[rollei_list] Re: Digital Advice

Austin Franklin wrote:

...though I fully appreciate and agree that *some* people believe
their digital output has higher "quality" than they got with film, I believe
a lot of it is misperception of actual image fidelity....

The bottom line is, it really depends on what the criteria for "quality" is.
That, for some reason, seems to almost never be stated.
I may agree if we were talking about Velvia or Reala but when I last shot film, I was shooting with an FM2n or an F100 loaded with NPS/NPC, Reala, NPH, NPZ or Portra800 depending on the light I was working in. In a dark church where flash was not allowed and I was stuck on a back balcony overlooking the entire wedding a whole congregation away from the couple, by an over zealous Episcopal Priest eager to assert his 'Authoritae', I was pretty much forced to 'restage' the ceremony shots because even when I tried to use NPZ/P800 at 1600ISO (or at 800ISO), shall we say that the results were /quite less than spectacular/ and that was concerning colour, clarity and contrast every bit as much as perceived 'sharpness.' I DETEST faking wedding shots. It is always cheesy and a waste of everyones time.
Today, in like situations, I can shoot the /actual/ ceremony with my D200 at 1600ISO and my results are far superior than what I could get with the above films. Yes, there is some chroma and luminance noise there, but it is not that difficult to deal with in ACR and it is far less objectionable than the soft grey blacks and nasty colours that pushed NPZ or Portra800 offered me. With proper exposure and WB my colours are very nice. When using a D300 (like that I've borrowed and will soon buy) or even using the cheap little 10MP D60 I just got, I get even better results in low light at 3200ISO than I can with the D200 at 1600ISO.
I'm not comparing the results of my cameras to the results of my Rollei, but with my former 35mm Nikons. Comparison to a Rollei is moot because I'd never again shoot a wedding (or news) with a TLR (or Hel, even a Hassy) regardless of what film I could put in it. As I mentioned these are the results I get compared to what I could get with film. Your shooting situations will certainly vary depending on your needs. 

Carpe lumen,
Michael
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