those things that I just haven't got around to yet.

photoholiko said:

I was looking at a photo color landscape and wildlife book last night, dated 2009. It showed the camera and setting info under each picture from older cameras, like the C20D, C40D, C5D, NK D200, NK D700, etc. I was amazed by the IQ and color shown on these photos, it didn't seem that today's camera were very much better.

It makes me want to go out and use my 20D and D200 again and see what I can do.

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Olympus D400Z. 1280 x 960 pixels.

Great in good light. Not great for everywhere else. This is back when we didn't have water restrictions in California. Today, the yard is dirt and hard as cement.

When you push the shutter button, you only have to wait about 4 sec before the picture is taken!

Probably had a CCD type sensor.

JimH123 said:

photoholiko said:

I was looking at a photo color landscape and wildlife book last night, dated 2009. It showed the camera and setting info under each picture from older cameras, like the C20D, C40D, C5D, NK D200, NK D700, etc. I was amazed by the IQ and color shown on these photos, it didn't seem that today's camera were very much better.

It makes me want to go out and use my 20D and D200 again and see what I can do.

Click to expand...

Olympus D400Z. 1280 x 960 pixels.

Great in good light. Not great for everywhere else. This is back when we didn't have water restrictions in California. Today, the yard is dirt and hard as cement.

When you push the shutter button, you only have to wait about 4 sec before the picture is taken!

Probably had a CCD type sensor.

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Yes, I'm sure it did have a CCD sensor, and I'm one of those people who wish the industry would have kept (and improved) the CCD sensor instead of transitioning almost completely to CMOS.



CCD was more expensive, and I suppose that had a lot to do with the move to CMOS, but even back in the olden days of digital CCD sensors were very good.

My brother and I spent 6 days in Yosemite in 2011. I took my Canon G11.


Released in 2009

DPR lists the specs:

• Headline features
  • 10.0 Megapixel CCD sensor
  • 5x wide-angle (28-140mm equivalent) zoom lens with optical image stabilizer
  • 2.8” tilt/swivel LCD (461k dot resolution)
  • RAW image recording
  • Claimed 2-stop advantage in low light compared to G10
  • Dedicated Exposure Compensation and ISO dials
  • DIGIC 4 processor
  • i-Contrast boosts brightness and retains detail in dark areas
  • 26 shooting modes with manual control and custom settings
  • Accessories include tele-converter, Speedlights flashes and waterproof case
  • VGA movies, 30fps

It also has a builtin ND filter - a true filter that drops in behind the elements.

I had been quite impressed with this camera, and chose it looking forward to lots of walking with a light camera. I carried it in my vest pocket.



I was very happy with both outdoor and indoor uses, and its fairly closeup capability for flowers.







My intention for the final images was for a travelogue for my web site:

Yosemite

--
Richard
http://www.rsjphoto.net/

Great old cameras. I have a G11 like new in the box, and have a S95 which has the same sensor that we have used for years.

Fantastic little machines.

Loving this thread. Good to see so many people agreeing that digital cameras have been pretty mature for a long time with primarily bells and whistles and unnecessary extra pixels added through the years. And I'm not sure that CCD sensors were as bad as we were led to believe. I think it was the super high iso mentality that boosted the CMOS sensor surge. CCD's do have a distinct different look compared to CMOS.

Bob A L said:

Great old cameras. I have a G11 like new in the box, and have a S95 which has the same sensor that we have used for years.

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My brother had the S95

Bob A L said:

Fantastic little machines.

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Yes indeed.
- Richard

--
http://www.rsjphoto.net/

works great







--
the computer says no

Wu Jiaqiu said:

works great

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Excellent shot!

Wu Jiaqiu said:

works great

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Dat sharpness :-D

This has turned out to be an excellent topic. It should be it's own category.

It may have a positive impact in ways that weren't considered. There's so much fawning and debate over the latest, greatest, and most, that the topics often drift right past "but is it a good image?".

I've seen some phenomenal images from photographers using "point and shoots" and old cameras. So what if the DR is a little tight, or the image is a tiny bit smudgy/flawed. Sometimes that's the magic of the image.

I'm retired now and my cameras are in the "old camera" group. I'll use them if a project interests me and they come through because I know their limitations. I'm comfortable with them.

Like another poster to this thread, I too bought one of the twist body Sony's. The F717, followed by the F828. One beautiful feature was built in Infra-Red with a push of a button. No modification to the sensor is needed.





Jeff Barlowe, Long Island NY former prof @ SUATC Farmingdale