Getting into MF digital from DSLR

[BernardLanguillier]

I'd suggest Nikon adds a custom function to show the live view image upside down on the D4x.

While they are at they can also add a Hasselblad Classic mode with live view horisontally flipped.

Great idea, that's about the only thing that could convince me to upgrade, I hope that they can also simulate ground glass corner darkening and provide a velcro attachement on top of the view finder for the cloth.

In the meantime I will probably just buy a small mirror and look at the screen reflection in it.

Cheers,
Bernard

[Juanito]

What I find myself doing a lot with the DMR is to previsualize a shot, point the camera, realize that the shot sucks but then take the shot anyway. I know that this is wrong but I do it anyway. On a view, I would simply walk away. I'm certainly not machine gunning but something is wrong here that I need to correct.

I think one of the best things we can do as photographers is open ourselves up to making mistakes. That's how you learn! I've found that it's rarely the shot that I planned for that is the one that I love. Usually it's that last shot that I took just before I put everything away or move on to the next shot. It's the throwaway that ends up being the winner.

Experiment! I think my photography has gone to a whole new level just because of the freedom that digital photography offers. I've made more mistakes than ever, but I've also made a lot more shots that I love.

I'm sitting here editing a shoot that I did last week. I shot it with the Hassie & my Leaf back. The shots look great. The files are sharp with lots of range. But it's not because of the pixels or the DR or any of that stuff that I like the shots. It's the ones where I had a good idea and executed on it that pop. The difference between small and MF formats is so subtle these days that it's really about the photographer.

John

[BJL]

While true in the strictest, most clinically sterile sense, this completely disregards human psychology. To shoot slowly and in a considered and thoughtful manner with a camera that takes 9 fps requires about the same amount of restraint and forced internal zen as keeping a fast motorcycle below the speed limit.

I seriously doubt that. For me at least, acquiring motor drive cameras has never had any effect on my picture taking speed; it is still measured in minutes per frame. I have used the motor drive mode once every year or two, when it helped with unpredictable action.

The idea that adding an option to a camera will induce serious photographers to wholesale abandonment of good technique in favor of sloppiness seems sorely lacking in evidence, and strong on purist, nostalgic, hair-shirt dogma.

[Carsten W]

I seriously doubt that. For me at least, acquiring motor drive cameras has never had any effect on my picture taking speed; it is still measured in minutes per frame. I have used the motor drive mode once every year or two, when it helped with unpredictable action.

The idea that adding an option to a camera will induce serious photographers to wholesale abandonment of good technique in favor of sloppiness seems sorely lacking in evidence, and strong on purist, nostalgic, hair-shirt dogma.

Not at all! To put it another way, there is a reason that Zen monasteries tend to be in remote locations. Cities are not conducive to peaceful calm thinking. Similarly, a camera, built for speed, with a plethora of buttons is an unlikely candidate for slow, methodical or set-it-and-leave-it photography. You may not grasp that idea, but there is no reason why you should look down on it or insult it.

[Anders_HK]

This being said, it really is possible to shoot a D3 like a 4x5 camera even without a tripod, and that's mostly how I have been using mine. I don't remember the last time where I set the camera to Ch/Cl, so it really is a state of mind that can be worked on. Having experience shooting 4x5 is IMHO of great help here.

Above makes sense; that indeed experience from a larger format helps. Many do not have that. Photography is about seeing, planning, anticipating and a slower camera simply helps you see and learn to see more carefully and to plan photos. Though there is far more to 4x5 than just a tripod...

When reading between the lines in posts it seem otherwise there are people with DSLRs and only DSLR experience that advocate that a DSLR is the kill for medium format which is plain utter ignorant nonsense, or if they shot medium format seems they missed the photography part. Feel free to strangle me if you wish, but I think they miss the seeing part, in essence what important real photography is. Sure, when snapping a shot of an animal some automation helps. If I return to Africa again though I would happily do so with my Mamiya 645 based MFDB... simply one can plan and anticipate such shots too... and by limited planned shooting succeed in far better shots. That in fact saves time processing etc also. And yes, the Mamiya 645 is AF, though not fast such. Walking round in Shanghai old town at 7am Wednesday morning I carried my Mamiya 7 and FILM. That was a reflection... of actually how light a camera used for film can be... even when medium format lighter than many DSLR. B.t.w. when I first visited Africa was in 2001 and before I got deep interested in photography. I carried a twenty year old Canon AV-1 w/ 35-70mm f/4 zoom and a failing lens mount and shot on Kodak Gold negs. Even such setup can yield good photos. Not sure if the world really need DSLRs even, but granted quality film labs for slides are very scarce...

Photography was still photography with FILM 35mm & 120. There is no difference today, except we have choices of digital such. There is still a difference between smaller formats and larger. Or is there not? How about for you DSLR shooters who claim that DSLR beats medium format, how about point and shoots beating your guns?? Forums are full of one thing; being sold of megapixel.What is megapixel? It is number of dots on an area. The area is still same size no matter how many are the dots. Lets remember the important that area of sensor/film planes make different too, and in how that relates to an image. Likewise newer technology sensors are improvements to the ones they replace. Is there any sensor though that gives same sensation as Fuji Velvia? None, although Aptus gets close in that direction... but do not match in color rendering.

I think this is my last post in this thread. Forums have become a tad tiring and boring, seeming all about gear. LL is rapid becoming like Dpreview... there are more things in life to do... I do enjoy the photography part. That part is also reading. I should get back to that book by Ansel Adams... The Negative, which is reflecting really, of that and what it says is still relevant today, also for digital. There are parallels. Medium format was different, but it also is today. To myself it has felt as it has aided me in a rapid advancement in photography. It is not the gear, but seeing. It is about previsualizing an image! These to me have yielded in a much increased joy in having stepped into medium format. Digital though has complicated it, more difficult... because many choices... and change of camera is not as simple as change of film was. I was stuck with the faulty ZD, and indeed... digital does cost far more than N rolls of film, $$$.

Anders