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Thread ID: 112618	2010-09-14 05:07:00	The myth of the megapixel	Strommer (42)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1137091	2010-09-14 21:48:00	Nah .. the F4 is bugger all. It's just a lightbox :p Get a great lens and meter correctly and it does the same thing as a 2nd hand Nikon N55 that retails for $50 (?) on TM. The F4 and like the other pro bodies were made for journalists at the time and sport photographers while it is somewhat limited, it's also quite water resistant and sealed and built very tough. Hence why pro cameras has been used by war photographers and now placed by pro digital SLRs, 35mm equiv formats are also way more portable than medium format cameras, the lens selection is so much wider and aperture is faster so you can shoot much faster equipped with fast film or high ISO on the digital. I've got a F100, the little brother of the F5, I have thought about a F6, but undecided, not for the quality but for the sentimental value, prob the the most modern and best 35mm film camera now and prob the last one that will be produced, manufacturers now don't produce anymore given the fall out of film demand. Rumour has it the F6 is discontinued as least all the NZ shops say they cannot get them in. Canon and Minolta (now Sony and also prev Konica) has pulled their dedicated film scanners. Nikon has done the same too but 1 or 2 models left - the rumour is that they want to slow the supply chain from whatever stock they have now to price them at a premium and when stock is exhausted, then they say it's discontinued. You look at the film industry, rumour has it that Fuji may discontinue all their pro negative film. Kodak does dominate pro neg film with their Portra line up. Also they sell some neg film to the movie industry. Kodak has already discontinued their high speed slide film, Fuji is the only one that offers 400 speed slide film now. It's been partly admitted by some places in authority that amateur slides will be dusted away forcing dedicated customers to shoot pro slides. AFAIK many 100 speed negative film both pro and amateur flavours are dusted. I know that Fuji Superia 100 and Gold 100 is not available in NZ anymore and that seems to be the same over some places in the states.	Nomad (952)
1137092	2010-09-14 22:13:00	Nah .. the F4 is bugger all. It's just a lightbox :p The F4 and like the other pro bodies were made for journalists at the time and sport photographers while it is somewhat limited, it's also quite water resistant and sealed and built very tough. Hence why pro cameras has been used by war photographers and now placed by pro digital SLRs. That is exactly what my F4s was used for. Tough as a brick outhouse, could take a beating and be ready for more. A very capable camera at the time for professional purposes. You can get the F4s used now for less than $400. The Nikon D3/s/x is now the Professional Version of the Nikon range, again, a very capable camera body for sports and coval unrest but rather bulky for taking snaps of the kids. I have thought about the D3 series for the full frame but would have to invest in full frame lenses or suffer a big crop factor so I will stay with the D300/200 which is all I need since I am not covering news very much now.	PinoyKiw (9675)
1137093	2010-09-14 23:22:00	Megapixel to the uninformed is a selling trap and can be hyped up by sale reps to there advantage. Exactly! Unfortunately then trying to re-educate people becomes a mission ... "Why would I want an 8 or 10mp camera when there's 14 / 16MP ones that I can get?" "Well because the quality of the picture isn't purely defined by the number of pixels. In many cases you're better off with a lower resolution camera that has better quality parts in it" "Don't be silly, you're just being a cheap ass" .... No lies, had that conversation many times :p	Chilling_Silence (9)
1137094	2010-09-15 02:25:00	I have a Pentax Spotmatic II and it has been an excellent camera. When I was in a serious mood I used to get professional slide film and what a difference that made. Not sure if you can still get it. My second camera (bought as an addition to my first - a Pentax Program A) was a Spotmatic which I used for B&W. I really started to learn photography, with the Spotmatic, B&W film and a darkroom that I built out of an old builders shed. A wonderful hobby! Ken	kenj (9738)
1137095	2010-09-15 02:54:00	I take it that there is nothing wrong with lenses made by Carl Ziess?	Snorkbox (15764)
1137096	2010-09-15 02:58:00	I take it that there is nothing wrong with lenses made by Carl Ziess? A lot of the expenses lenses are a bit snobbery IMO, incl Leica stuff. I think you have to compare them fairly. You could get Leica lenses or Carl Zeiss lenses in various forms of pocket cams to larger cams to 35mm SLRs to larger sizes. With the Zeiss lenss for 35mm gears, they tend to be v expensive, think $4,000USD (some of them) but they may be a tad sharper than a Nikon or Canon lens, colour sometimes from the ones I seen could be better on the Nikon equiv. At the end of the day it's so small, most people wouldn't care, if you are looking for a jump, head to to larger formats. AFAIK the poshy lenses on Nikon or Canon are manual focus only. If you are used to seeing what dSLRs can do and you want really fine details, digital medium format is the path to take. Hair strands, eyebrows are so clearly defined you could count them, even if women have looked after themselves - makeup wise and hair wise, you can see skin pores.	Nomad (952)
1137097	2010-09-15 06:02:00	Like floppy disks and vinyl, film won't die. Many people may not use them however. Movie industry may eventually all switch to digital. Just last year when I was in Tokyo, school kids visiting temples and museums, more than a few of them used disposable film cameras. In some places like JP, it's quite retro and fashionable to use film and to use more older cameras - ie., not the fancy Nikons Canons you see on the big movie sets - LOL. Think about manual winding of the film. At times I had to buy a dispoable camera, they are ISO 800. The long story. B/w film will be consolidated. Not know too much of them. Personally b/w strength is in darkroom procesisng than commercial variants. Like you can get b/w film that is processed conveniently at a lab (same chemistry as color film). ISO 100 amateur photo and slide film is gone. 400 is there. I expect that to be gone too, just leaving maybe 800 photo film for disposable cams. For pro film. Photo film Fuji has indicated it may pull out of it entirely. That leaves Kodak. For slide pro film. Kodak has smoked it. A standard 100 and a 100 with saturation and a 200. That's it. Won't surprise me if 200 calls it quits too. For Fuji it's similar, they have a 400 thou. No 200 thou. I think 400 would be a goner, some don't think so. But I just don't think high ISO has much benefit for film even if people project them, the good stuff is really in the low ISO stuff, plus 400 slides are dang expensive. if $30 or $40 in NZ is not expensive enough for 1 roll, in the USA they are still $12US. Versus pro 100 film at maybe $4-5US a rolll. Film may be affordable for the low volume shooter but not for sports. For people like me who might be passionate with film, it's about being v picky and want the absolute best, but high ISO is too much of a tradeoff. Who knows it might survive with what minimal customers out there, ie, low light events captured on film, 400 slides film can be soaked longer and be runned in the camera as high as ISO 3200. No one else produce this stuff so they might have enof .... What I like about slides is that I like landscapes, without a computer, just after you have film processed, it's either you met it or you didn't. With slide film and a filter or two in theory you could get images published in National Geographic.	Nomad (952)
1137098	2010-09-15 09:19:00	My second camera (bought as an addition to my first - a Pentax Program A) was a Spotmatic which I used for B&W. I really started to learn photography, with the Spotmatic, B&W film and a darkroom that I built out of an old builders shed. A wonderful hobby! Ken Yeah it was interesting working in the darkroom. Haven't done it for years though.	mikebartnz (21)
1137099	2010-09-15 09:22:00	ISO 100 amateur photo and slide film is gone. 400 is there. I expect that to be gone too, just leaving maybe 800 photo film for disposable cams. For pro film. Photo film Fuji has indicated it may pull out of it entirely. That leaves Kodak. For slide pro film. Kodak has smoked it. A standard 100 and a 100 with saturation and a 200. That's it. Won't surprise me if 200 calls it quits too. For Fuji it's similar, they have a 400 thou. No 200 thou. I think 400 would be a goner, some don't think so. But I just don't think high ISO has much benefit for film even if people project them, the good stuff is really in the low ISO stuff, plus 400 slides are dang expensive. if $30 or $40 in NZ is not expensive enough for 1 roll, in the USA they are still $12US. Versus pro 100 film at maybe $4-5US a rolll. Film may be affordable for the low volume shooter but not for sports. For people like me who might be passionate with film, it's about being v picky and want the absolute best, but high ISO is too much of a tradeoff. Who knows it might survive with what minimal customers out there, ie, low light events captured on film, 400 slides film can be soaked longer and be runned in the camera as high as ISO 3200. No one else produce this stuff so they might have enof .... What I like about slides is that I like landscapes, without a computer, just after you have film processed, it's either you met it or you didn't. With slide film and a filter or two in theory you could get images published in National Geographic. I was always a fan of 200 slide film and as said previously when serious would use professional slide film.	mikebartnz (21)
1137100	2010-09-15 09:31:00	I was always a fan of 200 slide film and as said previously when serious would use professional slide film. Fuji doesn't even have 200 slide now :crying Kodak has a pro 200 but for the time being me thinks. Althou (!) you can rate 100 speed slides as 200 and push process at the lab. Might get a bit granier thou. I just want Fuji Velvia 50 RVP and maybe I will give Kodak Ektar 100 neg a try. :drool	Nomad (952)
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