After quite a few years of mostly black and white film photography, I've found myself more interested in colors recently. Since it's now essentially impossible to get E6 processing done in Humboldt County, or any kind of color in medium format, that's been pushing me back toward reconsidering digital.
My last foray into digital was in 2003-04, and I wasn't very happy with it. The 6mp DSLRs of that time had tiny, dim viewfinders (amazing, considering that photography is about seeing), and often did very bad things to skin tones. it didn't take long for me to consign that camera to collecting dust and return to my Leicas.
I pulled the DSLR out again a few weeks ago, after ordering one of the relatively new Zeiss ZF (Nikon mount) 50mm f/1.4 lenses.
The lens is compact, all metal, solidly built, and focuses down to a foot and a half; with the DSLR 1.5x factor, that's pretty tight framing. It won't meter on my ancient D100, so I had to shoot with a handheld meter. But even with the dim viewfinder, it was crisp and easy to focus.
The early test results were amazing. Not only are the images incredibly sharp (this lens design allegedly resolves 320 lines/mm, the best ever tested for a 35mm mount lens), but they seem to render the color better than I've ever seen out of this camera before. And the bokeh is pretty fair, too.
So this morning I dived back in and ordered a brand new D300. It should be here in a couple of days. I'll then be able to meter with the new lens, and have 12.3mp, a nice bright 100% coverage viewfinder, better dynamic range, all in a metal-frame DSLR. Basically, they've fixed almost all of my gripes from the earlier model.
I think I can make it work by keeping it simple. The intent is to carry only the body, the one Zeiss lens (for now), a few CF cards, all in one compact case. Maybe a backup film body, depending on the situation. By keeping it light, easy to carry, and by using manual focus to eliminate some of the over-complexity of DSLRs... we shall soon see how that translates into actual images.
/geektalk
No comments:
Post a Comment