Photography 124: The Six Megapixel Club

[@jowideb2]

Great. I like the idea of also a 6 megapixel camera. Mine is not a Pentax, but a Nikon D50. I lever got ridden of it and take it along at times. Just for the fun of it. Later came others. Also a D90 of wich the battery also works with the D50.

[@jimrinaldi8357]

I also have a D50 which I still take out for a spin on occasion. Of course it is fairly primitive against modern cameras but it still does good work.

[@borderlands6606]

As with so many things, it takes a lot of experience to understand what you don't need. The expensive part is gaining the experience and let's face it, plenty of people never learn.

[@Funktrainer]

I still enjoy using my Kodak DCS6xx/7xx Series bodies (2 and 6 MP) based on the Nikon F5. To my taste still the best SLR camera designs ever made. Besides of these bodies I also use the Leica M8 as my main camera for traveling. There‘s nothing wrong with older cameras when they feel right.

[@danburrill8716]

My first dSLR was a Pentax k200d, bought used on eBay in early 2011, and I used it up until earlier this year. Before that, I'd used a Fuji s9600 bridge camera, and that was still the camera I preferred to use for work (I was a marine surveyor, and I needed to take clear, well exposed pictures of bits of boat, often in conditions where I was happy not to risk my 'good' camera). I changed to a Sony A6000, mostly because I have a huge collection of old, manual focus lenses I've bought for very little money, and wanted a mirrorless camera to use with those. It was definitely the right move for me, as focus peeking and the ability to use manual lenses in aperture priority mode have made what I like to do so much easier and more successful. The extra megapixels are a pleasant bonus.

[@oc2phish07]

I love these videos, Ira. I still go out with some of my own older digital cameras. I even occasionally use my very first one, a Kodak DC240, a 1.3 megapixel camera that cost me a fortune back in the day. Then getting a bit more up to date I use my Nikon D90. Much more regularly I use my Nikon D7100 and of course for the more important stuff I use my Fuji trio, X-Pro2, X-T2 and X-T3. But still lots of fun with the Kodak and other old ones. And that is not to mention all my film cameras too. So, keep the videos of you and your favourite older stuff coming Ira, I love them and I am sure I am not alone in that.

[@scrptwic]

I still use my ISTDL as a carry around camera that i leave in my car I so I've been in the 6MPclub since 2005 . I also have a Pentax K50 and a K 70 but I shoot more pictures with the ISTDL as I drive around during the day and if it gets stolen no great loss other than sentmental value as my first DSLR

[@acrummey85]

Pretty much how I feel about the K100D

[@christinecoughlan4699]

Thank you Ira.

[@ordinosaurs]

Had the Pentax *istDL as my first "serious" digital camera. Pretty much the ancestor of the K100D, and a close cousin of the *istDS. While I couldn't blame the image quality in ideal conditions, this camera was a serious pain in the neck in actual practice. Somehow rechargeable AAs never seemed to last more than a couple of hours, so I used some lithium non-rechargeable AAs, very strong and durable but expensive. Then this model had no dust protection, unlike the K100D, and however cautious I was there always seemed to be spots to remove in post process. Finally, the computing power in those days was very weak, so to achieve optimal quality post processing from raw was clearly a necessity. But as you needed to clone out those dust specs, you couldn't escape it anyway so... To be short, this camera was reasonably good, but it required too much digital pampering and I couldn't sell it fast enough after I bought my Olympus E-P1. My brother used it some times after me, but he soon dropped it too. I don't know its whereabouts currently, I suspect it lives in a box in my brother's attic along his Nikon 1. I'm all for being frugal (my main current camera is the Olympus original E-M1 from five years ago), but I don't suffer from nostalgia either.

[@acrummey85]

Ordinosaurs & retro computers I understand completely. My DS was replaced just a couple of years later by a K10D which cured all of the issues you mentioned. I use the K100D as an “expendable”, it stays at our summer weekend retreat for the rough and tumble stuff. I still have a Pentax K3 but my main system is Olympus as well, but I started with the E-P2 (an E-P1 with the extra port for the EVF). Still a fun camera but no match for my E-M1 so, our photographic journey has some definite similarities. Old cameras are fun but cannot replace a newer, more capable model.

[@erossphelps]

Nice video and excellent points. Although I have a lot of newer, more costly gear, to this day one of my favorite cameras is my Minolta 7D 6MP CCD, great colors, shake reduction, easy to use and Minolta A-mount lenses are cheap.

[@wladicus1]

_ Thank you Ira.

[@ThePNWRiderWA]

Ira it’s alway good to hear your thoughts. It’s funny how our digital cameras of a decade ago and shot great images are now met with “ how can you use that old camera !’ Funny the pictures are still good.

[@markhansen3111]

I still have and use an old pentax ist-D. I also have an older Pentax film camera LX. Looking to upgrade to a more contemporary camera body.... maybe a K-5II

[@jimmyhinAK]

I am a hobbyist collector so I can say one of the best cameras I own in a canon 10d . That should tell you its age since they are about to release a 90d! I think it’s 6.1 megapixels to be precise but that doesn’t matter to me. It works I shoot raw and jpeg just in case I want to do some in depth processing.

[@j.badinter988]

Hi Ira, Glad you had good time out from us! And glad you are back as well! Suggestion: please invest in a clip-on microphone to your shirt, it will be much easier to hear you. The level of sound is very low even with my laptop at full blast, and then I got distortion. Besides that, yes 6 MP is enough in most cases, however those 10-year old (or more) cameras may lack fast AF for some of us who need it (not me), and they tend to be slow to record files on the memory card. I am sure those old cameras are still capable of shooting nice pictures assuming the photographer have a good eye as you rightfully said many times. I have to say that the cropping from a 6 MP file is very limited and this is a big disadvantage to me. Thank you!

[@acrummey85]

Thanks, I will check out the sound.