Sunday, August 07, 2005

Some days I feel like an old man...

Schnoodlepooh left a comment on yesterday’s post that ended with:

“And why, why, why, don't you PLEASE get a digital camera? Join the new millennium. Get with the program.
digital...digital...digital...
:-)”

(Btw, her real name is Peg, which is much easier for me to say than “Schnoodlepooh,” especially when I’m chewing on some food. I tend to spray particles of pizza—ooo, more alliteration!—all over my monitor and keyboard. Anyway, check out her blog. She has taken some absolutely gorgeous pictures—yes, DIGITAL—of... Well, mainly of her dogs. But they’re still nice pictures!)

(Oh, then check out the blog her dogs are writing. Yes, you read that correctly. Her dogs have their own blog. And some days it’s better than some of the people blogs I read. It’s called Paw Prints. If you don’t like dogs, don’t bother.)

(And while you’re checking out good digital photos, scroll through the last month of posts at A Little Bit of Me and look at the shots Robin has taken of flowers and other scenery!)

After Schnoodlepooh, of course Karyn had to weigh in! These women! They always stick together.

Where was I? OH, yes, digital cameras.

My first thought when I read her comment was, “What’s wrong with my film camera?”

My next thought was, “Nothing! So THERE! Besides, I paid a lot for this camera and its lenses. I have an investment here. Why should I toss that away?”

Then a little logic kicked in. I thought, “Yeah, but with digital you get instant gratification. You can see what you shot, and delete it if you don’t like it. You don’t have to wait (whether an hour or several days), you don’t have to pay for developing, and then get credit for the prints you don’t want. You don’t have to scan the prints or negatives to digitize them, and THEN use your cool photo editing software to lighten/darken/adjust them.”

But being basically conservative (read: a tightwad) I hate to spend the money for a nice DSLR camera, several lenses, with at least 6 megapixel resolution that I know I would want if I went digital.

Amy, my younger daughter (who I used to refer to in this blog as Elizabeth, her middle name) spent about $2,000 for a very nice digital Nikon. Then it was stolen when she and companions turned their backs for an instant at O’Hare Airport in Chicago. But that’s another story.

I know I could spend a fraction of that amount for an adequate camera with maybe 3x optical and 8x digital zoom. But I’d always wish I’d spent a little (hah!) more and bought a really nice one.

Thus mired in my internal debate between conservatism and lust for features, I opt to do nothing and keep using the 4-year-old “antique” camera we bought for our Africa trip of 2001. Along with the film scanner I bought to digitize those pictures.

Hey, at the time I bought that gear, the scanning of film negatives achieved higher digital resolution than all but the most expensive digital cameras were capable of. See, I used to be ahead of the digital curve! But times do change.

So, what’s the bottom line? Like an old man stuck in the past, comfortable with the old and unwilling to adapt to the new, I’ll wait to move into the digital photography age.

At least my wife’s new cell phone has a digital camera built in. Too bad there’s no zoom at all and its resolution only produces pictures that look like thumbnails.

9 comments:

Hale McKay said...

My idea of going digital is for my daughter to take some nice pics with her digital camera. She can then send them to me aattached to e-mail. A quick "save as" and a few clicks to convert them to JPeg and they are ready to load on my site.
However, she just raised the bar. Her fiance bought her a digital cam-corder (which can also take digital stills)that eventually have me trying to figure out how to post video. A man behind the times finds his work is never done when it comes to getting "Modern."

Karyn Lyndon said...

I bet you paid a lot for your 8-track tape player, too.

And did I hear you right? A few days??? to get your pics developed? That fawn is already grown and had fawns of her own by now.

the many Bs said...

I'm not going to harrass you on the digital camera issue, but I just have to make a couple more comments to make sure you are fully educated on the subject. Firstly,thanks for all of the plugs on my blogs. Cool. Very cool. Thanks. I need more hits, more hits, more hits....
You can have TWO digital cameras - just think about it. You can get a teeny tiny Nikon 5 mp 3x zoom digital for $250 and carry it with you wherever you go. It takes GOOD photos. I know. I have one.
Then, you can have a digital SLR for those times (trips to Africa) when you know you are going to be taking lots of photos. If your SLR is fairly new, you can probably get a digital SLR that will use all of your existing lenses.

Okay. I'm not going to beat you over the head about it. Mike (hammer and nail) is doing a sufficient job of that and it's driving me NUTS!
Peg

Anonymous said...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, enough excuses already. We want to see this alleged fawn that you have claimed several times to have seen! And after spending lots of money on renovation projects, and even more money on the Trail Manor, whats a couple grand more for the latest digital camera, etc?

Duke_of_Earle said...

(Sigh) At least Hale seems to understand. Maybe fiscal conservatism, a.k.a. being a tightwad, is a gender issue (a GUY thing).

For you ladies, do I look (or read) like I'm made of money? C'mon, Christina! "A coupla grand" here and there and first thing you know we're selling the Trail Manor and mortgaging the house (and YOUR inheritance!)

OK. I'll CONSIDER getting the "cheap" version of a digital camera that Peg describes. But don't hold your collective breaths.

Besides, Murhpy tells me that once I buy it and carry it around on the golf course I'll NEVER see another deer, or anything else photo-worthy.

(Grumble, grumble.)

Nankin said...

The problem with film cameras (at least if you're like me) my kids are grown up and moved out and I still have rolls of film I took of them as kids.
I even have some of my wedding 2 1/2 years ago that I haven't developed.
But I am getting a digital. It's a freebie and probably not worth much, but it is DIGITAL.

Robin said...

Awe, thanks for your kind words. :)

Anonymous said...

We know you're not made of money (obviously) but c'mon Dad, if you don't want to spend a couple grand (which btw is more money than I even HAVE right now, much less can afford), you can buy a digital camera for as little as $50. Or, as Karyn suggested, disposables!

Ineke said...

I know the dilemma.
And what did i end up with?
The digital Nikon 70 (same one your daughter had?) with 6.1 megapix.
With memory card and bag i lost about a 1000 euro which is about 1100 dollar (wild guess here, coz the euro used to be very high, but i don't know the actual rate)
My point?
Indulge yourself. Go wild. Get your DSLR and enjoy !