Being back in TX - i finally got the pictures I took in my yard when borrowing Mel's old Digital SLR (click on the skeeterhawk to see em). Honestly - the image quality is good - but not as good as I'd want when it comes to spending serious money on a camera. The autofocus funcitonality is silly - it's never as good at it as i am - and the damned thing spins up and down all the time - and when you're shooting moving things that's a pain (oh look, tracking that bird the tree suddenly became important enough to take the bird out of focus... great...). The lenses were ok - but they still feel cheap compared to my old SLR film gear (even if they're not). I got ok with it - learned to cheat depth of field out of it too, which unfortunately ends up costing you in graininess. Just going to end up needing a bigger (and thus more expensive) camera i suppose.I do think a good camera is something I'd like. I'm a fair shot with one still (i did spend years getting paid to take pictures afterall) - probably something of a 'when i actually spend money on myself that's something i'll probably do' - but not today. Maybe next year though.
Melly said pretty much the same thing about the lenses. My ancient M42 lenses, while cheap, are heavy and substantial, with glass optics and metal casings. Apparently, there really aren't a lot of digital SLR lenses that use glass optics, due to the weight of the things.
ReplyDeleteYeah... still. The lens for the SEPS camera I used to use (serial number 7... hand etched... for those keeping score) was less powerful with a higher Fstop than the ones I borrowed from Mel... and cost $75k...
ReplyDeleteI did like the results of Mel's camera though - considering how i was pushing it. I want to make sure i'm getting something i can use to dial down and get a shot of the moon etc - but it still doesnt seem to get the ambient levels in the dark well.
All that said - it means i'm staring at fairly dangerous prices for a digital camera when i actually pony up (and i just dont feel justified doing that until i'm going on a trip where i'm going to really USE the damned thing).
Those are some gorgeous photos. The one of the frog is fantastic!
ReplyDeleteRobyn
FWIW, the 20D is much, much better than the Digital Rebel, and she's got some considerably more stupid lenses, so yeah, you can get into scary territory with the digitals. I'll take my $15 Soviet-era Industar 61M macro lens any ol' day, tho...
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