Digital cameras . . .

[JohnD]

I was reading a topic that started three years ago about digital cameras . . .

//heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/21769-Looking-for-a-good-Digital-camera

I wanted to respond to it, but it had been closed!

I'm left wondering why old topic threads are always closed here???

Anyways . . . I now sell digital cameras for a living (retired studio and newspaper photographer and Certified Photographic Councilor by the Photo Marketing Association), so if anyone has questions about current digital cameras or just needs answers in general . . . don't be afraid to ask!

 

[JohnD]

Once again, if anyone is thinking about buying a new digital camera or giving one away as a Christmas gift, feel free to ask away about them!

 

[MCTalley]

It has been interesting watching the shift in photography over the last several years. The cell phone camera is typically all the average person desires anymore.

I've read that point and shoot camera sales have slumped pretty well, and DSLR sales have dropped a little. Even though I own three DSLR bodies (Canon 40D, 7D and 5D Mark II) and several lenses and we carry a fairly new Canon p/s in the truck, my go-to camera about 95% of the time is my iPhone.

 

[JohnDar]

I still prefer our Canon digital and the wife has a compact Olympus she likes. But my Smartphone is always on my belt, so it gets used often.


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[scottyb]

I started shooting film with a Vivitar manual 35mm in 76. Graduated to a Minolta with 1st generation auto electronics, when I lived in AK in 78. Switched to Nikons in the 80's and still have a lot of Nikon glass.

Started shooting underwater with a Nikonos V Underwater camera in the 90's. I would shoot 20 - 30 rolls of film on a week-long dive trip, get home, drop it all off for processing ($$$), and end up with a dozen keepers, if I was lucky. Later some of the live-aboard dive boats offered E-6 slide processing on the boat ($10 a roll), so you could at least check your exposure within a day or so, instead of waiting until you flew home. In 2002 i decided to take a giant leap and I got a Fuji S2 Pro DSLR. It was based on a Nikon N90 body and it had the Nikon mount so all my lenses would work and my strobes would sync with TTL metering. I housed it in an Aquatica aluminum housing (still have and use). The 1st dive trip with it was on the Belize Aggressor at Lighthouse Reef Atoll (Great Blue Hole) I was blown away after the 1st dive. The histogram instantly gave me exposure information and the playback underwater was the game changer. The learning curve was shortened exponentially. I was the only DSLR on the boat for the 1st few trips but that quickly changed.

I needed something to take down the Grand Canyon in 2008. I wanted something with DSLR attributes, but in a small package. I ended up with a Canon G9 and it has proven to be amazing and bullet-proof. I have had it on 5 different week long rafting trips and over 500 river miles. I have also taken it underwater to 130 feet, in it's proprietary housing, made by Canon. In fact, I'm finding it more difficult to want to travel with the DSLR setup (1 large Pelican roller case and 1 carry-on size case). The DSLR stayed home last spring on my BVI dive trip and the G9 logged another 22 dives. I have also used it to take photos of my honey bees when I go in the hives. It tends to get honey on it from handling the combs and sometimes the buttons get a little sticky. Don't get me wrong, it can't compete with a top end DSLR and high quality lenses, but it is an acceptable alternative that will take a lot of punishment. Last I heard, they were up to the G12 or maybe higher. One of my dive buddies has a G2 that he bought new and it is still going strong.

 

[JanAndBill]

Owned a publishing company with three weekly papers for a few years. Camera of choice was Pentax, because they were built like a tank. An important point considering the abuse they were submitted to daily. Over the years I've owned Canon's but still prefer the Pentax. Currently have a little Canon SD850 Elf that is so small and compact that you can stick in a shirt pocket and still takes acceptable digital pictures. Great for when you don't want to lug around a bag full of equipment but don't want to miss a shot. Main digital is a Pentax K30 SLR. Great pictures and accepts all the lenses I've accumulated over the years. Sometimes they come in handy, as the unedited photos from Chattanooga show. The first was shot with a 55 mm, and captured the whole monument, the second was with a 300 mm and is just the top.

 

[JohnD]

Last I heard, they were up to the G12 or maybe higher. One of my dive buddies has a G2 that he bought new and it is still going strong.

Canon is up to the G16 right now . . .

My brother has a G1 and still uses it.

I've been thinking of giving him one of my older Pentax DSLR's that I don't use much anymore to get him into a newer camera.

 

[JohnD]

Smartphones have put a big dent in the point and shoot digital camera business the last couple of years.

However, it seems that people are starting to realize that the smartphone image quality, no matter what they try to do to the image electronically, is not as good as the point and shoot cameras offer, so there is a small surge in point and shoot popularity.

Smartphones are great for taking those quick snaps for when you don't have a better camera with you . . .

But with that tiny little lens with only 3-4X optical zoom and the pinhead size imaging sensor, even a $100 point and shoot will out perform a smartphone camera.

I use mine (8 month old Droid Maxx) a lot for quick reference shots or when I need a quick shot to post here.

But when I am out taking real pictures . . . I always reach for a real camera!

Smartphone shots are great . . . until you try to print them to hang on the wall.

 

[scottyb]

Smartphones have put a big dent in the point and shoot digital camera business the last couple of years.

However, it seems that people are starting to realize that the smartphone image quality, no matter what they try to do to the image electronically, is not as good as the point and shoot cameras offer, so there is a small surge in point and shoot popularity.

Smartphones are great for taking those quick snaps for when you don't have a better camera with you . . .

But with that tiny little lens with only 3-4X optical zoom and the pinhead size imaging sensor, even a $100 point and shoot will out perform a smartphone camera.

I use mine (8 month old Droid Maxx) a lot for quick reference shots or when I need a quick shot to post here.

But when I am out taking real pictures . . . I always reach for a real camera!

Smartphone shots are great . . . until you try to print them to hang on the wall.

I agree. However, I think that a huge majority of photos never go beyond digital files these days. They either go on a social media or a photo hosting site.
The one thing I don't like is the overuse of HDR. It seems like everybody jumped onto it and all of a sudden, photos are more surreal than the actual subject. A little bit of HDR can go a long way and help overcome digital photography's weakness of low Dynamic Range. The key to using any camera is realizing it's limitations, whether it be a P&S or a phone camera. In underwater, the biggest limitations are light and distance. You have to take your light with you and fill the frame, which means get very close. when you think you are close enough, you probably need to get closer. These are all taken with the G9 and a Nikonos SB105 strobe, shot in Manual mode. Since the camera housing (Canon) has no port for the sync chord, I put the camera on mandatory flash, cover the flash with a diffuser, and set the strobe on "Slave" mode. No HDR, just minor hue and saturation adjustments.

Gray Angelfish

Spiny Lobster

Splendid Toadfish (indigenous to Cozumel)

 

[whp4262]

I still use a couple Canon F1Ns and film. Never got the digital bug I guess.


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[JohnD]

I still use a couple Canon F1Ns and film. Never got the digital bug I guess.


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I used to be a newspaper photographer back in the late 70's through the mid-90's, and my cameras of choice back then was the Canon FD system (manual focus).

I still have the very first Canon F1 that I bought used in 1974 when I was 14 . . . my two New F1's (both with motor drives) got stolen in 1980, and I also still have my Canon F1N with motor drive and AE head that I bought in 1989, along with two Canon A1's, both with motor drives attached.

I switched to digital about 10 years ago and haven't shot a single roll of film since.

Here are some shots of the old work horses:



Forgot to mention . . . I have a garage full of darkroom gear!

 

[whp4262]

I used to be a newspaper photographer back in the late 70's through the mid-90's, and my cameras of choice back then was the Canon FD system (manual focus).

I still have the very first Canon F1 that I bought used in 1974 when I was 14 . . . my two New F1's (both with motor drives) got stolen in 1980, and I also still have my Canon F1N with motor drive and AE head that I bought in 1989, along with two Canon A1's, both with motor drives attached.

I switched to digital about 10 years ago and haven't shot a single roll of film since.

Here are some shots of the old work horses:

View attachment 33362 View attachment 33363 View attachment 33364 View attachment 33366 View attachment 33367 View attachment 33365

Forgot to mention . . . I have a garage full of darkroom gear!

I have an A1 too that I bought for my wife a few years ago but she doesn't use it anymore because she uses a DSLR now. I have some darkroom stuff, a beseler B&W and a beseler color enlarger. I have a few shake and bake Nikor tanks but haven't used them for a long time, I use a PhotoTherm processor instead. If I was doing it professionally I would probably go digital but it's a hobby thing that I've done since I bought my first Kodak darkroom set from a second hand store for $5.00 when I was 12.


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[TXTiger]

I still have my Canon FTb 35 mm I bought in 1975. It's in a box in storage. I also still have a Roliflex Twin Lens Reflex in the same bax and a Kodak brownie my grandma gave me.