Birds of a Feather

[Ray]

It's interesting that Michael's gone back to displaying shots from his first Canon digital camera, the 3mp D30, Birds of a Feather.

It was taken with an expensive camera for the times, around $6,000, and an even more expensive lens, and it is of course an impressive shot.

I can't help speculating that my D800E with Nikkor 24-120/F4 zoom would have given me even better results, if I'd been there. How camera technology has progressed during the past 10 or 12 years. It's amazing!

[JackWinberg]

As I recall, it was this equipment that brought Michael to encourage photographers to embrace the digital idiom as having really arrived.  After warily considering the whole matter, I finally acquired a D30 about a year later (paying under $3000, as I recall), and that led to my finally abandoning my film bodies a few years later, with nostalgia and regret.  Ah, how time marches on, who would have dreamed of the startling transformations in both hardware and software that has occurred.  The limiting factor now is US!  I like that very much.  We live in exciting times.   

[michael]

I also remember how I was vilified on the forums at DPReview for even suggesting that a 3MP digital file could match and even exceed scanned film at smaller print sizes.

Orthodoxy vs the evidence of ones own eyes.

Michael

[stamper]

In my camera club days I used to take 3MP digital files and get them converted to slides and enter them into slide competitions. Nobody new which - apart from myself - were which - and they were judged to be as good - quality wise - as the slides from a film camera and I won a couple of competitions.

[mvsoske]

In 1999, I took a trip to Nepal with only a Kodak DC260 - a 1.2MP camera.  With today's technology and using LR/ACR, it is amazing what you can get out of those small, noisy, artifact-laden jpegs and making prints up to 8x10

Mark

[DaveDn]

I remember when Michael took this image and also remember the review of the 400mm DO.

In fact I bought one to based on the review and still use it today. A great "portable" 400mm f4. 

[Rick Popham]

I also remember how I was vilified on the forums at DPReview for even suggesting that a 3MP digital file could match and even exceed scanned film at smaller print sizes.

Orthodoxy vs the evidence of ones own eyes.

Michael

I remember that too.  That discussion really got me thinking about moving to digital.  I knew it would simplify my workflow since I was already scanning my film and printing with Epson printers, but I didn't think I would be happy with 3 megapixels.  When Nikon released the 6 megapixel D70 I bought one just to see if I liked shooting with digital.  I still have some film in my freezer that I never bothered to use after getting that camera.

Rick