My new baby

I got my digital camera! It's not the one I had originally planned on getting though. I was going to buy the Nikon D70. It sells for $999 new and has a $100 rebate through the end of March. That was the reason for the urgency of selling my F100. After careful consideration and research and comparisons, I ended up going with the Nikon D100, basically a digital version of my F100.

The D100 costs $1400 new and I got one that is a year old for $760.

I have used the D100 with Event Images in Charlotte for 3 years. We got them when they first came out. The major differences between the D100 and the D70, aside from the $400 difference in retail price, is

• The D70 has a faster image write speed
• The D70 has a bigger buffer for faster shooting
• The D70 is mostly plastic and feels "cheap"
• The D70 is marketed to the prosumers at stores like Best Buy, Circuit City, Sams, etc for those who want a little more than the Canon Digital Rebel camera
• The D100 is constructed of a metal alloy body, making it somewhat heaver and more rugged, and it feels and looks more professional
• The D100 allows for expansion of a battery pack with a vertical shutter release grip
• The D100 is compatible with all older Nikon flash units including all aftermarket flashes - you have to buy a new $300 flash for the D70
• The D100 is more powerful and more capable of driving the autofocus of bigger lenses
• The D100 has a bigger viewfinder - great for those who wear glasses
• The D100 is exactly like my old F100, except it's DIGITAL!
• Both The D100 and D70 are 6.1 megapixel

I am really excited to finally be rid of the film camera, though it was an awesome camera, I don't have to have film processed anymore or have CDs burned at the photo lab. I kept two of my lenses - the 24-120 and 70-300. On a digital camera with a 1.5x crop factor (due to the image recording area is smaller than the size of a 35mm frame of film), the lenses become 36-180 and 105-450. I lose the wide angle capabilities, but gain a lot in telephoto which is great for sports!

Here it is... my new baby.

 

I need to get a nice camera, but I don't want a digital. I want to do old school stuff. Push film and the like, but I need to refresh my memory...it's been a while since I have shot anything.
Did alot of sports photography back in my journalism days and tinkered with some random landscape stuff.
The only thing that sucks i since Dad sold the paper, I no longer have free access to a dark room. The new owners might allow me to use the facilities if I asked?

 

Used film cameras are selling CHEAP! You can get a basic manual camera for $100. Or get a top of the line Nikon that cost $1500 new for $500 now.

Everyone is going digital these days and can hardly give away their old cameras.

 

i'll take one

 

I could have gotten a brand new Cannon (forget the model) with bag, telephoto and scope-zoom lenses only used for 42 pic's for $300 at a garage sale last summer...unfortunately, I didn't have $300 to spare! :shakehead

 

WOOO FUCKING HOOOOO!!!!!

Sweet deal man! Let me know when you want to have a play date!

 

how's the flash?

 

The flash is as good as any decent point and shoot camera. It's good for snapshooting and also a great trigger for wireless studio lights without affecting the overall exposure. I love the pop-up flash because I don't always have to have a big flash on me just to take indoor pictures. My F100 didn't have a pop-up flash. It has been said that the Japanese think any SLR with a pop-up flash is not "professional".

Today, I purchased a $94 insurance policy in the form of a classic Nikon FM camera. It's all metal and fully mechanical with no electronics whatsoever. It only takes one button cell battery for the "match-needle" meter in the viewfinder, which isn't really necessary though the battery lasts for years.

Without a meter, I just use the "sunny 16" rule. If it's sunny outside, the f/stop should be 16 and the shutter should be set at 1/ISO speed. For instance if the film speed is 200, the shutter sould be 1/250 (closest available setting). If the film speed is 400, the shutter speed goes up one notch to 1/500. If it's partly sunny with some clouds, the f/stop goes down to 11. If it's mostly cloudy, the f/stop goes down to f/8. With these settings, a good exposure is guaranteed and any fine tuning can be done in the photo lab.

My worst fear is to be at a shoot, more specifically a wedding, and my D100 goes down. The battery goes dead. Anything can happen with something so electronic. I can quickly switch to the FM camera with a roll of film already loaded. Pop a flash on it and go. I set the f/stop on 8 and the shutter on 1/125 and it stays there. The flash itself automatically adjusts the light output acording to these settings and the distance to the subject sensored by the built-in thyrister on the flash. Flash photography indoors is really a no-brainer. TTL flash is for those who want the camera to do the thinking for them. It's good to understand what the camera and flash are doing and to be able to have complete control of both.

My goal is to not use this camera ever at a shoot. But I can tuck it away in the corner of my camera bag and have the peace of mind knowing that it's there if I need it and the fact that I know how to use it in any situation.

 

I wonder if any camera manufacturers will come out with an all manual digital camera body similar to these classic all metal cameras. I would be first in line to buy one.

At least base a digital camera on the body of a Nikon F4, a pro camera packed with automatic features, yet it has all the knobs and dials of an all manual camera with no LCD display. This was my first auto-focus camera. It is well built and very rugged. But the auto-focus is very slow and "searches" a lot. With improved technology, Nikon could make a great digital camera for the "traditional" photographers who like the feel of an all manual camera.

 

First Pic

I got my D100 today!!!!!


I received the package at work today and I didn't have a memory card with me to try it out, so I had to wait until I got home at midnight tonight. There was not much to shoot except from this swan who always comes out at night to swim.

It's time to hit the beach to get some scenics! I already have 2 weddings coming up and I am also shooting Coastal Carolina University's graduation in May.