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Sharon Knettell · 04-03-2003, 09:57 PM

Beth,

I am going through the digital dilemma myself.

I have an excellent Nikon with 2 fabulous lenses, recommended to me by a top photojournalist. She studied with Henri Cartier-Bresson and her work has appeared in Newsweek, Time, National Geographic, etc.. She always shot in available light, and never used atomatic anything. One is a 55mm Micro Nikor lens which has a flat field and can capture the weave on a dress fabric and is also great for copying art. The other is an 85mm for less than full length.

I talked to the people who do my prints and they told me to get an 11 or better digital camera. I have an explanation of why I like big prints in the biggie pastel thread. The color saturation holds up with a slow film like Portra. It would not in a 6 megapixel. They also warned me that the exposure is very critical, Portra NC is very forgiving. The photo print people also said that my Portra gives me more "roundness" in the skin areas. Digital can be harsher and not as soft and if slightly off in exposure can bleach out skin tones.

So you have to decide what works for you. Do you want large prints to work from, or will a smaller one work? Do you want to work in black and white with Marvin's method? I personally like the simplicity of available light, you don't need a photo studio set-up or anything.

I am going to sit it out for a year, apparently Kodak is coming out with a 14 megapixel camera for a mere $5000 that takes Nikon lenses.

I'm pixelated.

04-03-2003, 09:57 PM	#16
Sharon Knettell Approved Member Joined: Sep 2002 Posts: 1,730	How many pixels are enough? Beth, I am going through the digital dilemma myself. I have an excellent Nikon with 2 fabulous lenses, recommended to me by a top photojournalist. She studied with Henri Cartier-Bresson and her work has appeared in Newsweek, Time, National Geographic, etc.. She always shot in available light, and never used atomatic anything. One is a 55mm Micro Nikor lens which has a flat field and can capture the weave on a dress fabric and is also great for copying art. The other is an 85mm for less than full length. I talked to the people who do my prints and they told me to get an 11 or better digital camera. I have an explanation of why I like big prints in the biggie pastel thread. The color saturation holds up with a slow film like Portra. It would not in a 6 megapixel. They also warned me that the exposure is very critical, Portra NC is very forgiving. The photo print people also said that my Portra gives me more "roundness" in the skin areas. Digital can be harsher and not as soft and if slightly off in exposure can bleach out skin tones. So you have to decide what works for you. Do you want large prints to work from, or will a smaller one work? Do you want to work in black and white with Marvin's method? I personally like the simplicity of available light, you don't need a photo studio set-up or anything. I am going to sit it out for a year, apparently Kodak is coming out with a 14 megapixel camera for a mere $5000 that takes Nikon lenses. I'm pixelated.