D80

Finally I have entered in the digital realm. I just bought a Nikon D80 with a collection of four lenses: the kit lens - a Nikkor 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 - an aspherical Tokina 12-24mm f4, a fixed Sigma 30mm f 1.4 and fixed Sigma 70mm F2.8 Macro. I have long resented buying a digital camera, for a variety of reasons. For a start, I am still very fond of film and I think there is nothing wrong with this medium. To the contrary, I appreciate its permanence, archivability, ease of use and its inimitable character. So film remains my technology of predilection. My main focus for the time being is on mastering large format and I want to get into contact printing as soon as I can. So, buying a D80 won't compromise by commitment to analogue photography.

I can think of a few contexts in which digital is useful. Very pragmatically, I am planning on putting together courses and seminars and this is going to help me to collect teaching material a little bit quicker. I will also have to learn a thing or two about stitching digital panoramas, using lensbabies etc and then it's great having a digital camera to experiment with. Further, I think digital is great for taking snaps on the go. It just helps to know that you have a couple of hundred of exposures available without having to worry about having enough film (and developing and contact printing costs). At this point I don't see a serious project where I would use the D80 for but that may change of course as I grow accustomed to the technology.

Why a D80? I am certainly not a diehard Nikonian. Never had a Nikon. Did have a Canon once, but I don't feel partisan to any of these brands in any way. I like the full frame sensor Canon 5D but thought it was too expensive for what I would use it for. I also was tempted for a moment by the Sony Alpha DSLR, particularly the range of Zeiss lenses that comes with it. But I had trouble buying into the idea of having a camera with a Minolta bayonet. And I figured the range of Zeiss primes would take a long time to build up. I am not interested in zooms at all. So along came the Nikon. The specs of the D80 immediately looked attractive. Reviews mentioned a very good viewfinder. Important also is that Johan Doumont is using Nikon. I figured that he would be able to help me with whatever Nikon question I would have. That's a big bonus. Also, I liked what he had shown me from the Tokina wide-angle zoom (not available for the Sony). So, that's more or less why I jumped for the D80.

I'll elaborate on my first experiences with this camera in a forthcoming posting. The picture above was taken with the D80 and the Sigma 30mm f 1.4 (great lens, I can tell you know already) at 800 ASA.