Holy cow camera tech has improved!
 

Just upgraded from Fuji xt3 to current Nikon full frame and I cannot get over how much easier it is to get stellar images. subject recognition (cars, birds, animals, people, etc) is a game changer for grabbing focus. And processing software like Lightroom is at a whole 'nother level as well. I had a shot of a lynx in the local zoo that was at 25,600 ISO and Lightroom 'denoise' gave me a very nice image. It's just incredible.

If you're an avid photographer and haven't updated equipment in several years it might be time to look at what's out there. And in Nikon in particular the three z lenses I've bought are ALL incredible. And they are not the high dollar 1.2 versions.

Not gonna bother posting pics here as this forum doesn't seem to handle them well but anyone interested can check Flickr or camera forums for examples. Really if you can find a before/after of something that was say underexposed and high ISO it will blow your mind.

I have a Canon EOS 5DsR

I don't know why they mark the R is red, but I figured that is what is on the camera face.

It is just orders of magnitude better than digital cameras of a few years ago.

"Start geezer voice"

As a professional photographer that lived the golden age of Kodak and professional level cameras and film, through the 70s to the 2000s, nothing in film can touch a professional digital camera. We used to shoot a 6X7 CM (2.25x2.75 inch) frame of film for our aerials just 15 years ago. The new full frame sensor cameras will simply make the film camera look pitiful. And instead of just 10 images per roll, we can shoot a few hundred shots of a flight where the customer asks for oblique view images, and just deliver them all and let the client pick their favorites. We made 40x60 prints of the same office complex, and the difference is stunning. Better in ever single respect on digital.
Only a 8x10 film camera on a sturdy tripod shooting a building exterior with perfect exposures, and perfect processing and professional top level enlargement could beat a 35mm format hand held camera, and the difference in cost would be staggering."

"End Geezer voice."

And do i really need a Canon EOS 5Ds for my happy snaps, nope. I will use my cell phone. But to attache a long telephoto lens, yep the Canon EOS 5Ds is the bomb.

The full frame sensor is just soooo much smoother and just...I dunno...silky? I agonized over the switch for quite a while but am not looking back now that I've switched. I went 45mp and holy cow it is so nice having that much headroom if I want to crop a bit.

I've also picked up back button focus as it's much easier on the bigger camera body. And that, perhaps more than anything else, has been a gamechanger. Way less 'oops lost focus let me get back there and do it again' with this thing. Today I was shooting boats coming through the inlet and I'd use the bbf centered on the boat THEN add fn1 button on the front programmed to hand off to 3d focus and that would essentially stick the focus box to that spot and allow me to reframe the shot. While in AF-C. I NEVER used AF-C on the Fuji.

I gotta think a lot of casual photogs who maybe got frustrated with their results on early DSLR stuff and gave up might have a different experience today. It surely is the case for me.

I'm still sad that I don't use my Canon AE-1 any more. I'd had a Canon 35mm SLR since I was a little boy and new how to use it, so feel guilty whenever I see it.

The truth be told, I am getting better pictures with my Sony DSLR, but that's not the point LOL

I don't want to buy bigger and better as no one else wants to see my pic's and they just tend to be dogs, cats and surf.

With all that tech, wtf is with bank security cameras? lol

+1

Even the Google Maps street view cameras take high clarity pictures.

Bank cameras be like....

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1760876259.jpg

I can't comment on a State-of-the-art full frame DSLR. We have a 5D and 5D III in a drawer. And? The doggone iPhone with its amazing processing can very frequently compensate for challenging situations.

I appreciate the comment. My wife is the photog. I just geek out on the tech. I need to do some research.

D50, D80, D80, D300, D300s, D500, D600, D7100, D7200, D800, D800e, D810, D850, Z7, Z8... And on and on... (I've spent a lot). They SAY the cost of the body is equivalent to what you might have spent on color processing, not sure I believe that.

Right now Nikon is having a sale.
D850 $1,996 (Gradual phase out of the last great DSLR)
Z7II $1,996
Z8 $3,796

And of course you need some lenses. Understand lens compatibility between the DSLR and the Z mirrorless bodies. It's a one-way street...
They always have a rotating sale.

Then maybe a carbon fiber tripod or two, RRS ballhead...

And a fairly modern computer to process.

Software. You can subscribe to Adobe for $9.99 per month, or use the free Nikon NX Studio to convert and is OK for most people.

And finally, you need subjects to shoot... Or it ends up in the closet.

My camera was first released 10 years ago, so it is not "state of the art."

I have it set to shoot in JPG & Raw at the same time. It makes a 59MB Raw file, and a 16 MB JPG file at 8688x5792 pixels. If I open the Raw file in Photoshop and do nothing but save it as a Tiff file, it makes a 361 MB file!

Memory cards are cheap. It is about the same weight as my old film camera I bought in 1971 that made me the money to buy my 74 914 2.0 back in 1974. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined someday I would have a camera with no film to process, and instant review of the images, quality better than Kodachrome 25 grain and an ASA of unheard of speeds of 6400 or higher is needed. And it can shoot as some crazy rate like 12 frames per minute I think, and autofocus and follow a moving object, while automatically adjusting exposure. And with RAW post processing, almost anything is possible. RAW post processing has an astonishing de-haze button. For shooting aerials on a not perfect clear day is easy.

I never dreamed I would have a cell phone like my iPhone 16 Pro, and camera like my Canon. The "good ol days" is not something I really miss. I love the new tech.

12 frames per minute or second, Glen?

Per second! Per minute would be rather pitiful.

As I remember it can shoot a burst of something like 40 frames before it has to let the memory cards catch up.

I think mine can do 20fps in RAW?

Have it set to 10fps for 'slow continuous' and it can get away from you quickly. This past weekend I stopped at the inlet to get some shots and was there maybe 1/2 hour. Came home with something like 400 photos. Waves crashing, boats boating....it's all good till you have to cull all of that!

I just looked up that Z8.
They're finally catching up to Sony with the speed of the shutter I see.
That is one big camera for sure.

I know what you mean about culling the shots.

I don't have that much time to do that since my computer is slow so rarely shoot my A9 at anything but single shot.

Good to hear!! The phones have become so good for day to day pics I only ever take out my DSLR (Canon) to air shows or races.. Even so I still miss a few shots because the AF picks the wrong "dot" to focus on at times and overrides my choice, I wonder if the new cameras are better at the autofocus feature for action shots, bet so..
I'd like to get back into this if there's a finally decent AI built into photo cataloging software. Something smart enough to recognize a race car, a porsche, an F18, potential duplicates, etc... I have way too many old pics on too many drives (that very rarely get looked at because they're so hard to find) and it's a nightmare to locate anything when I need to..

For me, the very best feature of the 'newer' cameras is the Auto-ISO setting. It took me a while to figure out that ISO on digital cameras is not really comparable to the film days. With film, you generally wanted the very lowest ISO film you could get by with to reduce grain. With digital, it sorta/kinda doesn't matter except at the extreme end (although most cameras have an ISO sweet spot). 90% of the time, I shoot full manual mode with Auto-ISO. It's a miracle for us old film shooters. All I have to worry about is how much blur/sharpness I want, how much depth of field I want and the Auto-ISO does the rest.

That said, I'm using 12+ year old technology and will likely never upgrade. I'm a diehard micro-four-thirds guy (Olympus OM-D and Panasonic Lumix GF1). I love the small size of the MFT cameras and lenses. Nowhere near the tech of the latest stuff, but everything and more that I need :cool:

Deschodt subject recognition now includes stuff like planes, trains, cars, bikes, critters, birds, people and of course 'auto detect'.

I think this is the thing that most enables less talented folks like me to get better. Full manual now just means aperture and shutter speed. That is pretty easy to manage. I have my auto iso set to 160 min ss and 25,600 or whatever it is max iso. The only goof so far is today I had a 400mm on and was doing aperture priority and thus forgot to check SS. It put me at 160 and I missed a couple lovely shots of small deer in the pines. Got the shot but it wasn't pin sharp. I guess in body stabilization has limits at 400mm. Lesson learned I'll now remember to set the big glass at faster SS.

Totally amazing really.

Was in a Best Buy today while waiting for dinner and handled a Nikon Z5II. Felt really nice and the menus looked the same as my Z8. I saw the Z5ii in a Nikon refurbished sale just a few weeks back for around $1350. Hell of a lot of camera for that kinda dough. I think new it's on sale for maybe $1700 now. That plus the unreal Z 24-120 F4 lens which is sub $1k on sale would be an incredible and versatile combo.

The autofocus is amazing. Virtually instant. And several modes like faces and what part of the frame to focus on. Amazing to see it grab a face and follow it for focus and exposure.

As a geezer in photography, I learned on camera with no light meter, and using film exposure is critical. When outside I would set my shutter speed at the ASA (before ISO was brought out) so ASA 160 high speed Ektachrome was ASA 160, set my shutter speed at 200, (1/4 F stop fudge factor) and hold my hand out with my fingers outstretched, if I saw 5 distinct finger shadows, F16. If I saw 5 blurry fingers from thin clouds, F11. If I saw just a blob of a shadow of my hand F8. No shadow at all, F5.6. And I learned to just see the brightness and know what exposure to use. If it was a particularly important shot, bracket 1/2 or even 1/4 stop increments over and under. With slide film you wanted to be dead nuts on exposure our under exposed, never overexposed.

Now I set it to full auto, and full autofocus, point frame the shot, and shoot again and again. With RAW, just about anything can be fixed from the white balance, to exposure in post processing.

^^^ yeah, that's the other end of it for sure - post processing! Which we didn't have in the film days unless you were developing prints yourself and, even then, it was limited to a couple of things. It's a different world for sure with all the tech, but the camera still can't create composition and visual interest.

Yes modern digital cameras are otherworldly. I shoot mostly wildlife, astronomy, and sports with my Sony Mirrorless and the images astound me. For family shots, baby faces, sunsets and cityscapes, even the iphone 15 Pro camera is excellent. Such a different world than my old Canon FTB from the 70s.