PMA

[ivan_verschoote1]

Last PMA, I was looking forward to see what Nikon had in mind. New

D2, New D100? Should have made sense after a Canon 11mpix camera last

year. What we did see was a new (spectacular) announcement made by

Canon (AGAIN!): a New D10 with a very, very attractive price tag.

Makes me wonder if the Nikon engineers are thinking about retirement.

Is this the moment were we should join the Canon legion or am I too

pessimistic?

[chuck]

"Is this the moment were we should join the Canon legion or am I too pessimistic"<p>

 

It's not pessimism that's killing you. It's badly self-destructive neighbor-envy psychosis. It should be telling that barely anyone else considers D10's announcement to be "spectacular", for most recognize it for what it is, an insincere apology for the comparative inadaquacies of the D60 next to D100 and a desperate attempt to redress the fact that D100 outsold D60 by somthing like 4 to 1.

[david_coons]

My Opinion is it�s just not Nikon�s best year but surly they will come out with something very radical to please any expectations. The only reaming question will be Price considering the D10 is less then $1400 on Dell.com and full frame sensor or less.

 

If your looking for a Dig camera I see three options.

 

1 � Wait (that�s what I�m doing)

 

2 � Buy the D100 for 2 K knowing it will not be your last dig camera � You�ll will prob replace it in a few years. Think cell phones of the early 90�s.

 

3 � Buy the Canon D10 and one solid lens. The combo may actually be cheaper then the D100 alone. If you decide the change to Canon later on you will be half way there. This option is a good one to hedge your bets.

 

Thoughts?

[ellis_vener_photography]

Don't be pessimistic Ivan, things are evolving quickly and far too many people are caught up in hype. And far too many people are trash talking. Most of those people would not know what to do with a hi rez image in the first place.<P>The 10D is now what the D60 should have been, and except for the 20% lower price (which i think Nikon would be foolish not to match) the D10 is basically the Canon version of the D100.<P>The new 70-200mm f/2.8 VR is terrific and Canon has no wide angle lens to match the forth coming 12-24mm DX Nikkor, but I am sure they will have one before too long.<P> As for those who gnash their teeth while wailing about no 24 x 36 mm digital sensor camera from Nikon, all I can say is the Kodak 14n. I shot with one yesterday. Amazingly good. I saw none of the problem the rumor mongers have mongered about: virtually no noise (caveat: I only shot at ISO 80) terrific color and accurate skin tones, no moire, etc. <P>The only thing in the Kodak 14n league right now is the Canon EOS 1Ds, which is also a wonderful camera.<P>

The Kodak Picture Desk 3.0 software (free) is very good with a terrific and easy to navigate user interface. I will fault it for slow processing of the full 3000 x 4500 pixel, 12 bit color depth image though, but that may be because I am working on an older (733Mhz) single processor G4 Mac.<P>Don't be pessimistic Ivan, things are evolving quickly and far too many people are caught up in hype. And far too many people are trash talking. Most of those people would not know what to do with a hi rez image in the first place.

[ilkka_nissila]

Ellis, it's really great to hear that you didn't experience colour artifacts. I saw some strange colour in the first preproduction sample but it was exaggerated by my printer I think - when I saw the same picture in a magazine, there wasn't any problem to speak of.

 

If you use the camera more, please continue the reports. My problem with it is the lack of a high-eyepoint viewfinder, and I hope Kodak decides to use the F100 viewfinder in the future. Anyway, if the 14n gets good reports then I may just get it anyway since it would make a very nice landscape and portrait camera at a small investment price compared to a 6x7 system. I would then continue to use 35 mm for action.

[ilkka_nissila]

Ellis, what has been your experience with Kodak's service & support for any problems that may show up with the camera? Nikon has been exemplary in my case ... never had to pay for service or repairs.

[ellis_vener_photography]

I got to handle the camera for about half an hour yesterday. My physical impressions are that the camera handles very well. I wear glasses, but push them up when shooting. I had no problems with the view finder. <P>After posting earlier today I spent about an hour on the phone with a Kodak support person, going over the various aspects of the Kodak Picture Desk software and and also the extended range jpg files (JPG ERI) and software. The DCS Photodesk has two viewing modes FASTER and BETTER. Better is much better especially if you are viewing at 100%, but s-l-o-w at processing and changes you make to the file. <P> in short the customer support was very helpful and patient.<P>

Interestingly, the standard colorspace for the camera is sRGB but there are other RGB possibilities -- but Adobe RGB (1998) is not one of them! Kodak recommends Kodak ProPhoto RGB as it is close to Adobe RGB. I am curious as to why no Adobe RGB or Color Match RGB; maybe I'll be able to find an answer for this.