William Robb suggested that the cheaper operating costs of his digital relative to his LX are false economy because his ratio of good shots is higher on film.
I'd agree on a couple of points, namely 1) I've had lousy luck with my LX economically speaking as well 2) I shoot more with digital than I did with film for the same number of final edited images Of course the longer the digital is used the better it comes out in the operating-cost comparison. This is why pros who shoot 50-100 thousand shots a year in order to make money are switching to digital. I have found that I have a very slightly lower proportion of keepers when shooting digital than shooting film (more junk, but also more keepers, because more total shots) in general I find it much harder to edit these days because I don't have ONE good shot but four or five. I have also found that despite skill, equipment, and such volume of fire does in general increase the likelyhood of great shots, if simply due to pure luck (which is what actually makes most "great" shots rise above the "really good" level). In that sense, my ability to get one great lucky shot with digital more often than I got it with film makes it a great improvement. William Robb also pointed out that no matter the cost-benefit analysis DSLRs are expensive. That's true, but increasingly less so. The Nikon D2h is selling at only a couple of hundred dollars more than the Nikon F5 did when it was new. While the *istD and Canon digital rebel are more expensive than their film brethren they are cheaper than top-of-the-line film cameras. In a couple of years, consumer DSLRs should be down to $600-750 or so, cheaper than the 2nd best film cameras most manufacturers currently offer. Realistically, 35mm FILM cameras are overpriced when compared on resolution. You can get a used Pentax 6x7 and a lens for less than the price of a Nikon F100 or Canon Digital Rebel. 35mm has never been about maximum technical quality, but a blend of technical quality and convenience. Lately 35mm and even 35mm-sized digital have gotten good enough in quality to make many pros consider abandoning larger formats for some uses, but if you want maximum data-per-frame larger formats are still the way to go. DJE
