Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/10/11

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Subject: Back to Film [was Re: [Leica] Nocti-luck]
From: nathan.wajsman at planet.nl (Nathan Wajsman)
Date: Tue Oct 11 21:26:36 2005
References: <99.68bad9da.307d5983@aol.com> <p0623090ebf71b0f908df@[10.0.1.2]>

Richard,

A DSLR like the Canon 20D you were contemplating has no perceptible 
shutter lag. I have been shooting with one for most of the past year, 
and I cannot think of any image that I have missed because of that. In 
fact, I have experienced the opposite: because there was the idea in the 
back of my mind that digital=shutter lag, I would sometimes press the 
shutter *too early* and a result the moving object ended up not where I 
wanted it in the frame--because there I was compensating for a shutter 
lag that wasn't there.

As for the buying and selling, it is entirely up to you. Just because a 
new model comes out does not mean that you have to buy it. I know people 
who are still shooting with the Canon 1D, and on the Miranda forum 
people are still buying and selling older Canon DSLRs like the D60 or 
even D30. I just sold my 20D and bought a second-hand 1D Mark II; in 
other words, I upgraded to what is in fact an older model! I did it 
because I wanted the better focusing, the ruggedness, and the 
weather-sealing of the 1D II. And yes, I knew about the new models like 
the 5D and 1D Mark II N, but neither of them had features that would 
compel me to cough up the extra money.

I am sure that 2 or 3 years from now I will still be shooting with my 1D 
II. I am also sure that at least 1 and probably 2 new generations of 
models will have been released by then. But the release of a new model 
does not affect how my pictures look. If it has compelling features, I 
might upgrade, but frankly the existing kit is so good that I cannot 
really see what those would be.

Nathan

Richard S. Taylor wrote:

> 
> My Digilux 2 spends most of its time in the bag now for just this 
> reason.  I got really tired of trying to figure out ways to work around 
> the delays.  Having to deal with the noise at high ISO, was another big 
> issue.
> 
> There's another reason to stay with film, too - at least for me.  The 
> digital camera market is still far too unstable to allow reasonable 
> buying decisions to be made.  We're still in the Wild West of camera 
> development.
> 
> A couple of months ago I was almost ready to plunk down real money for 
> either a *istDS (when I was feeling frugal) or a Canon 20D (when I felt 
> richer).  Just as I was ready to make a decision, up comes the 
> preliminary announcement of first the *istDL, then the Canon 5D. "Uh, 
> oh," I say to myself, "better wait."
> 
> Further, the value of used digital cameras is pretty low and at least 
> one camera store here in the Boston area won't even take them in trade.  
> I all ready have too much invested in obsolete technology with the 
> Digilux 2.  The last thing I want to do now is spend big-bucks on a 
> camera that will be behind the state of the art in 18 months.
> 
> The combination of film and commercial scans provides, to my mind 
> anyway, the best of both worlds, with inherent archival storage thrown 
> in, too boot.
> 
> Besides, using film will let me put some miles on my still pretty much 
> brand new M7 that was otherwise languishing in the closet.  The delay 
> between shooting and seeing the result is something I can live with.
> 
> I've even put my Olympus Stylus Epic back to work.
> 
> 

-- 
Nathan Wajsman
Almere, The Netherlands

General photography: http://www.nathanfoto.com
Seville photography: http://www.fotosevilla.com
Stock photography: http://www.alamy.com/search-results.asp?qt=wajsman
http://myloupe.com/home/found_photographer.php?photographer=507
Prints for sale: http://www.photodeluge.com



Replies: Reply from firkin at ncable.net.au (Alastair Firkin) (Back to Film [was Re: [Leica] Nocti-luck])
Reply from r.s.taylor at comcast.net (Richard S. Taylor) (Back to Film [was Re: [Leica] Nocti-luck])
In reply to: Message from SonC at aol.com (SonC@aol.com) ([Leica] Nocti-luck)
Message from r.s.taylor at comcast.net (Richard S. Taylor) (Back to Film [was Re: [Leica] Nocti-luck])