A Fence in Miami Beach, in a local alley where nobody goes

Like so many pithy quotes, it completely lacks context, and therefore meaning. A landscape photographer may vehemently disagree.

Robert Capa used a 50mm lens. That’s where the quote is based on. And he rarely shot landscapes.

George

The concept of the DSLR may be headed for extinction but so has the concept of the LF view camera for many decades.

And yet, here I am with an Ebony SV45Te, which I doubt has taken more than around 1000 shots; and a 3 year old Nikon D850 which has barely taken around 3,000 shots; not to mention my 7 year old D810, which has taken around 16,000 shots. Since the estimated shutter life for the Nikons is around 200,000, I think I can safely say that I doubt if I’ll be exceeding that anytime soon.

The only reason I would consider “upgrading” would be if someone brought out a 5" x 4" 480Mpx digital camera.

I have all the lenses I am likely to need and, if I did want something special, there seems to be a burgeoning second hand market to tap into.

So, Mark, can you please explain why on earth I would throw away two perfectly serviceable cameras and half a dozen lenses, just because the “latest and greatest” models have hit the market? :wink:

Having thought about this for a while, I guess I do accept it, just like film cameras heading the same.

People who are trading in their old photo gear to buy mirrorless will probably not see any change in their photographs, and may wonder if the expense was worth it. Meanwhile, the supply of used DSLR cameras is rapidly increasing, along with the prices decreasing. One example:
https://www.keh.com/shop/nikon-d850-digital-slr-camera-body-45-7-m-p-1.html

Many people will have a new and shiny toy that is smaller, and lighter than their previous camera, and an opportunity to buy new lenses. Assuming they want “the best”, even if they buy one used, here’s one example:
https://www.keh.com/shop/nikon-z-9-mirrorless-digital-fx-camera-body-black-45-7mp.html?rrec=true

As for extinction, Leica is still doing very well selling film cameras, even more “extinct”. They’ve even re-introduced cameras that they sold long ago.

One of the most desired cameras is the latest Fuji X-Series, with a very long waiting list from what I’ve read. It too, is a “mirrorless” camera, but unlike most of the others, it includes an optical viewfinder.
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/67802637

The name of the game seems to be “follow the leader”. Those who are lucky enough to have already bought a Nikon D500 are likely to be smart enough to keep it, even if they do buy a newer camera.

But anyway, back to this thread. The photo up above was captured with my Nikon D3, which I bought in August, 2007. I doubt that the photo would look different had I taken it with the latest Nikon Z9. I’m not sure that it matters all that much. All the wonderful improvements in the Z9 also come at the loss of an optical viewfinder. The “computer screen replacement” in the Z9 might look wonderful, with a ton if technical information on the screen, but it’s still a “tv screen”. I suppose I could use a new Leica, and get the best of both worlds - if I could afford it.

I would have believed you if you said it was captured with your iPhone……

My iPhone photos also look great - until/unless I try to enlarge them too much.
Next time I go there, I’ll take a photo with my iPhone, for comparison.
Then I’ll crop, and compare with this:
Screenshot 2024-08-22 at 10.00.47
I suspect my iPhone has a lot more than the 12 megapixels in my D3.
Who know, maybe the iPhone will be better?

I never said you should change. Your D850 may well last you for the rest of your life. I would never suggest you move on to a mirrorless body unless it gave you some advantage over your current kit. All I was trying to express, after searching in vain for a battery grip for Mike’s D780, was that for lovers of DSLR cameras and lenses the options are continuing to diminish and the future is bleak. I am sorry if I made you think I was suggesting something different. I should have made it a more general statement rather then specifically mention you and Mike.

Mark

If I am not mistaken you have an iPhone 11? That is 12 megapixels for the main camera.
It is plenty for moderate sized prints, but if you want to have large prints you may want to upgrade to a later model……

My reaction to your original shot is to wonder whether it would work as a kind of duotone or partial monochrome. I used to work with Bibble (that became AfterShot Pro) and one of their tricks was to allow you to pick one colour that you would not desaturate. All the rest went to monochrome.

I managed to perform a crude version of this trick in PL7. The original (full colour) shot shows a block of flats I rather admired on a recent trip to Portugal.

By selecting each of the colours in the HSV wheel - apart from the two shades of blue - and pulling the saturation back to zero, you get this result:

Seeing the monochrome version of your fence I admired the grain, but worried about the foliage and its shadows. Was thinking perhaps keep the green and overlay it on the monochrome. This is the point at which I have to own up to knowing less than zip about Photoshop. But I am sure something must be possible.

D6703905.ARW.dop (10.9 KB)

And eating my own dogfood, I have attached the original shot and the DOP.
D6703905.ARW (38.5 MB)

You’ve got me curious - I will try this evening.

Nope, nothing I tried worked as expected, looking like an acceptable result. What worked the best is to drop the color completely:

I don’t know how to do what you suggested. Things went from bad to worse.

If it’s dry and sunny tomorrow, maybe I’ll start all over again.

Living in NW Italy, one forgets that rain can spoil a whole day of shooting! Looking at your original BW again, what confuses my eye is the tension between the green leaves and their shadow. Perhaps the flowers at the bottom of the frame, too.
So I just got out my cropping frame, and came up with this:
Abstract
Now, as my French wife says “Des gouts et des couleurs …” - or “One man’s meat is another man’s poison”. So this is my one and only contribution to the cause of abstract art.

Just make sure you are closer, no, closer than that, no, closer than that. Can you still see the top and bottom of the fence? Then you are still not close enough.

Now, look for patterns in the knots or shadows, but do not include the plants or anything else that is not part of the physical fence. Turn the camera so it is not square. Work with diagonals.

So easy :smiley:

See also film cameras and music on vinyl. One could also argue that mirrorless cameras are a niche given the sheer numbers of people who just use their phone.

Well, look at the comeback we are seeing in analog film (my grandchildrens’ generation) and vinyl records (my kids’)! Plus there is a mountain of glass out there on flea-bay! I made my first steps into interchangeable lens digital with a new Sony (SLT) body and a raft of third- or fourth- user Minolta A-mount lenses. I think any AF lens made since about 1990 probably has an adapter that one will be able to use with DSLR bodies well into the next decade. I suppose the one caveat on this will be whether our legacy photo apps will maintain support for them. DXO, I am looking at you!

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Nikon certainly make an (expensive) adapter that will take any F-mount lens on their new Z-mount camera.

This reminds me of dinner - where I may enjoy meat, and potatoes, and a salad. None of them is a substitute for the other.

My original plan was just to stand back far enough to shoot the fence.

In addition to that (not instead of) I will concentrate on details of/on/with the fence.

Unfortunately, I woke up to lightning and thunder, so my tentative plans for my next shoot will likely be bumped ahead to Sunday.

Better to avoid that tension, or make it a bigger part of the scene?

I remember similar thoughts, but the idea can “grow on photographers” like it did to me. When you find yourself in the right mood, keep at it every so often. And maybe consider trying some of the silly ideas in this thread:
Abstract Reality (or what I learned from @Joanna) - #2 by mikemyers

People used to buy cameras. I might guess 90% or more of them now just use the “camera” already in their pocket. Heck, I may not always have my camera, but I always have my phone. Of the people left who do buy cameras, the choices are getting much fewer. I suspect most of them neither know nor care what kind of camera they buy - but a whole lot of them just want to buy the latest Fuji X100, as that’s what they read about on Social Media.

As someone once said to me: “When you’re 20, you feel like you’ll live forever. Then you lose your first tooth, and you realise it might not happen.”

Nikon certainly make an (expensive) adapter that will take any F-mount lens on their new Z-mount camera.

I imagine they will go on as long as we carry on buying the new bodies. I have heard the saying “You date bodies, but you marry glass”.