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In Reply to: Need Sugestions About Older Gear. posted by VicD on October 30, 2002 at 08:42:06:
Vic, let's look at things in a sensille manner. If your photo skills are laughable with a Nikon film camera do you really think they will be better with a digital camera. You now have one of the finest cameas made. Believe me, your skills will not change just because you bought a digital camera. I do a lot of shooting, both with a Nikon N6006 and with older cameras, such as Argus C3, made in 1949, Walz Envoy, made in 1948 and Praktica, made in the fifties. I get excellent pictures with all of them. Why you ask. I read many photography books and studied, studied and then I did more studying. It is not the camera that takes a good picture, it is the photographer. Get down to your Public Library, check out a lot of photography books, study not only the text but the photographs. Then and only then will you take good pictures. May you have good luck.
Gene
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Follow Ups:
I apologize for not making my point clear. I don't expect the gear to improve my composition skills I'm counting on a great deal of practice to do that. You can read everything about surfing but your still going to be a kook until you actualy start dropping in. For me, the same goes for photography. I find it to expensive to buy and develope the quantity of film I'd like to use on a daily basis. At the same time I've grown fond of the optics I already use. My thought was to simply get a suggestion on a digital body without doing all the research.I'm happy that you've found a way to become an excellent photographer. Thanks for your response.
Dear Vic,Now I see what you're saying. IMO, looking to somehow combine/update your equipment into the digital realm will be expensive--more expensive than the film and processing you pay for now. If it were up to me, I would invest in a dedicated digital camera (look at the Canon, Nikon or Olympus lines for reliable choices). Digital offers many, maany features that differ from "analogue" camreras like the F3. You can play around with lightning, composition, even add some digital effects on the spot--to say nothing of what you can do on your computer with the right software. (Of course, you can also scan your 35mm photos onto your computer and do the same thing, but it's a step removed from what you are able to do on location with digital). It's my opinion that one can improve one's photo skills more quickly with digital because you can see, immediately, how your experiments will turn out. HOWEVER, the photos themselves can't compare to a well-printed film picture--at least not at a price most of us can afford.
Understanding composition and how your equipment works seem to me to be the most important things I've learned in improving my pictures. Whether you choose to learn these lessons on your fine 35mm or on a digital camera is up to you. You might just want to look for a good photo class if the digital look doesn't really intrigue you and you are happy with your manual equipment. Good luck.
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Vic,None of the Nikon digital cameras and few of the AF models will use your present lenses. You would also lose the benefit of mirror lockup for your 100-600 lens. Flash is also not real compatible.
So, I think your best bet would be to get a decent fixed mount digital to learn about the technology. Whatever you buy today will be way out of date a year from now. The technology is still in the rapid development phase and is changing weekly. Nikon, Olympus, Canon, Fuji, Sony all make great digital cameras.
When I bought my N80, I kept my FE-2 because it still works with all the AF lenses (but not vice versa) and it has lockup. Unless you want double inventory, you need to look at compatibility. Also, the digital sensors have surface charge and make great dust magnets. So it's not a good idea for most of us to change lenses as it lets dust into the body. It's a good argument for a fixed mount digital camera.
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