Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/01/29

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Subject: RE: [Leica] Moderately OT: Scanner or Digital Camera?
From: "bdcolen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 16:34:37 -0500

There's another option, Martin, and that's to go for the lower end of
the digital camera list...this Xmas I got my wife a cheap Olympus
digital P&S - 3x digital zoom - the camera itself was selling for less
than $160, and with a 128 mg card was about $230....They claim it can
produce decent prints up to 4x6...It can certainly turn out images for
the web, and it has a stunningly good fill-flash setup -especially
considering the price...

If you're just looking to have fun and send photos over the net - that's
the way to do it - and do it on the cheap. :-)

B. D.

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of Martin
Howard
Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 4:14 PM
To: Leica Users Group LUG
Subject: [Leica] Moderately OT: Scanner or Digital Camera?



The Internet is a great way to keep in touch with people.  Posting 
photographs on the Internet doubly so.  However, at the moment, I find 
myself with lots of friends, but no way of getting photographs onto the 
Internet.  If money were no issue, then it wouldn't be a problem, but 
one of the things that makes life so fun and challenging is that money 
is always an issue... ;)

Right now, I have no digital camera, nor any scanner.  I'm trying to 
decide what I should do about this, and I'd like to hear how you have 
addressed the same issues.  At the moment, my options appear to be 
these:

A) Get a "cheap" digital camera.  Since I'll pretty much only be using 
it for web stuff, I could get away with buying something like a 
point-and-shoot.  The high-end ones, like the PowerShot G3, seems like 
an interesting alternative that has the advantage that you could do 
more serious things with it too.  Major disadvantage is that it's going 
to be obsolete pretty damn quickly (18 months? 24 months?)

B) Get a "prosumer" digital camea.  This means something like a Nikon 
D-100 or Canon D-60.  Interchangable lens SLR that would also work with 
35mm film bodies.  Advantages include better quality, more versitile 
equipment, and will become obsolete less quickly (since I can use 
lenses on several bodies).  Lots of fun with new toys.  Major 
disadvantage is, of course, cost.  Figure on $2,000 for the body, plus 
lenses.

C) Get a film scanner.  I pretty much am never going to make digital 
prints -- I use my Leica's and Bessa's for that.  I prefer shooting 
with them (small, useful, lots of lenses, accessories, etc).  So, I was 
thinking that maybe I should just shoot film and get a reasonably 
decent scanner instead.  All the advantages of doing my own 
development, along with not having to buy a new camera outfit.  But 
what about cost?  I'd not want to spend much more than about $800 on a 
scanner (since it'd have the same lifetime disadvantages as a 
point-and-shoot digital).  Can you get decent quality for that?

Any thoughts?  What did *you* do?  A, B, or C?

(And for our Swedish audience, the answer: "På A svarar vi nej, på B 
svarar vi D-100, och på C vet vi inte" is not considered an acceptable 
answer... ;)

M.

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