DSLRs will never go away for me

 

My D300 with the Sigma 18-50 f/2.8 zoom

With most of the manufacturers going all-in on the mirrorless craze, you'd think the DSLRs are dinosaurs.  With film cameras, SLRs have always been my preferred platform, no matter the manufacturer. My first real camera was an SLR, and that's the way that I have been photographing for a long, long, time. My first DSLR was a Nikon D70s, and I used that camera for almost 10 years before I sold it.  I've shot with a lot of different digital cameras, including the m4/3 Olympus, Nikon 1 system, Fuji X100s, and my latest mirrorless, a Canon EOS M5.  However, were I to consistently use a DSLR, it comes down to a Nikon D3100 - mostly for ebay shots, as it sits on a tripod in my "studio."  My APS-C DSLR for anything else is my D300.  It's a rock solid DSLR that I can trust in any conditions, and works with a lot of lenses.  The only significant downside is that it uses Compact Flash (CF) cards, and not SD cards.  It has sat in the drawer for a while, unused, because I was getting a CHA error message on the 32GB card, and sometimes with a 4 GB card.  I tried a bunch of 1 GB CF cards and no problems. Hmm... I ordered a new 4GB CF card that arrived yesterday and it's fine, so yay!  For me, the D300's 12MP are enough for anything I do, and for macrophotography, it's absolutely great.  

My full-frame (FX) DSLR is a Nikon Df, with 16 MP, and again, it's a wonderful camera that uses all of my manual and AF lenses just fine.  It's what I pick up when I want to make great images.  It's paired right now with an old 28mm f/3.5 that was factory AI'd. so it works great as a manual lens on the Df.

My point with all this is that I refrained from switching to a Nikon mirrorless Z system because, dammit, I am not made of money, and second, my suite of lenses does everything I need.  The new lenses for those mirrorless Nikons are even bigger than the ones I already have.  There's an insane amount of money being spent by people that think they need a newer system.  Maybe some do, but at what point is there a diminishing return?  I see people saying they need the latest and greatest because they are gear jockeys and to them, that's their thing. Fine. It's your money.  

However, the thing is - I don't trust Electronic Viewfinders.  Sure, I use one on my EOS M5, but that's a special purpose camera, not my main one.  With a DSLR, I have a viewfinder that's a direct and immediate connection to what I am seeing.  That's how I do photography. I shoot a DSLR like I shoot film.  

So, my now more dependable D300 will get more use, and believe me, it's a great DSLR.  The controls are perfectly placed.  Also, neither my D300 or Df do video.  I'm not a video person, and the fact is, the latest cameras concentrate so much on video, that they lack some functions that appeal to still photographers. Making video-less DSLRs or even mirrorless models, would drop their prices considerably.  I think that's the real crime with these new cameras, and maybe also a reason for some to shoot film cameras - there's no video feature.  My iPhone can certainly handle any short video I may need to do.  Maybe I'm just a curmudgeon, but I bet there are a lot of photographers that would agree with me.  Manufacturers - don't turn every camera into a video camera. make some good, robust, still cameras that appeal to still photographers!  Maybe the Df is the last of the still-only, and that's why I love it.

Images... and more images from Colorado

(Part 1 of 3)
I'm back from a vacation in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona.  We spent a week in the Avon, Colorado area, and did day trips to nearby places that looked interesting. We had no planned places to visit, except for the Denver Botanical Garden after we arrived in Denver.  It was great to stay at a friend's condo for free, and not to have to stay in a motel for a week.  We were able to have breakfast and dinner "at home."  After we settled in, I went to look up nearby points of interest, and got out the maps.  The first thing I noticed after we arrived was that my body was not used to being above 5000 feet above sea level.  Chalk part of that up to age (61), and living in Michigan for the past 37 years.  I try and walk at a fast pace at least 2 miles most days of the week, and I have to wonder how much worse I would have felt had I not.  Avon is about 7400 feet, and as the week wore on, I felt more acclimated.  However, some of the days we were over 10,000 feet, and in Leadville, going up some stairs was pretty breath-taking.  The second thing I noticed was the sky.  The West has LOTS OF SKY.  Whether you are in the mountains of Colorado, or the deserts of Arizona, the sky is something. I'll talk more about that later.

As I noted in my previous post, I brought my D300 SLR and a bag of lenses, my Leica M2, Yashica A TLR, and a Debonair plastic camera.   I shot about 1000 images on the D300 over the span of almost two weeks, and I have yet to develop the film that I shot with the film cameras.  My M2 got lots of use, and the more I shot with it, the more it became almost second-nature to use. At times, I left the D300 in the car and just brought along the Leica and the Yashica.  My plan was to bring along my Chromebook laptop and backup my digital shots to my Google Drive every night.  That worked great, and was pretty much automatic.  I enjoyed the Chromebook's instant-on, ease of use, and light weight.  The only thing I also had to bring was a CF card reader to get the files from the D300. It also allowed me to post some photos online during the trip. While my Instagram feed from my phone was also used for Instagram and Facebook, the images I take with my DSLR are going to be different, so it was nice to be able to post those for a change. In the past, I have brought along my iPad, but a real laptop offers me more flexibility. The Chromebook fills the niche quite well.

After we returned to Ann Arbor, I uploaded my images from the CF card into Lightroom, and started the still-ongoing image selection and editing process.   I'll start developing the film this week, and will scan the negatives ASAP.   I have been shooting film so much, and digital so much less, that I don't think I was prepared for the number of images to go through in Lightroom.  I'm still at it, and of course it's great to look at them and think about where I was and what we were doing when I shot the image.

The Denver Botanic Gardens was a good way to start the trip, and see a bit of Denver in the process.  It always has amused me to think that Denver is in a flat plain, yet is a mile high.  Flying there is an instant intro to the higher elevation, whereas driving west, you get the sense of change gradually.   We had rented a 2018 Ford Edge at the airport for our driving around for 2 weeks, and I appreciated the mapping and directions on the console. It was a new experience for me, and it really made a difference in getting to destinations without any hassle.

Giant Spreadwing damselfly in the Gardens

Who knew that a shot of the waterlilies would get over 55,000
view on Flickr's Explore?

The gardens are extensive, and our 2 hour visit was all the
time we had, as we wanted to be in Avon before sundown.

So much to see! 

We had only a short visit at the Denver Botanic Gardens, as we needed to be in Avon before sundown. We arrived at the condo just before sunset, and it was a great scenic drive.  Avon is not far from Vail, and the area is mainly geared for skiing. I am not a skier, and of course, everything was green. There is still lots to see and do if you are not there in the winter.  Of course, that means we did some day trips, and I'll post some images from a few of them.  Colorado IS stunning.  I have visited other parts of it in the past, but all those trips were long-drive days, without the benefit of having a home base to start from.  I really enjoyed our stay in Avon.

View from our patio

Morning in Avon

Our first day there was spent getting groceries and checking out the Avon area.  The next day, we headed to Glenwood Springs. We drove along highway 6 until we got to Gypsum, then it was I-70. What a tremendous experience it was driving through Glenwood Canyon along the the highway! We crossed the Colorado River numerous times, and the view was just amazing.

You see a lot of weathered buttes like this.  Along Eagle Creek.

Along the Colorado River off I-70. The stretch of 12 miles through
Glenwood Canyon is jaw-dropping awesome.

A street in Glenwood Springs

I didn't dine there, but it sure has a great sign.

an old preserved barber pole 

As frequently happens, we got a rain shower in the afternoon

On the trail to Pioneer Cemetery

Wish ribbons for cancer survivors along the trail

The grave marker for "Doc"  Holliday.  It is presumed that he is
buried elsewhere in an unmarked grave at Pioneer Cemetery in
Glenwood Springs.

That's it for now.  I'll post some more image from Colorado in an upcoming post.

Ready to Go!

It's been a year of travel for me, which is a wonderful thing to be able to do when retired.  As a photographer, I have enjoyed seeing new vistas and subjects for my passion.  While digital took a back seat on my previous trips, I am packing my Nikon D300  this time.  I'm going to be gone for 2 weeks, and with a week in Colorado, 2 days in New Mexico, and the rest in Tuscon, AZ, I need to be lighter on the gear, as we are flying to Denver, and flying back from Phoenix.  We'll be renting a car for everything in between.  So, I am packing my camera backpack with the D300, 35mm f/1.8, 11-16mm Tokina lens, 18-70 Nikkor, 90mm Tamron Macro, and 70-300 Nikon AF lens.  That's it for the digi, (well, along with the iPhone).  For the film side, I'm packing my Yashica A TLR, and my Leica M2 with the 35mm f/1.4 lens.  All of my film also goes into the backpack, which is a carry-on. At the last minute, I decided to throw in a toy camera, the Debonair.  It doesn't add much to the weight, and will be fun to find the right subjects with it.   My Manfrotto tripod goes in my checked suitcase.

The last time I visited NM and CO was in 2003, and that was a fun family vacation. We drove the entire trip, and between my daughter Jorie and I we had probably a dozen cameras in the van.  We shot a LOT of film.I learned on that trip that one can have way too many cameras on a trip, and to not duplicate functionality.  So, while the DSLR will be used for a lot of the scenery and wildlife, the Yashica TLR and the Leica M2 will have their place, shooting b&w, and giving me that analog satisfaction.  Because I am shooting a lot of digital on the trip, I need to make sure that I can backup my files and do some sharing on social media (including this blog).  I bought an 11" Chromebook just for that purpose, and it will take up a lot less space than my laptop, and give me more functionality than my iPad.

One of these days I'll make a trip with just one camera, but I don't see it happening anytime soon!