The article “No home for digital pictures?” over at The BBC’s website points out an acute problem with digital imaging. Namely, what happens to pictures if their media becomes obsolete?
In fact, it turns out that images stored electronically just 15 years ago are already becoming difficult to access. The Domesday Project, a multimedia archive of British life in 1986 designed as a digital counterpart to the original Domesday Book compiled by monks in 1086, was stored on laser discs.
Digital cameras 27% of new cameras sold are digital The equipment needed to view the images on these discs is already very rare, yet the Domesday book, written on paper, is still accessible more than 1,000 years after it was produced. […]
It’s for that reason that, though I still intend on (eventually) buying a digital camera, I’ll also be buying an analog counterpart.
Argh! Another web site that just won’t freaking play with browsers that don’t have proprietary applications installed!
But seriously, Nikon??? My girlfriend is a photographer and, after seeing her and her gear in action, I couldn’t concieve of use anything other than a Canon. She has 3 cameras and they’re all Canon, including an EOS Elan. Man – that camera is so nice, I can’t even use it :) High-speed autofocus, eye-control (it focuses on what you’re looking at in the viewfinder), built-in flash, the works.
Oh, and the big-boss at the camera store she used to work for, he’s got an arsenal of Canons, too.
My brother, who also has quite an interest in photography, had recommended Nikons to me. Perhaps he can chime in on this topic.
I seriously doubt it makes much difference to amateur photographers what major brand you use.
I’ve been very pleased with my Nikon digital, but I probably would have been just as happy with other brands.
It may not matter much for “amateur photographers”, but when you might be spending a kilobuck on a camera, you may as well get your money’s worth :).
The low-down: Canon always has the newest toys and gadgets (the eye-control sounds pretty sweet) but Nikons are the most rugged, reliable and respected. I chose the advantages of the latter over those of the former.
Wandering around Europe I have seen plenty of tourists with nice SLR cameras and from the way they take pictures, it’s obvious that they’re using it like a point-and-shoot. Nice cameras won’t necessarily take nice pictures. In fact, of the best 10 or so pictures I’ve taken, two have been with 35mm point-and-shoots and one was with APS (blech! 24mm film!). SLRs are just more manipulable so that when you know what you want to do, it’s easier to do it.