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A $25 vs. a $5,000 Camera
© 2008 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

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September 2008      Nikon Reviews         Canon Reviews

Introduction

Camera fetishists tried to make excuses for their weird "needs" back in 2006 when I published concrete proof of how a $150 camera easily can make better images than a $5,000 camera.

Today I added a photo to my baby Katie's website made with a $25 camera, and was astounded that it matched the image made a month before with a $5,000 camera and $300 lens.

Not only was the $25 camera a klunker I got at a garage sale, it was an APS film camera! APS is a format that was worse than 35mm film. APS came and went in the late 1990s.

Here they are:

31 August 2008, Friday

Katie in JUngle

Katie in the Jungle.

Nikon Pronea S, 50mm f/1.8 AF-D, Program auto chose f/3.3 at 1/45, Kodak 200, processed and scanned at Costco for $4.95 for the whole roll.

 

01 August 2008, Friday

Ryan in car

Katie in the Jungle.

Nikon D3, 50mm f/1.4 AF-D, NEUTRAL with +1 saturation picture control, normal ADR, auto A3 WB, Program auto chose 1/125 at f/2.8, Auto ISO chose ISO 200.

Except that the exposure and composition is much better in the photo made with the $25 APS camera, I can't see any difference other than Katie is smiling more in the shot made with the $5,000 camera.

These prices, $25 and $5,000, are what I paid for each camera without lens. To make these photos, I used a $300 lens on the $5,000 camera and a $110 lens on the $25 camera. I use a memory card that cost me about $200 in the $5,000 camera, and a roll of film for which I overpaid $4.50 in the $25 camera.

Oh yes: the $25 camera came with a lens for my $25, while the $5,000 camera didn't.

 

Recommendations   back to top

Intro   Specs   Performance   Usage   Recommendations

Your camera has never had anything to do with the quality of the finished image. The only people who try to get you to believe that are people trying to sell you cameras, or men who are trying to justify their expensive camera habits.

A good photographer can use anything, even an APS camera, to make great pictures. (Not that these are great shots, but you get the idea.)

It's always about the man, and never about his tools.

 

PLUG

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Thanks for reading!

Ken

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