Lin Evans Posted August 31, 2018 Report Posted August 31, 2018 The first professional digital camera I owned, I purchased in 1995 for just under $30,000. It was a six megapixel Kodak DCS 460 which was built on either a Nikon or Canon frame, took Nikon or Canon lenses, and was a monster to hold but took great images. I bought the Nikon version. It had a $2000 removable anti-aliasing filter and was the state of art in 1995. I used it for a year professionally then sold it for nearly what I paid (Thank God!). I then went to Sony and bought several of their 1.5 megapixel releases (DSC D700, DSC D779 and DKC FP3) in 1998 and 1999. These were professional level 1.5 megapixel cameras with a fixed 5X zoom lens and a prism with split optics rather than a mirror. They were great cameras and I still have my DSC D770. Finally in 2001 Canon came out with their first professional level dSLR the EOS 1D which was a 4.1 megapixel beast and an incredible camera. I bought the first one available and it was very close to $5000.00. Later I paid $8,000 for the upgraded EOS 1DS eleven megapixel version but sold it after about four years. It was also a great camera but my favorite was the original 1D. These days you can buy a top of the line 50 megapixel model for less than this old 4.1 megapixel model. Times have sure changed... Well, the other day I decided to shoot some images with my 1D but discovered that the NMH batteries would no longer hold a charge longer than about 4 minutes. I shot a few nice images then I got on the web and found that the original canon batteries were way, way expensive - like $165 at B&H, but I found others which are reportedly just as good but priced at $39 each including shipping so I ordered a couple to put the old CCD sensor back in business. The images from the EOS 1D are seriously good. Of course no where near the resolution available today, but it holds dynamic range very, very well - shoots 8 frames per second and served me for a number of years faithfully. I shot rodeos professionally for several years with this camera and it never let me down. I used to have great conversations with famous professional fashion photographer Melvin Sokolsky who used the same camera for many of his double-truck pages for major fashion magazines. Yes, the old 4.1 megapixel EOS 1D was absolutely good enough for full page and even double-truck professional fashion photos by one of the world's foremost fashion photographers. So I'm anxiously waiting for my batteries to arrive so I can once again play with the old EOS 1D - that is if I can still lift it !!! LOL Picture of this beast below with 50-500mm Sigma f/6.3 and 1.4x teleconverter. The old beast being a pro-level autofocuses just fine with the teleconverter installed and some pins taped to fool the camera's electronics and gives a 910mm focal length. 500x1.4x1.3 (crop factor of sensor)... Lin Quote
Bert Posted September 1, 2018 Report Posted September 1, 2018 Hi Lin, Looking forward to seeing some images with this setup. Bert Quote
Lin Evans Posted September 1, 2018 Author Report Posted September 1, 2018 I'll post some when my batteries arrive Bert... It's been a fantastic camera. Even though I have about 40 digital cameras including a number of high resolution professional bodies, this original is still one of my favorites. Best regards, Lin Quote
JudyKay Posted September 2, 2018 Report Posted September 2, 2018 Great story. Thanks for sharing that. Quote
Lin Evans Posted September 5, 2018 Author Report Posted September 5, 2018 Got the batteries and charged one and took a few shots... First one at 500mm x 1.3x crop = 650 mm Second one at 910 mm (50-500 at 500 mm with Sigma 1.4x teleconverter on EOS-1D (1.3x crop) = 910mm Then I put on my old 50mm f/1.8 and shot at 50 mm x 1.3 = 65 mm Not bad for the old workhorse... Lin 500 mm x 1.3 = 650 mm optical zoom 910 mm optic zoom 65 mm optical focal length Quote
Bert Posted September 6, 2018 Report Posted September 6, 2018 Hi Lin, I am amazed by the image quality of the 500 and 910 mm shots. You must have done everything right, like a tripod a remote control and no wind. Bert Quote
Lin Evans Posted September 6, 2018 Author Report Posted September 6, 2018 Hi Bert, No - these were all hand-held and no remote or even a rest object ... For several years I shot rodeos professionally with this camera and in those days used a Canon 100-400 L IS lens which was stabilized. This old Sigma 50-500 doesn't have stabilization like the newer models do so you just have to set a high enough shutter speed and hold steady. Best regards, Lin This with 50mm f/1.8 at 65mm focal length with 1.3x crop... Quote
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