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I purchased my first digital camera in 1993. It was a Nikon Coolpix 2100 with a 2 mega-pixel sensor. For once in my life I exercised caution and chose a fairly inexpensive camera to start with. Some of my friends cautioned me against buying a camera with only 2MP but I have to say that I have been pleased with the quality of the resulting pictures. The pictures in the second gallery were taken with this camera. Despite being happy with the results I soon found the limitations of this kind of camera. It was designed for the point-and-shoot user and is fully automatic. This presents problems for the serious amateur who likes to have full control over the camera settings. It’s true that, by judicious use of the myriad menu options, the user can force the camera to come some way towards the optimum settings for a particular shot - but this is not really satisfactory. On the other hand the camera is small and light and slips easily into a pocket, remember, it’s no use having the finest camera in the world if you don’t have it with you when you need it. This brings us neatly to the central contentious issue with digital cameras, how many pixels is enough? The answer is……..enough to satisfy you! Personally, I think around 2MP with a decent camera is perfectly adequate for the everyday photographer. OK, I know that 5MP is becoming the average but bear in mind that there are some fairly poor lenses out there and more megapixels won’t compensate for poor optics. At the time of writing (2005) I am still waiting for the right camera (at the right price) to come along. This waiting game has it’s advantages, the pace of this technology is increasing and last year’s camera is just not good enough! There is one camera which has appeared recently which does have claims on “best of breed” This is the Nikon D2X. It has had some truly impressive reviews, take this extract In my opinion, Nikon D2X heralds the end of 35 mm film for virtually all shooting assignments for a Nikon user. You get an image quality unsurpassed by today's or even tomorrow's film-based technology for the venerable 24 x 36 mm format. This is the first DSLR used by me which can rendered wide sweeps of landscape with tangible and breathtaking clarity of detail. However, any camera system descending from 35 mm stock inherits a limit to the detail which can be captured for landscape work, because of the relatively short focal lengths typically deployed with these cameras. Short focal lengths translate into low magnification and implies details also will be rendered small. So landscape work is still a domain in which larger format cameras prevail by virtue of their bigger capturing areas and the accompanying longer focal lengths. This is not something particular to Nikon DSLR, it applies to other makers' offerings as well. That being said, D2X is certainly capable of bringing forth whatever detail the currently mounted lens can deliver. Not much ambiguity there! This does appear to be an excellent camera, mind you the body alone will set you back some £3500 and the cost of Nikon lenses is well known. So, if you have the money, this is the camera to buy. If, like me, you have a more modest budget, dream on!
I would hope that this camera will silence those luddites who continue to protest that digital will never replace film, sorry guys, it has! |
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The Konica-Minolta A2. An eight megapixel camera with 7x zoom lens and anti-shake mechanism |
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The digital revolution has revitalised photography. Freedom from the vagaries of processing and the ability to enhance and print your picture on your home computer has brought a new dimension to the hobby. Not everyone agrees but I think that film will die out very soon. |
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The complexity of modern cameras.
A Sony DSC-F828 |
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Nikon Coolpix 2200 |
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