My little digital camera history:

1999-12-26: Nikon Coolpix 950

2001-10-06: Olympus E-100RS

2002-01-18: Nikon D1

2002-07-22: Canon Ixus V2

2004-09-10: Canon S60

2004-11-06: Nikon D2H

2005-01-05: Sony T3

2005-07-01: Canon Ixus 700

2005-12-29: Nikon D200

2006-05-19: Canon Ixus 800IS

2006-12-19: Fuji F31fd

2007-07-16: Panasonic FX100

2007-07-21: Canon 5D

The Early Years: 1999 - 2002

Nikon Coolpix 950: This was my first digital camera. Before December 1999 I only shoot film ( slide film ) with my Nikon SLRs. In October I won a competition by being among the top 40 sales persons of my company all over Europe ( 800 persons in total ) and was free to decide between a nice watch, a video camera or something like that or a voucher. I chose the voucher and this paid me my first digital camera. Back then the Coolpix 950 was THE digital camera. It costs almost 1.000.-EUROs ( over 1.000.-USD ) but with my voucher it didn´t cost me anything at all. Not true: I bought a 96MB Compact Flash Card for almost 350.-EUROs! A 128MB card would have cost over 500.-EUROs!

Beside all the limitations ( mainly AF, battery life and speed ) I was impressed and I really liked the digital image. I still used my Nikon F100 for serious images but I like the instant feedback and that it costs nothing to take a lot of pictures. How about image quality: Well 2.1MP doesn´t look very impressive today but the image quality was very good and colors were impressive. To shoot above the lowest ISO setting was not a good idea and focus really struggles even in good light. Things were even worse regarding images tranfer via the serial interface! It took literally forever to download a full 96MB card and the write time of a single full size JPEG took 6.5s ( got this from dpreview ). But it was great and the swivel design was fun and very useful. The strenght of the 950 was close up photography.

Olympus E-100RS: The two main problems of the Coolpix were speed of AF, file write times, start up time - I would say speed of operation in general and second: the lens was limited and the converters were no real solution. The Olympus was an extremely fast camera: 15pictures/second ( takes one image between every shot taken with a Nikon D2H at full speed !!! ) and features a 10 times ( 38 - 380mm ) lens with optical images stabilisation. The only drawback was it´s resolution of just 1.3MP but I had no problem with that. I recommended this camera to a friend and he got it too and he also was very happy with it and it´s great results right out of the camera. The Olympus dropped in price because of it´s low resolution and costs just 500.-EURO when I got it. ( when the camera was new it´s price was over 1.200.-EUROs ). The only problem I had was that I almost stopped using my SLR. My F100 plus all the nice lenses got little use beside the Olympus. There is something I have to do.

The Conversion: 2002

Nikon D1: I really wanted a DSLR to be able to use all my lenses with a digital camera. I really suffered because back in 2001/2002 there was no affordable DSLR at all. The only DSLRs available were Pro models from Kodak and Nikon and one amateur model from Canon. In January my dealer called me as I told him in late November that I´m looking after a used Nikon D1. Now he has one for 3.000.-EUROs. 3.000.-EUROs!!! Cheap considered that it costs almost 6.000.-EURO new but this was really a lot of money for a camera. But desperate as I was I bought it.

I never regretted this step. Below my POM ( picture of the month ) of January 2002 I wrote "There is no doubt that digital cameras will become the standard within the next years". I was right but the speed suprised me. Today ( end of 2006 ) you can buy a DSLR plus lens for 600.-EUROs! I was really happy with the D1 and since the first day I touched it I never shot a single roll of Velvia ( very famous slide film from Fuji ) again. This camera was very fast, it was a joy to use and it´s image was amazing! The first year I shot only JPEG but than I gave NEF ( Nikon RAW ) and Bibble a try and from that moment I shot RAW.

I was used to shoot Velvia. The Velvia was THE slide film for nature photographers. It was rated 50ASA but it´s true sensitivity was just 40ASA. It was very slow but sharpness was great and colors were really punchy. It was a pain to use in sunlight ( because it was too contrasty ) but in good light ( early morning or late afternoon ) or on an overcast day it was amazing. If your exposure was more than 1/3 of a stop off the shot was ruined! ( I still try to get exposure spot on in camera ). When you shoot slides there is no way to crop the image after you have taken the shot. ( I still crop very seldom ). The point is: I can fix a shot now but far more important I can improve a shot in computer regarding white balance, colors and contrast. I can decide which "film" works best for an image after I took it!

Canon Ixus V2: In 2002 I travelled to Scotland and it was my first trip were I shot digital. I always use a Contax T2 beside my Nikon SLRs and so I searched for a small compact camera to use beside my Nikon D1. A couple of days before we started our travel I got my first Canon Ixus. What a great camera! Small, fast and strong ( metall case ). I also got a Mindstor with a 10GB drive to download my flashcards while on vacation. On shorter trips to Italy ( Lago di Garda ) or Greece ( Santorini ) I took only my Ixus V2 with me. These images can be found in the travel folder. There are also a lot of Ixus images in the Scotland 2002 and Ireland 2004 folders ( the images with the 4:3 aspect ratio ).

Constant Upgrading: 2004 - ?

In summer 2002 everthing was great. I had a great Nikon D-SLR and a wonderful Canon point and shot. I travelled trough Scotland and took really a lot of images without worrying the cost. I shot over 50 rolls of slide film during my Cananda trip in 2000. The film and processing costs were over 700.-EUROs! If you look at it that way my Mindstor 10GB drive more than paid for itself on my first vacation.

From 2002 on I took more than 15.000 images per year. If I still shoot Velvia it would cost me at least 7.000 to 8.000.-EUROs per year. Not considered the storage issue. It´s clear that digital photography could save you a lot of money. Could? Well - the problem is that on one hand you save a lot of money for film and processing but on the other hand you have to buy new, larger storage cards, you have to upgrade your computer on a regular base and finally: you start to upgrade your cameras.

Back in the film days a camera was nothing like a box that holds the film. The only reason to buy a new camera were new features like autofocus or a faster winder. Otherwise there was little progress and you can use your camera for years and always get great, state of the art results. Now that has changed: The film is inside the camera ( sensor ) and can´t be removed. When new sensors become available a new camera comes out. You can still use your old camera but usually with new sensors the image quality improves significantly and if you want to get state of the art images ( regarding resolution, dynamic range, color redention and noise ) you have to upgrade. The camera bodies get better too: more buffer memory, better, larger LCDs, faster write times, ....

Today I use four cameras. Two D-SLRs and two point and shot cameras. The two Nikon D-SLRs together would make the perfect D-SLR: The body, AF-system and overall speed of operation of the D2H in combination with the wonderful sensor and the great LCD of the D200 would result in an amazing camera. My two point and shots are just the same: The body design, built quality, ergonomics, colors and image stabilisation of the Canon Ixus 800IS in combination with the great sensor and the impressive battery life of the Fuji F31fd would make the perfect small digital camera. But in a few years ( or months ) there will be new, even better cameras with further improved sensors, new features and better ergonomics and speed.

and the story continues.