Digital Cameras

[mezzo2]

Talk of Olympus OM1 and there is a touch of nostalgia for some of us oldies.

I had a OM1 then an OM1N. Lovely cameras, probably the first with through the lens metering. Lovely to handle with excellent instruction books written by the likes of L.A. Mannheim and Franz Panger. Technology requires us to move on but...the good old days!
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mezzo

 

[SheltieDog]

Dave,

You are Sooooo right! It is very hard to keep up with all the new stuff coming out all the time. It could be cameras, or any of those other items that you listed.

I am always getting phone calls from my parents, brother, sister, aunts, uncles, friends.........asking about some form of new electronic item that they recently purchased but don't understand, or are having a problem with. I don't know the answers half the time myself......I just have to look at the instructions and figure these things out.

I hope my father doesn't get to frightened when he gets the Z730/Printer Dock for Christmas. And now, my brither and sister are talking about getting him his own computer for Christmas also! Yikes......he has never used the computer before. I have a feeling that I might be spending a lot more time over there after the holidays...

I think that I've mentioned before that I loved my old K1000 film camera. I still have it, but never use it. I am with you as far as a Manual digital camera! That would be great, and I'd buy one!

 

[Roger.A]

To get started I believe that one should get a book on the basics of photography for film or digital cameras to acquaint himself with the principles. I have seen Dave post this advise in the past.

As for the Digital camera, one of the best features is that it allows you to experiment with your particular model, as you get the results instantly and can determine what adjustments to make for improvement. From there on it's practice, practice, practice, practice at no expense to you. As they say, experience is the best teacher. Even beats a manual IMHO.
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Roger

 

[oldshutterbug]

Dave,

I hope my father doesn't get to frightened when he gets the
Z730/Printer Dock for Christmas. And now, my brither and sister
are talking about getting him his own computer for Christmas also!
Yikes......he has never used the computer before. I have a feeling
that I might be spending a lot more time over there after the
holidays...

Just love it Sheltie, a total blast, I guess we wont be hearing from you very much after Christmas, hang on get your Dad on the Internet, we can enjoy your company from your Dads computer, who knows after a crash course we could be talking to Sheltie Dog Snr or maybe Older Sheltie Dog, now wouldnt that be nice.

I am with you as far as a Manual digital camera! That would be great, and I'd buy one!

Your like me Sheltie, A Dreamer.

-

God Bless
Dave
Downunder.
DX7590 x 2 --- Z730 --- Z700.
The only thing in the World that is perfect is the One that Created it.

 

[oldshutterbug]

Dead Right Roger, to me having no photographic knowledge of the basic principles of photography is like giving someone that cant read a book.

One MAJOR thing digital has is what you have said, you can experiment till the Cows come Home at no financial cost, a 100% excuse for people to realy understand the basics of photography.

I have said this before and I will say it again, cameras have become the domain of bored computer geeks, they have almost hijacked the photographic industry, some time ago you could not buy a computer at a camera store, I cannot think of too many computer shops that do not sell digital cameras, that is why I believe to much emphasis is placed on the camera and not enough on the photography.

Has anyone noticed how new computer models have stopped coming out every few months, you know the old Pentium1 , P2, P3, P4, this to me is further proof that the computer industry has taken a hold on the photographic industry, now we get new model cameras every few weeks.

This was bound to happen, we all know that Printers and Scanners are a Computer item, it is only natural that photographers would blend the two together, congratulations to the small but effective fight back from the camera industry, Pict Bridge enabled cameras and Sub Dye Printers helped people that did not require a computer but still wanted prints.
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God Bless
Dave
Downunder.
DX7590 x 2 --- Z730 --- Z700.
The only thing in the World that is perfect is the One that Created it.

 

[ed hodgson]

Interesting post, mezzo.

I'd say it runs counter to my experience in migrating from film to digital with the DX6490. Initially, I found it extrmely simple and rewarding to use the automatic settings on the camera with limited and occasional adjustment of the exposure bias giving me great results in many circumstances and across the 10:1 zoom range.

The immediate response and no pain consequences for poor technique with the digital medium were so liberating that experimentation to turn the manual instructions into useful photo technique was a real pleasure once I was ready to move on and use the advanced features the camera provides. I'm still happily learning and don't really think I could find a much better way to learn better photography than going out there and taking lots of pictures in lots of different ways. I think it is terrific that when I produce a clinker, it costs me nothing more than a button push to make it go away and try a different technique.

Ed

 

[oldshutterbug]

By far the best approach Ed, and it costs nothing.
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God Bless
Dave
Downunder.
DX7590 x 2 --- Z730 --- Z700.
The only thing in the World that is perfect is the One that Created it.

 

[Darrell Spreen]

Dave,

I read your posts and I just sit here nodding in agreement. You've
hit the nail on the head so many times IMO. I hate to see the camera
world caught up in LCD sizes, menus inside menus, etc while the
basics (like a really good optical viewfinder) are ignored. I've concluded
that "intelligent design" is rare in the camera world (Kodak is one
of the best IMO).

As with everything else, camera makers are trying to reinvent the
wheel, to do this it has made something quite simple into something
that can be very hard for the average Joe, one thing I can tell
you, if any camera maker releases a completely manual digital
camera, I will be the first in line to get one, how wonderful it
would be to use my brains again.

I presume you've seen the Leica Digilux 2 (the same as the
Panasonic LC-1) which operates just like the manual cameras
of yore. If it was a bit smaller and lighter, I'd probably spend the
$1500 for one and be done with it all. It takes wonderful pictures
from what I can tell.

Darrell
http://members.aol.com/pixbydg/look/Gallery.html

 

[oldshutterbug]

Dave,

I presume you've seen the Leica Digilux 2 (the same as the
Panasonic LC-1) which operates just like the manual cameras
of yore. If it was a bit smaller and lighter, I'd probably spend the
$1500 for one and be done with it all. It takes wonderful pictures
from what I can tell.

Darrell
http://members.aol.com/pixbydg/look/Gallery.html

Thanks Darrell, yes I have looked at the LC1, I consider this the ultimate in digital cameras, I was going to buy one when I got my two DX7590s, found out they were not available in Australia, checked only last week to see if things had changed, now all I find is websites saying the LC1 has been discontinued, some places had them for $1,999 in Australia, a real Gem of a camera, the thinking photographers dream.

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God Bless
Dave
Downunder.
DX7590 x 2 --- Z730 --- Z700.
The only thing in the World that is perfect is the One that Created it.

 

[sredd68]

When I first bought my DX6490 I put a review of it on Amazon.com. I did the usual description thing and opinion thing. But at the end of the review(or near the end) I also wrote that to get the best out of this camera you had to practice, practice, practice. That was actually for the people who were disappointed with the camera because it didn't take "good pictures". I had noticed that most of the disappointed only had the camera for maybe two weeks to a month at most and were coming from P&S's. There's something to be said about learning your craft or hobby.

Just because you have your driver's license doesn't mean you KNOW how to drive. It just means you passed the test, real world experience teaches you how to drive. Same principle applies with photography.
--
Simon
The More You Shoot, The Better You See

 

[Telyx]

But you can't shoot part of a roll normally exposed and then shoot the rest to be pushed two stops, right?

 

[Telyx]

Exactly. I'll bet those of us who shot film for years take fewer pictures than someone who started with digital--at least at first, because we still have that "don't waste it" mentality. Set the shot and the camera up, then take one or two, rather than just let 'er rip for ten exposures and see what you get.

After a few years, though, I shoot a lot of stuff just because I can; I've taken more pictures with my 2-year-old DiMage Z1 than I did in 20 years with my Canon AE-1. They're not all good, but I don't have to pay for them.

 

[escargot froid]

But you can't shoot part of a roll normally exposed and then shoot
the rest to be pushed two stops, right?

A good film user would just wind it back in and change rolls if needed.
--

 

[Telyx]

Correct--which is the point of the person who mentioned the ability of digital cameras to use different ISO settings "on the fly." Just keep on shooting and let the camera handle the ISO, or change it manually.

 

[zxcvar]

Greetings! Please do not forget [as I suggested before] Jen has bird DNA. So birds feel some sort of affinity to her. On serious side, artists like Jen will take good pictures with any cameras. People like me will take bad pictures even I have very good and expensive cameras. My two cents. With thanks.

I wonder why some folks just dont get out there and use their gear like Jen and a few others instead of getting bogged down with all this Specifications garbage, specifications dont make pictures people do, there have been great pictures taken for over a hundred years, all of a sudden these twits want to rediscover the wheel, another big Joke, I must be getting old but I think some folks need to get a life and save their money.

God Bless
Dave
Downunder.

 

[oldshutterbug]

Not completely correct, I myself sat in my lounge window with a 35mm SLR & 300mm tele lens, all this hoping to get a decent picture of a small Aussie bird that never keeps still, I shot 8x36 exp rolls of slide film in one day to get one decent picture of one jumpy little bird, thank goodness for digital.

Also most Weddiing photographers I have seen in action shoot many many rolls of film and present to the client about 50 shots to choose from, a total waste of film and who pays for the negs and prints that get thrown in the garbage, the client of course, I never did like this method, as with my bird photography, to much wastage.

On the other side of the coin I have been a Wedding Photographer for over 25 years, always told my clients that I will cover their Wedding with 3 x 36 exp rolls of film but always carried extra should I need it, my aim was to make every shot count, 9 times out of 10 I got a 100% strike rate and didnt require any more film.

Not trying to look like a hero here just pointing out that each photographer has his/her own methods of shooting and the amount of shots they take of any given subject is not realy important, just so long as the photographer gets the shot they want.
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God Bless
Dave
Downunder.
DX7590 x 2 --- Z730 --- Z700.
The only thing in the World that is perfect is the One that Created it.

 

[Tom Stone]

Dave,

If that manual digital camera used all of my old Nikkor glass and had a full 35mm sized sensor. I'd be rude and elbow my way to the front of that line to buy it.

Tom S.

 

[oldshutterbug]

Yes Tom I agree, can you imagine what a Digital FM2 would be like, just dreaming.
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God Bless
Dave
Downunder.
DX7590 x 2 --- Z730 --- Z700.
The only thing in the World that is perfect is the One that Created it.