But you have to understand the perspective....I have gotten 'lucky' so far, so
very lucky.
My D70 has 1008, my sisters, about 2400. Now as you know, that doesn't mean "LUCKY".
in fact it could mean TAINTED. As in 'never was worth a $hi+ and was passed around from
sucker to sucker. I had no baseline on IQ, and hell, IQ was never something people
attributed glowingly to the D70. SO what did I know? I have had a real knack for getting
low Shutter counts on these items so far. But after holding it, shooting with it, looking at
the pics, I am quite happy with it [and wish I had gotten it for $75].
:-)
I decided a month ago that I did not intend to go full frame, unless I retire and decide
that the PITA that is wedding photography was something I wanted to do, and even then,
I am not sure I would necessarily go Full Frame. My lenses are all used, and outside of the
cheap 50mm I got and the 35mm DX 1.8, I don't think I spent over $100 on anything I have.
I figured why tempt fate with FF, seeing what the outer edges of my image circle have in store?
I do not want to necessarily go into a collection of outstanding lenses, so to go to a D700 would
be a 'loose board at the top of the stairs' for me. YES I want it, I held it and shot it and knew
I WANTED IT. But even for a beat up model, it was still $1200. And boy did you ever say it right.
Had I not bought ANY of my $75-150 cameras, I would have enough for that D700 today.
I did not want you to be right, I have had a BALL buying and shooting and passing on all these cameras.
But knowing all I do now, MAN would I love to have every cent back. I would still SPEND IT ALL,
but I would spend it much differently. The only thing that remains really good is that there are
three very happy people now with DSLRs and I still like that better than ONE happy dude.
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I also want to make sure people realize, when I say I stole the D200, I realize that it is no longer a great
camera in comparison to the cameras that are current, or even the used cameras one or two generations
behind. But remember that my first DSLR was a D70 and my second was a D100. Having not been too deep into
menus yet, and understanding that it is not a D700 F.F. camera, I am still tickled by the sheer weight, the improved
image quality, and not surprisingly for an old fart, the bigger LCD. I CAN SEE what I am screwing up now, whereas
before I just screwed up blindly. If I act like I just won the lottery, I kinda did. I love the price I paid for my D70,
and I can take a great photo with it. If I concentrate REALLY hard, lol. This new used D200 looks like a 67 Corvette
Stingray to me.
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OK,
NOW I done stoled-ed it.
I did not want to mention this since I have already bored you all to tears with my used
camera stories. But now it must be told. I bought a D90 used at Ado the other day.
It was $200, and according to them, 'it would not autofocus'. Now they are one of the
two largest camera retailers operating today. They should KNOW well enough if the
auto-focus is not working. But for the large-a55 screen on the back, which as discussed,
I need, cause I am old, and for the likely increased image quality due in part to the better
Megapixel rating and auto dynamic range enhancements and even chromatic aberration
correction in-built, I figured it was a fine place to stop this crazy buying, as I already
had a likely useless D200 in-bound with a command dial that "is very hard to turn". We know
how that went if you have been following along. But in the end, I am trying to justify the
large expenditure, since it is getting a little over the top now with all these bodies on hand.
So I get the D90 in, an item that is generally $400 for a beater, and a $5-600 dollars for
a clean one. I paid $200 for it. So half price either way, but 66 percent off since when
it arrives today, it is super clean. Now I told you how I felt about that, they are the first
or second-largest online camera retailer in the world, they have professional evaluators
to judge what's what when they get used gear in. So I set the camera up how I want it
and go over to the nursery to shoot. So I shoot a ton of pics, focusing the lens
and having no trouble seeing the shot. I mean, when you are old like me,
things are out of focus, sure. But when they come into focus, you can see the difference,
in that its LESS blurry than it was. And with the diopter, it's crisp enough
for me. Is it a hassle? Yes it is, but for the quality of the camera, it's well worth it.
So after I shoot and am ready to go, I think, OK, let me cycle through the autofocus
modes to test and see if ANY of em work. But I am hunting over the body to find the
mode switch, and I can't find one. But what I DO find is that the selector switch that
takes you from manual to autofocus is in manual. Now I don't want to get too excited,
because I am focusing manually, and there is no way to do otherwise with the switch
in that setting, it locks the lens out.
So I flip it to AF, point it at a rosebud, and it pops right into focus.
Now after reading ALL THAT, you probably knew what was coming
anyway. But I could have dropped a No.2 in my shorts right there
on the spot. Here is a camera I gladly paid $200 for,
KNOWING it had
a critical flaw, and having no idea how it would look abuse-wise
when it came in to boot. But instead of all that being one way,
it was all completely the other way, but the price is still $200.
I end up getting a pristine camera in all ways for the cost of a
'dump it cam'.
I don't know whether to STOP LOGGING IN to Ado immediately
for fear that is the extent of the luck I have in me, or whether to
buy every item I see that I am willing to chance. Obviously the
answer is the first one, I have everything I need now. And I DID
buy two eyepiece rubbers to replace the ones on my incoming
cameras since it is ALWAYS the first thing that gets lost on these
cameras. And they both have their original rubbers. So sure, I am
out 8 bucks.
:-) Oh no.
And that's that. I am sending my sister the D50, keeping the D70 for it's
1/500th flash sync speed, and giving my D100 to my friend in NO. I now
have the perfect bag, 5hit lenses or not.
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