New ERA!!!!!

This says it all. Goodbye old school chemistry, hello new age quantum science!

It took me a loooong while to make this particular click-of-the-mouse. I have considered digital technology, know that the benefits out weighs the deficiencies that I may get, but if it wasn't the quake and tsunami in Japan, I wouldn't have made this purchase now. Yes you heard it right, it took me an earthquake to make this decision.... no it's not really supposed to be a joke, but here's why.

I was waiting for Nikon to announce the replacement of the D700 camera because I really want HD video capability that the current Nikon doesn't have. I knew that if I were to get a camera now, the D700 will be the camera of choice. The the disaster in Japan took place. Soon after, people started to talk about Nikon's production being halted and prices of professional and semi-pro cameras will rise due to shortage of stock. I didn't really take it seriously because I simply didn't think this was right. Furthermore, price hike usually happens to goods that are in high demand, such as food supply. High-end electronics is the last thing I thought will be affected.

One night, I checked the price on Amazon.com. It was still intact. The next morning, the price has already been raised with only two units left. That was the time when I decided to go with it. I clicked on the holy button!

A few hours later, I checked back and the price on Amazon.com has raised by $300 in total.

So it is indirectly because of the earthquake, but it directly because of the price hike.

That said, how is it? How is it? How is it? How is it? How is it? How is it?

Here's the new photos from the Everglades......

















Lastly, I don't know if this guy is contemplating or constipating.....


So what's the verdict?
Well, for the most part, convenience and versatility! First of all, I can make all the adjustments on board while shooting, especially ISO settings which I could not on a 35mm SLR. It is convenient because I can just come home and pop the pics onto my computer directly. No more running to the photo studio to develop the negatives. No more scanning them strip by strip, and no more heavy photoshop work. It was quick. Also, I was able to do HDRs easily because I can get precise and consistent framing. With negative, it will be impossible because of the imprecision of scanning.

It takes the old lens just fine, except I have to first program them into the camera so it knows what aperture it's on. This is annoying because I have to go through the menu each time I change the lens. I don't think this affects the actual metering, so I can still tolerate it.

Another thing is my telephoto, being a cheap lens, is having challenges performing on this camera. I have a hard time getting sharp images due to motion blur. For some reason, this issue is quite serious on this camera body. I have to push the shutter speed up to about 1/800 or 1000 to get a decently focused image for most of the time. This means ISO will be very high, like 800 or 1000. Either I have to get better on holding the lens(heavy!) or get a better lens! May be I should invest in a mono pod.... I don't really know yet.

Well, the end is also the beginning and I'm sure this will be more and more fun to do, but before we take off into the new era, here's my tribute to my good'ol Nikon F4S.