Purely Digital

For the first time, I went traveling with not a single roll of film. Or film camera. The recent cruise was completely digital.

Why? I thought it was what I needed.

I anticipated I would be shooting a lot of:

Action - especially with the kids along.

the Beach - so I wanted a superwide, and a polarizer.

Landscape, maybe wildlife (not something I like doing). I also knew I would be shooting a lot FROM the ship, while going through the Panama Canal. So I wanted to have a longer lens with me.

I have to say, the D50 was convenient to use. I must have taken more than 400 shots, and have edited to about 45 or so. I will probably be printing 5 or 6.

Of course every nikon shooter on the ship had a D200 with kit lens. A couple asked me what I was shooting. "This is just a D50. I am only a beginner."

One elderly man was nice though. He also shot with an old Nikon SP.




The Sigma 30/1.4 (45mm equivalent) was nice.








One drawback of digital or electronic vs manual is when it started to rain in Panama City. I was just waiting for the smoke to come from the D50. On the other hand, I do not think I would have shot in the rain with my leica.



Well, it held up its own. Otherwise I would have needed to get a D200. Oh well.



The Tokina 12-24/4 (18-36mm equivalent) was a blast as well.



With the squinty D50 finder, less than 100% VF, and the superwide lens, you may miss things in the corners, especially in less-than-bright light. This would NOT have happened with a rangefinder. The shot below is not bad, but still, you must agree that the couple in the lower right corner would have made the photo. If I had actually SEEN them in the viewfinder!





The decision to bring the heavy Nikkor 80-200/2.8 (120-300 equivalent) paid off in the Panama Canal and on the aerial tram in Costa Rica. It worked out perfectly for my back too, since I did not have to lug that animal around for much. The lens truly is stellar.






You can even see the outline of the tugboat pilot!




The GRD was handy for keeping in my pocket around the ship at all times. It was also my only back-up.



The novel thing was, all my editing was done a few days after coming back home. None of the usual processing delay or expense. The long hours of scanning and removing dust spots.

Our next trip will be to Morocco. I still think I will just bring an M body and couple of small lenses. It will be a land trip so weight and bulk are important. And I expect mostly people shots while walking the streets for hours.

Or I could do with the GRD...