Do you still use an "obsolete" camera?

[D3 Ray]

The D800 is my newest camera. Then a D3S, then a D2X. Honestly, I could take the same photo with all three and couldn't easily be able to tell which photo was taken with which. The only give away would be DOF with the D2X depending on what aperture I shot at. The only advantage I see with the newest cameras vs the D3 era is shadow recovery. And it's not a deal breaker. I could give up my D800 and never miss it.

[David H. Hartman]

My soon to be obsolete Nikon D850 blows away my D800: metering, AF, viewfinder, etc. I really like loosing the AA filter and I don't have to use Color Moiré Reduction in post which I frequently need with the D800. I think loss of color moiré is due to the higher resolution of the D850 image sensor, 45MP v. 36MP. I'm sure I read this regarding moiré.

Long time D850 owners know what I've just learned in the last week. 

Dave

[paul hofseth]

Over Christmas I used Iford XP-2 in an obsolescent  RetinaIIc (xenon 2,8) plus in a Praktica (Flektogon 20\2,8 & pancolar 80/1,8 plus the M43 optics plus a uselessly touch-screen focussing  old Leica digital with jupiter 5071,5 and a leitz 35-70/4 and a zeiss 50/1,4 on my new z7. Apart from the nikon being far easier to focus (when the notoriously mobile the focus point stayed put), all the obsolescent stuff performed well when properly focussed.. Now that I have an M to Z adapter my obsolescent old M optics will be put to use. Unforunately I no langer have my SP, so none of that very small and handy equipment. 

Conclusion: obsolescent stuff can be quite useful.

p.

[John Geerts]

The Fuji Finepix S2 Pro is a very obsolete camera.   

It contains two sets of batteries. 4 AA's and two CR123a.  Furthermore the menu's are a bit weird, and the body feels 'plasticy' but is comfortable in the hand.
It takes only the chipped Nikon lenses, and will not meter manual lenses (as the S5 does) 

The output needs to be valuated but the S2 does not have the same Dynamic range as the S3 and S5. The highlight recovery is not present. And the camera is very very slow.

[John Geerts]

Nearly mint. (also posted in January 2021). The lens is the Nikkor AF-S 50/1.4

[Birna Rørslett]

I have an old friend who loved that camera, despite its slowness and other quirks. He even enthusiastically described the "tractor lines" issue of the RAF files and how to solve the problem.

I briefly used the S2 and only remember how slow it was in operation. The build was reminding of a D100? I got the S3Pro (in the special UV/IR model) later and camera still was slow, but much quicker than the S2. The S5 I'm using on occasion now is almost a sprinter ace in comparison to those earlier siblings!!

[Daniel Bliss]

I'm still using two D800 bodies and liking it. Favored lenses include the 70-200 FL; 28/1.8; 24/2.8 (! talking of old stuff); 60 2.8 AF-S macro; 300 PF, occasionally accompanied by a 1.4 converter; and 70-300 AF-P (thanks Nikon for upgrading the firmware on the D800 to work with this four years after the camera was discontinued).

What I'd like to have that the D800 doesn't have?

On-sensor PDAF......
A bigger buffer......
wider coverage of cross-type AF sensors.....
A quieter shutter......
A better designed hand grip......
A viewfinder and/or (preferably "and") Liveview/EVF that makes manual focusing "pop" a bit more.....

What most new cameras do not have that the D800 has?

Near-instant response to the shutter release. The lag time on the D800 is incredible, up there with the D5 and the best all-mechanical film cameras. I believe it has tested around 40 milliseconds. The D810 and series I z-bodies are noticeably slower. Even the D850 might be a hair behind. I've not tried a series II Z body.

What you notice missing from my wishlist?

Basically sensor performance; it's already so good that anything extra is just gravy. Or an excuse to do any kind of mass-production or non-critical job with a smaller file size in some way. The D800 is what finally weaned me off film for good.

Essentially the D800 is the digital F100 that I wanted. I am hoping, though, that the D850 has a DSLR successor in the pipeline, and that it addresses the on-sensor PDAF. I was quite surprised that on-sensor PDAF was missing from the D850 to be honest, even though the D850 checks all the other boxes on my wish list, and because of that, I decided to stick with the D800 for a while longer.

[John Geerts]

I have an old friend who loved that camera, despite its slowness and other quirks. He even enthusiastically described the "tractor lines" issue of the RAF files and how to solve the problem.

I briefly used the S2 and only remember how slow it was in operation. The build was reminding of a D100? I got the S3Pro (in the special UV/IR model) later and camera still was slow, but much quicker than the S2. The S5 I'm using on occasion now is almost a sprinter ace in comparison to those earlier siblings!!

The S5 is super fast indeed  haha.

The S2 is especially very slow when you select the Tiff option with larger files (more than 40Mb).  It takes more than a minute to write the image, and what is more frustrating, also more than a minute before the camera can read the image in display      The write operation time of  Raws (12mb)  is not bad compared to the Tiff one.

[Kenneth Rich]

Those old Fuji Finepix are't just obsolete, they seem prehistoric, compared to Fuji present offerings ,et al.  My Df is comparatively space age futuristic! Well worth waiting for.

[Amun]

I briefly used the S2 and only remember how slow it was in operation.

I still have mine, and take it out every now and then - it really is like something out of the ark... Tediously slow, tiny screen and microdrives! Mine also creaks, as it was based on a plasticky body, which always used to annoy me. The D200 that replaced it was a completely different kettle of fish ;-)

[John Geerts]

It's all about image-quality in the end ...   

Not too bad with the S2  (50 1.4  ISO 100 and 1/15th)

[John Geerts]

I still have mine, and take it out every now and then - it really is like something out of the ark... Tediously slow, tiny screen and microdrives! Mine also creaks, as it was based on a plasticky body, which always used to annoy me. The D200 that replaced it was a completely different kettle of fish ;-)

The Body of the  Fuji S2 was based on the Nikon F or N80.

http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Nikon_F80_(N80)

[ch96066]

Considering obsolete = archived in Nikon USA speak, then

D810 is actually my main camera and do not consider parting with it (even if I have the D850)
Fuji S5 pro for a slower more contemplating shooting style where highlights recovery and vibrant colour are desired.

[Kenneth Rich]

With this new kid Z Fc  on he block, I guess many of us are going to be using an obsolete camera with its museum-like mechanical controls again.  Some of us never quit. Blessed be the Nikon F, blessed be the Nikon df. Bring on the not yet born Nikon full frame Z df.

[David H. Hartman]

Considering obsolete = archived in Nikon USA speak, then

D810 is actually my main camera and do not consider parting with it (even if I have the D850)
Fuji S5 pro for a slower more contemplating shooting style where highlights recovery and vibrant colour are desired.

I'm trying to understand why you would use the Fuji S5 Pro where highlight recovery is needed. I would think the D810 has several stops more dynamic range so the need for highlight recovery would be reduced...

https://www.photonstophotos.net/Charts/PDR.htm#FujiFilm%20FinePix%20S5Pro,Nikon%20D810

While shooting with my D850 I set the Picture Control in camera to Auto. Then in Nikon Capture NX-D I set the picture control to Standard, Neutral and finally Flat progressively to reveal highlights. I believe other software has similar development presets so this method is not unique to Nikon software. 

Perhaps if you started with a lower contrast RAW development preset you would find highlight recovery much easier with your D810 NEF files. Once diffused highlights are secured increasing color vibrance should be easy. If I'm reading the graph correctly at the link provided the D810 has more than 2.5 stops of additional dynamic range compared to the S5 Pro.

Dave