Do you still use an "obsolete" camera?

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Not entirely giving up the über-obsolete 200-400/4 ED yet. Here with the likewise obsolete D200, showing off in the darkness of winter just before New Year's Eve. Exposure 1/5 sec. Almost "fast" for this time of the year.

[Akira]

There are many models succeeding the Nikon D3 today, thus we might have difficulty in realising what a game-changer this camera was in the autumn of 2007. I got my sample later that year and enjoyed the excellent performance provided by the D3 through the dark and cold winter months.

A few snapshots from these early days with the D3, taken with another even more obsolete item, namely, the elusive 200-400 mm f/4 ED Zoom-Nikkor. A big, heavy, zoom design built to a standard of workmanship and finish miles above what any lens today can boast. Best of all, the optics are first-rate as well. A pity less than 500 units were produced in the mid '80s.

These images are taken late in the afternoon, either using the last sun rays, or the half-light prevailing after sunset. Exposures in the 1/10 to 1/20 sec range @400 mm are a breeze with a decent tripod supporting the massive 200-400.

Both images are exquisite!  One common character of the older, obsolete cameras is that they capture the "atmosphere" better than the current high-res models.

When I saw a large prints (around 80cm on the long sides) of D800E, while I was amazed by the resolving power the camera provided, I felt the images rather sterile with lack of atmospheric feel.

The holy grail of obsoleteness can be the Nikon D600 with all those claims,  the fast withdrawal and  introduction of the D610.  That makes the D600 somewhat underestimated in the publics view. However It's a very good camera IQ-wise, but I can't get used not be able to zoom in with a click in  playback mode.   Well, every camera has it's drawbacks 

Yet another holy grail would be D2H which was bashed so bitterly because of bad noise performance contrary to Nikon's advertisement of LBCAST sensor.  While it was indeed noisy already at ISO400, its atmospheric rendition was worth cherishing.

[Eddie Draaisma]

The D3 was truly a game-changer indeed. My impression is that the D3 was much more popular among us Nikon gearheads compared to e.g. the D4 and the D5. The price over here was something like 3300 - 3400 Euros, today a D5 goes over 7K. Maybe that is the reason.

[John Geerts]

When I saw a large prints (around 80cm on the long sides) of D800E, while I was amazed by the resolving power the camera provided, I felt the images rather sterile with lack of atmospheric feel.

I think it also matters which lens is used. Many of the G-lenses do lack an atmospheric feel in my eyes.

[John Geerts]

An example with the Nikon D200 and the Rodenstock Apo Rodagon D 75/4

[Bjørn Rørslett]

While we are apparently on a D200 track, I might submit a contribution of my own. Apart from the EXIF telling me this was captured with a D200 and the vintage 20 mm f/4 from late '70s, I have no idea how I managed the shot thus don't ask.

[Eddie Draaisma]

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[Bjørn Rørslett]

It'll be easy to fill up the thread with heaps of D200 images ...

D200 IR, 'dog' lens 43-86 mm f/3.5 Zoom-Nikkor.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

D200 again, this time with the Noct-Nikkor and a warning message on a shop door.

[Eddie Draaisma]

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[Hugh_3170]

After an insanely large amount of kicking and screaming, Nikon belatedly did the right thing with the D600 and fixed the shutter and oil leaks and gave the machine essentially a life time warranty.  Probably a very high value for money machine if you can find a NOS sample and get Nikon to upgrade the shutter - if your sample actually needs its shutter upgraded at all, as not all units were affected - people seem to forget that point.  The D610 is virtually just a D600 with the upgraded shutter plus one minor addition to the menu functions.  The ultimate in "obsolete" cameras?

Wow, these are great !!

The holy grail of obsoleteness can be the Nikon D600 with all those claims,  the fast withdrawal and  introduction of the D610.  That makes the D600 somewhat underestimated in the publics view. However It's a very good camera IQ-wise, but I can't get used not be able to zoom in with a click in  playback mode.   Well, every camera has it's drawbacks 

[richardHaw]

i do not want to use the term obsolete. instead, i call them "classic"

[David H. Hartman]

It'll be easy to fill up the thread with heaps of D200 images ...

D200 IR, 'dog' lens 43-86 mm f/3.5 Zoom-Nikkor.

I bought my father a 36-72/3.5 Series-E. The zoom was so loose and wobbly that I returned it the next day and bought a 43-86/3.5 AI, probably the last version. He loved it. I gave it to a high school after his death. I guess I should have kept it.

Dave

[Øivind Tøien]

Still occasionally using using my D200, in addition to my other "obsolete" cameras, D40x IR-720nm, D5100, D7100 (the latter is my newest body and I guess also "obsolete" in term of having been superseded by a newer body, if not a classic).

This image from my D200 and 105mm f/4 AIS of a wood frog (captured for our Ph.D. student Don who is studying them) was selected over those I captured with my D5100, the latter was my newest body at that time:



Wood frogs stay frozen solid over the long winter months in Alaska, just to thaw and jump around as if nothing had happened in the spring.

[SA_Photo_Man]

I just bought a used D300S in order to have a newer camera.