jedrek

<p>Full disclosure: I came upon this thread off the photo.net home page. I don't shoot Nikon, I shoot Canon.</p>

<p>I've been shooting full frame since I bought my Canon 5D back in 2005 and I do not regret the financial outlay I made back then. I've had the camera for 6 years and only twice have I found it wanting (needed more mpx on a job), and then I just borrowed a mkII from friends. Most of my friends who shoot crop cameras have changed their bodies a couple of times in that same period, and still they look at my 5D and say, "I wish I could afford full frame *sigh*".</p>

<p>At the height of my gear-wankery, I had aprox Canon 8 lenses, now I'm down to two Canon lenses (50 1.2, 85 1.2), one EF knock-off (Tamron 28-75) and a handful converted lenses - including the 28mm f/2.8 T* Distagon, which is an absolutely amazing lens that would be utterly wasted on a crop sensor. That's my biggest thing with full frame, lenses work like they're supposed to, they look like they're supposed to, like they're designed to. I don't think I could be any happier.</p>

<p>Surfing the web, I've hit upon images like this: http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kyta4yCn7a1qztblro1_500.jpg from time to time. I'm curious about the best strategy to get this effect. That low contrast, high grain look. I'm thinking maybe a fast film in 120 size and non-fine grain developer, like Rodinal or HC-110?<br>

Any thoughts or input would be great, thanks.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Mediocrity is abundantly present all around us and frankly we live in a day and age where this is almost celebrated.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I disagree with this, it's not that creativity in modern times is doing better or worse than in the past, it's that we have a strong selection bias looking at the past. People talk about the most incredible silver prints they've seen, forgetting that 99% of the stuff people would get in the days of home printing was flat grays with neither deep blacks nor true whites. The color prints from my 1980s childhood are awful, the colors and tones my sister-in-law gets with her sony p&s far exceed what my mom used to get with her p&s and drugstore film.<br>

For every Old Master whose works adorn the walls of the Louvre, there were thousands who painted garbage nobody ever cared about.</p>

The benchmark for a digital camera isn't resale value, it's savings over film. How many rolls of film do you need to buy, develop and scan before you hit the $5500 MSRP of the D3. And how do you put a price tag on the time savings? The instant feedback?

Even thought many of us use cameras as toys, they are (especially the ones you listed) professional equipment, designed, manufactured and sold as such. Buying/leasing gear is a business expense like any other. I don't expect the laptop I buy for $2500 today to be worth $2000 in 5 years - I'll be lucky to get $500 for it. Why should cameras be any different?