Hi! What a wonderful thought(speech)-provoking question(thread)...
You know, if you don't mind I'd post here an opinion of an amateur who just recently learned of "Third Party Lenses Resource Megasite" and who spent good part of past two days reading these pages and thinking them through. In no particular order and totally IMHO: 1. Michael Reichmann does very specific kind of photography. For example, for him ability to change ISO setting from one shot to another as a matter of course seems to be very important. This way he does not have to take with him several heavy bodies not to mention the agility of his work. Digital seems to have great convenience improvement for him. Therefore I suppose, foreseeing this, he was among the first who praised digital. 2. The quality comparison between 6x7 (insert your favorite film format here) vs digital depends hugely on the subject being photographed. As a medium that converts light through some process to image, digital is in a sense yet another kind of film. So, if you think you must change a film every now and then, you have to use film. Digital does not seem to be able to do good b/w by design. Again use film. Now to the "Third Party Lenses Resource Megasite" 3. To be able to extract the best out of your 11 MP DSLR, or your best film one has to use their best technique. That's why I am thinking of starting with buying a monopod. As Michael Reichmann also said in his talk about EOS 1Ds, this camera forces one to use only best lenses with only perfect technique. So with all due respect for quite some many people on this forum it has little advantage to shell out the big money and go digital. However indeed if by popular definition you're professional (making financial living out of) photographer, digital may be the way to go. 4. Really, let us not argue about Film->Scanner->DigiPrint vs DigiSensor->DigiPrint or similar matter. Come, if you take 30 cm x 40 cm print and look at it from the distance less than few meters, you got to be in pedantic mood at best. I've received my first such size print just few days ago. The picture can be found here: www.geocities.com/dunno57/out/photos/misc/galia-na-divane.htm As you can see it was made with simple film, old lens and so on. Still it is amazing to look at. Naturally if I come closer I see the imperfections, but why would I? I am aware that I have a huge amount of learning to do :). Ultimately the high megapixel DSLR is yet another tool that should be considered just as such. If you could afford it, take it for a test drive and just buy it. However, for very many people the discussion of digital vs film (even 6x7) is mainly theoretical. I immediately and in advance admit to whatever wrongness you find in my reasoning. That's simply because I've noticed an unusually high concentration of quite quality demanding photographers who are also quite active on this list. But then again, I am glad and honored that I can listen to what you have to say to each other and that I can even ask my amateur questions every once in a while. Mike, I think the new world would come in few years hence, when camera like EOS 1Ds would cost no more than $1000. Before then, we can argue and mostly drool... --- Boris Liberman www.geocities.com/dunno57 www.photosig.com/viewuser.php?id=38625
