Any old geezer photographers around?

First camera I got around 1970 was a Miranda F. Around 1980, upgraded to a Nikon FTN, which is where I stayed until around 2000-2002, when my wife got me a Nikon 4300 digital. That same year I got her the original Canon Digital Rebel and we stayed with those two until this year. Used the 4300 (with a massive 4.0 megapixel sensor) on the website for 5 years until I got a Pixel 7 this year.

The capabilities of camera phones these days is just completely astonishing to an old fuck like me. Look at the dynamic range on this photo, from the perfectly exposed, individual LEDs on the SF4000 to the jet black shadow of the tent:



This is a point and shoot shot without any manipulation whatsoever from Google Photo software or Photoshop. Didn't do a white balance check, didn't check exposure levels, didn't check shutter speed or f-stop. Stuck the phone in the center of the tent and pushed the button.

And I didn't even have to pay for the film or go to Photomat to get it developed.

Phones these days are wild. The HDR ability on the cameras is downright insanity.

yeah phones are good but these tiny ass sensors and fixed lenses really limit you on what you can do. tbh i had this old canon eos 400 or something the cheapest dslr you could get 10-11 years ago and it still takes better photos than my iphone 13mini. you just cant beat that big sensor and depth of field.

crimsonecho said:

yeah phones are good but these tiny ass sensors and fixed lenses really limit you on what you can do. tbh i had this old canon eos 400 or something the cheapest dslr you could get 10-11 years ago and it still takes better photos than my iphone 13mini. you just cant beat that big sensor and depth of field.

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There's definitely a place for cameras, but for 99.9% of photos taken by normal folks, a phone made in the last 5 years will do just fine.

I don't know how many naked Polaroid pictures I lost

Not quite as old as you, but I shot for my school newspaper in high school and college. I got my first SLR Christmas 1978, but used box cameras in school. BTW, shooting as a job is not near as fun as just shooting. Except for having darkroom access. That was pretty cool.

I shot mostly slides for my own stuff because of the cost. I did buy most everything needed to set up my own darkroom, but it's all stored in the shed.

TCH said:

There's definitely a place for cameras, but for 99.9% of photos taken by normal folks, a phone made in the last 5 years will do just fine.

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yeah it will definitely get the job done but i had the opportunity to compare grow tent photos i took using both cameras and man the dslr looks so much better. again phone will do perfectly fine for 99.9 as you said but i just like the feel of a camera better.

I upgraded from a Nikon D40 I got in 2009 (entry level digital camera) to a Sony A7R2 in 2021 and got a fast 50mm Zeiss prime lens, total game changer…. That bokah!! I’ve added a couple other lenses since purchase.

Got a Nikon D3500 when my eldest was born (he’s turning 10 next week) to “capture his every moment”. It still takes a killer shot, but as @TCH noted, standard issue smart phones these days make getting great shots pretty easy & convenient. I’ll still bust out the Nikon every now and then. Nothing beats that feel of a well weighted SLR

I got a Nikon D90 when my kid was born. Learned a bit about photography and how to take good pictures. I stick to the 1/3's rule mainly. But yeah. I think I've just used my phone for the past 5 years now. Convenience mostly.

Pretty cool. You can still get them.

I have a bunch of 35mm that I never got developed. I've always wondered what would be the best way now to get that done.

Phones definitely made me lazy. Haven't got out the Nikon gear in a few years. No commercial work here just some landscape and wildlife stuff for personal enjoyment. As a matter of fact I can't even remember my Flickr account pass. Lol
Gear: Nikon D7000, D7200. Some nice lenses, etc...

Still shoot with my canon 60d. Owned a 6d for a spell, great camera, but couldn't justify the cost of the lenses, so I sold it. That said, I'd LOVE to have one of the new mirrorless, like the r6 or r6 mkii.

I've played around with Nikons and Sonys and all I can say is.. wow what a pain in the ass the egronomics are of those two brands. I would never buy anything other than a canon. Plus, those two tend to be paper spec princesses compared to Canons. Canon still has the best color reproduction hands down.

And smartphones are getting pretty good but they pretty much fake everything with software. Fine for sharing pics with people, but it's not exactly an artist's tool like a dslr or anything that allows you to shoot full manual with a much larger sensor, and uses interchangeable lenses.

injinji said:

I shot mostly slides for my own stuff because of the cost. I did buy most everything needed to set up my own darkroom, but it's all stored in the shed.

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Kodachrome 25 was my choice as well, a finer grain film did not exist. If I had a stored 'em properly, I could still do 11x14 Cibichrome prints off of 'em.

Gave one of my sons my old Beseler 23C and he's a pack rat like me, so I'm sure he's still got it somewhere.

Here's a shot I just posted in another forum last night, from the FTN, that I scanned proably 20 years ago with an old HP 5100 scanner:



Here's a shot from the 4300, and I swear to God this is not Photoshopped whatsoever, just adjusted the contrast a little. I took the picture on a glossy black table, lit from above:



And here's a shot last week with the Pixel 7:



The only limiting factor with the Pixel 7 as a camera, and it's blatantly obvious on this shot, is there's no control over the F stop, so trying to control focus / depth of field isn't really an option.

For color, clarity, and absolute ease of use, even this crusty old curmudgeonly dinosaur uses the newest, latest gadget.

Some of my favorites from when I got to visit the pnw

These are non-Photoshopped, that's true of all my shots, except for contrast and white/black points. But... I did try to encourage her to go towards the light.