In 2006, after 35 years of film photography -- 99% of it with slide film--I bought my first digital camera, a Fujifilm S5100. It had the ergonomics of an SLR; it had a built-in 10x zoom, but the lens was not interchangeable. It had several Program settings, Aperture-Priority, Shutter-Priority, and Manual. After 35 years of "left hand works the aperture" and "right hand works the shutter speed", converting to "these two buttons do everything" (IF you can figure out which button does which two-dozen things and when you have to press t least one of them in conjunction with still ANOTHER button. It's clear that the programmers are NOT shooters.)
I went on my honeymoon to Costa Rica (the reason I bought the camera) and did almost all of my shooting on Program, having quickly learned how to lock in focus and exposure to accommodate lighting nuances. I took almost 1000 shots. My compositional skills have not deserted me, and I got a fine album, with some outstanding shots. Yet, Ii longed for a return to an SLR, hopefully one with easier controls.
I finally broke down (this past Spring, 2012) and, after research, bought a Nikon D3100 with its packaged lens, the 18 - 55. I knew I wanted telephoto, and, again after research, bought the Tamron 70 - 300. ) I had sold photographic equipment professionally for many years; I like Nikon (except their warranty/repair departments; they tend to rip people off), and I knew that Tamron produces magnificent lenses at lower prices than Nikkors.
Thus, I began the task of transitioning from film to digital. Whenever I talk about it, my basic statement is "They're the same but different."
How many of you feel the same way, and in what ways are they so?
This summer we went to our botanical garden and lucked out that a professional wildlife photographer was giving a free seminar. This subject was brought up. He had a nice series of images straight out of the box, taken with both film/digital and point n shoots to DSLR. He did mention that to make the comparison, he was restricted to the zoom range of the point n shoots. All in all, they were the same with the only noticeable difference being the purple fringe that comes with a digital point n shoot.
You've mentioned slides and you have me wondering how the digital media will look in say another 40 years. I've printed several slides from the '60/'70s, if the slides have been properly care for they are sharp and full of color.
A few months back I had a customer come in with an old 35mm, they had bought a box of cameras and film at an auction (a couple of Brownies included) and asked me to use the dark box to remove the film. It was C41 B&W so I could process it, low and behold the images were from WW2. Beautiful!
Film is slowly going by the wayside, not because of the lack of it, but the cost of development and the fact that there is instant gratification with digital. We can take and re-take until we get it right.
A Same But Different:
One difference is in Focal Length. With 35mm SLRs, the 50mm lens was the Normal: it reproduced perspective as sen by the human eye. A 100mm Focal Length was 2x magnification. It was purely (and simply) mathematical.
Now, there is a relationship between the size of the receptor and the focal length, and it's not a straight line equivalency. The closest I can come to a formula for figuring out the power of DSLR lenses is:
stated focal length (SFL) X the cosign of the reciprocal of receptor size (RS) divided by the algorithm X your best guess (YBG).
Another Same but Different:
Working in the manual mode. I did most of my shooting in manual because A) I preferred the control (and what I got was what I had set; it was my fault, so I knew what had happened), and B) the two cameras I used most (a Nikon and a Leica) were manual/mechanical.
So, especially with the Nikon SLR, my right hand steadied the camera, worked the Shutter Speed dial, and, of course, the shutter button. My left hand cradled the camera and worked the aperture ring on the lens. Quick and easy. And, when using a Gray card (which I prefer to do), it was easy to hold the card and adjust either aperture or shutter speed; the "off hand" holds the card, the other hand adjusts. No problem.
Now, with my DSLR, the adjustments are electronic. There is a small, horizontal wheel that can be easily turned by my right thumb. When I turn the wheel, it adjusts the shutter speed. Easy. BUT, to then adjust the shutter speed, I simultaneously must depress a small button; this activates the aperture. The problem is that it is virtually impossible to do this, hold the camera, and hold the gray card.
It seems fairly obvious to me that the engineers who design the controls are not shooters. They should stick to driving trains.
In the 70s and 80s I would shoot hundreds of frames, send the film out for develop only, print my own contact prints and then printed the best. Now I can shoot thousands, I normally don't preview when shooting, I'll wait til I see them on a large screen. I really don't see anything really different than using my hand held meter, sometimes auto, sometimes manual. I don't change film at night or the morning, I just change the ASA (ISO now), Sharing your photos is so much easier now, Family photos can be shared world wide with a click of a few buttons. Sharing my music fest photos to a extended group of a hundred or so friends is is so easy with facebook.
D5100 18-200, D3100 with 2 lenses that cover 18-200, D40, Sony Hd video cam, a few point and shoots and working on a GoPro cam. I like to document things from family and grandchild to large events like rallies and music events.
Wow! You folks are experienced! Can we get a basic lesson on composition? Just for us point and shoot users to start. Examples: A pretty scenic view of the lake from an overlook. A walk in the woods looking ahead down a path with some sunlight coming through from overhead, maybe looking at an animal in the path, or not. A pic of your loving spouse or kids sitting on the beach with waves or dunes behind. Anything with a furry pet in the pic. Thanks
We used to be film photographers and are still learning the transition to SLR.
We love our Nikon D7000. Have two lenses for it, 18-200 it came with and a 70-300.
We love shooting wildlife so went that way.
Now we need a good wide angle lens plus an 18 to 55 and a 55-100 for more specific stills, plus another body so hubby and I can learn to share better. It is MY camera, but it seems to always be around HIS neck.
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