What's your camera gear?

[Gil]

Just curious. How many using Digital or film? Also, I am surprised on how many of you have serious gear. I remember my first DSLR was the Nikon D1 at almost $5000 and my coolpix 900 was almost $1000 for 3.3 megapioxels. Some of you have D300, D200 and the many D5 and the serious lenses to complete the experience.

[kbasa]

DSLR and Digital P&S.

[grossjohann]

DSLR and Digital P&S.

+1

[wmubrown]

Just curious. How many using Digital or film? Also, I am surprised on how many of you have serious gear. I remember my first DSLR was the Nikon D1 at almost $5000 and my coolpix 900 was almost $1000 for 3.3 megapioxels. Some of you have D300, D200 and the many D5 and the serious lenses to complete the experience.

Canon - Eos Elan (35mm film, admittedly rarely used anymore), D10 digital, various lenses for Elan and D10, Digital Elph. Casio Exilim digital P&S.

[bmwdean]

Just curious. How many using Digital or film? Also, I am surprised on how many of you have serious gear. I remember my first DSLR was the Nikon D1 at almost $5000 and my coolpix 900 was almost $1000 for 3.3 megapioxels. Some of you have D300, D200 and the many D5 and the serious lenses to complete the experience.

Amazing, isn't it, what has happened to prices and to quality for the same price?

The old D1 (2.7 mpx!) was $5,000. Now the latest, the 12 mpx D3 with a full size sensor and far more and better features, is $5,000.

Meanwhile, you can get the 6 mpx D40 for $400!

It almost makes you want never to buy a DSLR because a better and cheaper one is just around the corner.

Almost

[bricciphoto]

Amazing, isn't it, what has happened to prices and to quality for the same price?

The old D1 (2.7 mpx!) was $5,000. Now the latest, the 12 mpx D3 with a full size sensor and far more and better features, is $5,000.

Meanwhile, you can get the D40 for $400!

It almost makes you want never to buy a DSLR because a better and cheaper one is just around the corner. Almost

It is amazing. I've concluded (for the moment) DSLRs are as disposable as any other camera and decided to pass on them, although there are some mighty fine digital bodies available (compared to even the best film SLRs in their day). I paid about $600 bucks for my first digital camera, a point-and-shoot in '98. It was a whooping 1.3 megapixels--my almost two year old cell phone is nearly as good and it was "free." My G9 is 12 megapixels and it was less than $500. Makes one wonder where all of this is going.

[Gil]

Amazing, isn't it, what has happened to prices and to quality for the same price?

The old D1 (2.7 mpx!) was $5,000. Now the latest, the 12 mpx D3 with a full size sensor and far more and better features, is $5,000.

Meanwhile, you can get the 6 mpx D40 for $400!

It almost makes you want never to buy a DSLR because a better and cheaper one is just around the corner.

Almost

It get's better. I find that my Fuji S2 and even better, my Fuji S3 still challenges anything currently available. These two cameras are old technology. My Fuji S3 has better color and less noise than the Nikon D40X for about the same price.
Meanwhile, My D300 for under $2000 has much better color, contrast and resolution than the old Nikon D1 which sold for over twice that ammount.
By the way, Olympus make a fine system for under $600 including two lenses.

[nytrashman]

my camera gear is as follows:

cameras:
canon 1D
canon 20D

lenses:
*all canon except where noted
50 f/1.8
85 f/1.8
135 f/2.8
200 f/2.8
300 f/4 IS
400 f/5.6

17-40 f/4
tamron 28-75 f/2.8
70-200 f/4

canon 1.4 TC
tamron 1.4 TC

canon 430 EX speedlite

manfrotto 681B monopod w/ RRS clamp
Gitzo G2220 tripod w/ markins ball head and RRS clamp

sekonic L-358 flash meter

a single alien bees flash w/softbox and various muslins

various pelican cases, backpacks, straps etc.

[DougGrosjean]

Hmmm. Not enough categories in the poll above....

On the bike, usually I'll just have a swing-lens 35mm Widelux FV and a medium-format Rolleicord V, both circa mid-1950s.

The Widelux is a swing-lens panoramic camera, which uses two frames of 35mm film per shot, on a curved film plane. Lens swings left-to-right, covering about 120-degrees per swing. Since the tripod mount and the lens axis are concentric, I can take 4 shots at 90-degree spacing, merge them in Photoshop for a full 360. The coverage is wide enough that I don't have to have the camera at my eye to use it, ie, I can just level it using a bubble level in the hot-shoe, look at the arrows on the top of the camera that show angle of coverage to make sure what I want is between the arrows, and then "Click." Downside is complexity - the three-speed transmission is the camera world's Desmo. But when I do my part - wow! The Widelux produces extremely unique photos. Value: under a grand.

It can do this:

http://photo.net/bboard-uploads/00NrLy-40718584.jpg

... and lots of other neat compositions, such as curving the horizon if aimed slightly downward. Usually level is best, and it doesn't suffer fools gladly....

The Rolleicord is a low-end version of the German Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera, also circa mid-1950s. A winding knob instead of a crank, etc. But still excellent lens. I have some close-up attachements for it, a modern flash, and a panoramic head for it as well. The Rollei is similar to a digital in the viewfinder, with its ground-glass focusing. And I can use it with my helmet on, if need be. Probably with gloves, though I've never had to. Very quiet and smooth shutter, so it can be used a bit stealthily, and it can be used with very slow shutter speeds. Value: couple hundred bucks.

Scanning the negs from the cameras above at 2400 DPI, gets me 8MP on the Widelux and 23MP on the Rolleicord. I've had enlargements from the Widelux taken out to 12"x36", and they look fine. Probably in the next year or so, I'll be taking that Bike Nite pic out to 4' long for the bar's owner, because that block of buildings burned down about a month ago. I don't know the limit of the medium-format negs from the Rolleicord, haven't found them yet. But an 8x10 enlargement from a 400-speed neg shows almost no grain at all. Seems sufficient for me.

The quiet shutter, and being able to use the controls with gear on, netted me this shot of my SO scanning the maps to locate our position in Cumberland Pass:

http://www.bmwmoa.org/photo/photoview.php?pic=42560498

Plus a small or full-size tripod attached somewhere on the bike. Comes in handy sometimes.

Then a weather-resistant Olympus Stylus in a fanny-pack. Handy in rain, snow, for quicky pics where I wouldn't want to risk one of the nice cameras.

I also have some other oddball cameras that see use on the motorcycle if needed, such as a 120-film panoramic (Kodak Panoram, circa 1900), a 35mm stereo camera (Stereo Realist, circa late 1940s), as well as a 4x5 press camera from the 1920s and a 5x7 from even older. But it's the Widelux and the Rolleicord that are most likely to go with me on bike trips.

Why such old crude cameras? They're usually cheap (well, except for the Widelux....), easy to use on the bike, fully mechanical so no need for batteries or wall outlets (nice if on an extended camping trip). They're hefty, which I hope translates to "robust to vibration" when on the bike.

The value of the old cameras hasn't changed during the time I've owned them (2-4 years), so if I sold them I'd suffer no depreciation.

I think the proper quote here would be: "A simple tool is a joy forever."

[torags]

I have been stricken with LLS.

A couple of years ago I got my first dslr. Then I started reading photo forums, Hell I even planned trips based on forum photos (& they were great). Then I started to see my pix. I started seeing the faults and that's when it started:

LLS = Lens Lust Syndrome.

then I went to tracks and I needed more fps (frames per second)... it never ends...

Now I have:
D200 & D70S
18/200 f3.5 - 5.6
85 1.8
sigma 10/20 f4-5.6
24/70 f2.8
70/200 f2.8
Tamron 200/500
200/400 f4 (which required a heavy duty tripod)
2 TCs, filters - smilters, bags 'n bags, tripods 'n monopods

What a lot of crap, but its been a joy. I have a hike in set up (lightweight when I have to hike an hour or so, to get a shot like this:



Or when it's a dark venue like Cirque



Or when you need those fps



But its a chore lugging the stuff on the bike. It requires some farkling

[GREGFEELER]

DSLR and Digital P&S.

Ditto.

[32232]

We need a category for film range finders.

[bmdubyou]

Wow, torags, those are some awesome pics! I'm curious which sigma lens you listed...is that a 10-20 zoom?? I miss the wide angle capabilities with the digital Nikons. I have a 14mm 2.8 that I love but with the dslr I lose a lot of coverage.
God has given us a beautiful creation to enjoy and I hope to see much more of it (hopefully on the bike)!

I've gone digital but still have 3 film bodies. Id love to experiment with the older medium formats or even large formats. I have a freezer full of film and paper yet!

[torags]

Wow, torags, those are some awesome pics! I'm curious which sigma lens you listed...is that a 10-20 zoom?? I miss the wide angle capabilities with the digital Nikons. I have a 14mm 2.8 that I love but with the dslr I lose a lot of coverage.
God has given us a beautiful creation to enjoy and I hope to see much more of it (hopefully on the bike)!

I've gone digital but still have 3 film bodies. Id love to experiment with the older medium formats or even large formats. I have a freezer full of film and paper yet!

Its the zoom Sigma 10-20 f4-5.6.

I love the wide angle but there is distortion at 10mm, especially with vertical lines (like buildings).

That said, it can be used to advantage for particular effects. Its a nice lens and very well regarded and pretty reasonable.

[bmwdean]

God has given us a beautiful creation to enjoy ...

Click here for recommended reading.