once agin: medium vs. digital
Hey folks -
I'm looking at the medium format cameras at my local camera shop. The sales
guy went over medium format with me, and also showed me a 24"x whatever
print from an 8 MP digital camera. So now I don't know what to buy.
Here's the cons vs. pros:
digital cons:
- 1 year warranty: I work with computers, and I really don't trust a
digital device that's not warrantied for more than one year. It feels like a
very expensive disposable camera. I know that when ( and when I say 'when',
I do mean 'when' and also 'soon') it breaks after 1 year, it will be more
expensive to repair than to replace.
- low quality images?: I've tried to find authoritative informatino on
grain vs. pixels, but stuff is all over the map. These large digital prints
I saw at the photo shop were very impressive, though.
digital pros:
- No cost for picture taking: I can blow 1000 photos a day and not pay for
any developing or printing.
- Easy to share and upload images.
- 1 year same as cash financing: there is a Christmas special at my local
camera place.
Medium format pros:
- Higher quality lenses: lenses would be better *I guess* for a MF system.
- Value Retention. The MF cameras would hold value for a long time, while a
digital camera would wuickly degrade in value. I'm certain after 10 years a
digital won't work and will be too expensive to fix.
- Alternate films: I can load Infrared film, very fast film ( like star
film), and high saturation film.
- Digital backs: do they make digital backs?
MF cons:
- Film , printing and developing.
- Upfront costs: no financing for used equipment.
I feel like if I buy a digital camera, I will be on a plan for revolving
purchases every 2-3 years. I feel like the repairable MF will last a long
time... I guess if they made digital backs, I would go medium format.
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