d700 blinking err after one month

[terrencegabriel]

We have had and have been using for over 400 shots a year an FE and an FM we bought in 1979 and 1977 respectively. I was tempted to go to the dark side this summer when it was costing us $30+ a roll for our Kodachrome to buy and process including a not very good job burning a CD at the lab. We gave a couple of Nikon DSLRs a try - rented from a local shop. They were both very nice cameras and used our legacy glass without a hitch. Took about 50 shots with each and put them on our site.

 

I called my wife and asked her to go to the web site and take a look at the images from the Nikons. She said they really looked great so we decided we would save up and get into the dark world with the rest of you.

 

We had two rolls of film left. On a weekend trip we shot it all up and sent it off. Two weeks later we got the slides and CDs. Up on the web. Call wife.

 

Nothing.

 

Four hours later an e-mail. I want to go back to film. The difference even with crappy scans of the film is just too pronounced to spend the fortune it would cost us to buy a brace of 700s.

 

We just sent our old friends off for their first ever cleaning and polishing. The salesman at the store where we trade for film, etc, after looking at them marveled at what good condition they are in for being thirty+ years old. And the lenses are like new, he added. For about $400 our old friends will get new sealers, light shields, cleaned inside and out, recalibrated shutters, the lenses completely cleaned and lubed. We also decided to give up on Kodachrome and go with Fuji Provia so the cost per roll now is down to under $20.

 

The way my wife and I see it given the price of a brace of D700s running $2500 a piece (continuing to use our old glass because we simply do not want to be bothered with autofocus), we can shoot around 184 rolls of film and have it processed. That is 6600 shots. Sure, we could aim lower but then we have to add in DX lenses because AI-S lenses crop on DX. Sure, we could do a lot of other things but one of them does not include abandoning old friends for new toys. They are nice but they also have a short lifespan compared to our legacy cameras.

 

I have neither the time or the inclination to write as I am reading just above: "I miss the days of my F2A which lasted for ever!"

 

Anyway, it isn't about the camera, it is about the photographer...<div></div>

[bill_rhodes]

Terrance, I agree with you entirely. I still use many film cameras for my personal photos, and other things. I was forced into digital by the economics of workflow and deadline pressures.

At 400 images a year, I would be right with you.

At 400 images a day, I can't be.

To each their own. Keep the faith, and find the light.