Rob, this may run counter to what you'll hear from others, but I give
this advice to pretty much anyone asking this question. Wait as long
as you can. If you don't have a present, pressing need, procrastinate
because the market is evolving relatively quickly, with each new
generation of gear bringing incremental improvements. Some of greater
benefit than others but I can't think of a single dSLR line that has
gotten worse.
If you need a comparison, think of PCs. Digcams are essentially
computers with a lens stuck on the front of them anyway so its
appropriate. Whenever you buy in, you can be assured that something
better will arrive on the market soon after and it will cost the same
as you paid or less.
Of course you may be able to justify a dSLR purchase just to offset
film, processing and scanning costs. BTW, I'd definitely go with
Walt's deal over the one offered by your other friend. He has to find
some way to offset the $$ spent on that SSR. ;o)
Given that you're an architect and architecture is one of your main
subjects, a 5D with a 24mm T/S lens (though it's not AF) could be very
useful, especially if you get good at stitching.
my two lux worth/ScottGee1
On 7/18/06, Rob Harrison <robhar@xxxxxx> wrote:
> Apologies--I know many of you have been through this already...but I'm just
> reaching this point... Every day it seems like I¹m slipping closer to moving
> to digital. This was the latest nudge.
>
> I'm trying to print up a 8.5 x 11 portfolio of photos for the local chapter
> of the AIA, for prospective clients to view in the AIA office. With that in
> mind I had a pro
> photographer friend of mine stop by the other day for a lesson in color
> management, and learned that the literally thousands of jpegs I have from
> ³scanned at development² rolls of film (by a Fuji Frontier system, I think)
> are pretty much worthless in a serious color-managed workflow, since they
> didn¹t come with an embedded profile specific to the scanner that scanned
> them.
>
> I can _assign_ them or _convert_ them to a profile (Adobe 1998 he
> recommends) in PS7, and now that my monitors and printer are also profiled I
> can see what they're going to print like, but there may or may not be much
> connection to the colors of the original film...which has been my
> frustration: The color seems to be hit or miss.
>
> I could get a film scanner--the 5000ED with roll film adapter for
> example--and scan the film myself. Or I can hire my friend to do the
> scanning on his 900ED at about $15/scan for a 24MB+ scan, if I agree to do
> 150 scans over the next couple years. That is, if I pay him $2,000 up front
> he'll do 150 scans for me. In terms of actually getting the work done this
> seems liike a pretty good deal, since the major investment for me is not the
> hardware, but the time it will take to do the scanning--especially if I have
> one of my employees do it. I may want to invest in a film scanner as well,
> for my own personal explorations, but that's kind of a different issue.
>
> Of course, I still have to _find_ the negatives....scattered over probably
> 50 different rolls....
>
> So anyway, Cameta has an E-1 kit with 14-54 lens and battery grip for $949,
> counting the $50 rebate on the lens.... I am sorely tempted..... But does it
> make any sense at all to invest in an E-1 at this point? I'm really liking
> the look of the Panas*nic L1, which seems to be basically an E-330 with a
> Le*ca lens. And the 5D is down to about $2500 for the body.... But I know
> I'm going to want AF lenses, so it's looking like a new system could be on
> the horizon.
>
> Rob in Seattle
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