Digital Outback Photo is now over five years old.
This means we have used and reviewed many cameras. So we thought it
might
be fun to have a look back. Most links point to the original reviews.
We only cover here our DSLRs with larger sensors and not the consumer
digital cameras.
about 1974: Nikon EL , Bettina and Uwe started their
photographic journey, Film of choice was for many years Kodachrome
25/64.
about 1976: Nikon F2 (for both of us)
about 1980
1981: Stopped working in the darkroom:
too dark and also too much chemistry
1982-1995: The big void without much photography
1995: Our first 640x480 digital camera.
$1200 for just being a geek.
Sorry, only shot I have available right now :-)
1999 July: Coolpix 950,
important step as it showed to us that digital is real.
1999 October - 2000 February:
Using a F2 and F100 with film. Scanned the slides. This made clear
to us that scanning was not what we wanted to do.
2000 March: Nikon
D1 (Milestone camera, we own still 2 for our history
collection)
First ever DSLR designed from ground
up, $5000, 2.7MP, used RAW from the beginning. All we wanted was
make digital work. We still love many of our D1 shots.
D1: Still one of our top images (see
also)
2000 April: Found first
Dust spots on D1 photos
Were first shocked to the bones and
now just use the healing brush
2000 August: Started Digital Outback Photo
Changed our lives. Nikon D1 was featured in our first camera
review diary.
2000 October: Canon
EOS D30 (Milestone camera)
First CMOS DSLR, defined a new level of low noise, about 3.2MP
D30 at Point Reyes
2000 October: Kodak
DCS 660
Expensive and bulky modified Nikon F5 with a 6MP sensor.
Dropped in price from $25K to about 8K.
2000 December: Olympus E10
Fixed lens DSLR, about 3.5MP, nice handling
2001 March: Fuji S1
Good colors, 3.4MP native resolution,
no RAW support, problematic 2 battery system, good image
quality
2001 June: Kodak DCS 760
Filoli Art garden, Portfolio shot
Successor of the 660, 6MP,
produced some portfolio shots for us
2001 July: Nikon
D1x (we still own one)
Grass at Mono Lake, Portfolio shot
D1 with double the pixels,
5.4MP interpolated to 6MP or 12MP, many of our older portfolio
shots are done with this camera. Is even be today a great
camera.
2001 December: Canon
EOS 1D (Milestone camera)
Pelican at Santa Cruz, portfolio shot
First really fast sports DSLR,
4.1MP, CCD camera, very solid body, fun to use
2002 April: Canon EOS D60
6.3 MP, Canon drives prices
down for 6MP, again lower noise
2002 July: Nikon
D100
Grand Canyon, portfolio shot
Nikons answer to the Canon
D60, 6MP, very nice camera
2002 August: Fuji S2
6.1MP, again nice colors, overall
good image quality
2002 March: Kodak
Proback 645 (Milestone back)
First untethered 16MP digital
MF back.
2002 November: Canon
EOS 1Ds (Milestone camera, we still
own one)
Rock Frame, portfolio shot
Breakthrough camera, first
Full Frame (FF) and 11MP, we have many portfolio shots from
this camera, now we use mainly the 1Ds Mk. II. The new 5D
will deliver probably the same or better quality for less
than half the cost.
2003 March: Sigma
SD9 (Milestone
camera)
Rock Frame, portfolio shot
First full color capturing
CMOS sensor, 3.4 x 3 MP, Foveon sensor
2003 March: Canon
EOS 10D
Rock Frame, portfolio shot
Improved D60, 6.3MP, popular
camera
2003 September: Kodak
14n
Kodak's first CMOS FF camera,
14MP, many troubles with sensor and software did not make
this camera a success.
2003 September: Canon
EOS 300D (milestone camera)
Point Reyes, portfolio shot
First DSLR under $1000, 6.3
MP, small and light, silver plastic body was not liked by
all.
2003 October: Sigma
SD10
California Oak, portfolio shot
Improved SD9, 3.4 x 3 MP, quite
underestimated camera
2003 November: Nikon
D2H
New Nikon body design, high
speed camera, great ergonomics, unique LB Cast sensor, about
4MP, good colors
2004 January: Olympus
E1
Muddy Water, portfolio shot
First four-thirds camera, 4.9
MP, nice handling, on the expensive side
2004 March: Nikon D70
SF Iron Work, portfolio shot
Nikon's answer to the Canon
300D, 6MP, nice camera
2004 April: Kodak
SLR/n & SLR/c
Updated version of the 14n,
not very successful because of problems with sensor and software
2004 May: Canon
EOS 1D Mk. II (Milestone
camera, we own one for wildlife photography)
Santa Barbara, portfolio shot
First 8 fps camera with 8MP
files, nice tool
2004 September: Canon EOS 20D
Improved 10D with now 8MP.
2004 November: Canon
EOS 1Ds Mk. II (milestone camera, we own one)
Mono Lake, portfolio shot
Highest resolution DSLR so
far, 16.7 MP, our workhorse right now
2004 December: Phase
One P25 Back (milestone back)
First 22MP untethered back
2005 March: Canon
EOS 350D (we
own two, one
for IR)
IR photo
Cheapest 8MP DSLR, good camera
for the money
2005 April: Nikon D2x
Nikon's first CMOS sensor (Sony
sensor) DSLR, 12.4 MP, based on the excellent D2H body, very
good camera. (End of 2005 we added a D2x to our camera line).
2005 July: Nikon D50
Small brother of the D70, 6MP,
below $1000, good value for the money
2005 July: Leica DMR
Leica's entry in high quality
digital, warming up for the Digital "M".
2005 August: Digital IR cameras
We have great fun using modified
DSLRs for IR photography.
2005 August: Konica Minolta
Maxxum 7D (milestone camera)
First DSLR with Anti Shake
(AS) sensor, 6MP, good user handling
2005 August: Betterlight Scanning
Back
Very high resolution images
from 4x5 cameras.
2005 September: Leaf
Aptus 22 Back
22MP back with very large LCD,
untethered like the P25.
2005 September: Canon
EOS 1D Mk. II N
Minor update of the Canon EOS 1D Mk. II, e.g. larger LCD
2005 October: BetterLight Diary
2005 October: Canon
EOS 5D (milestone camera)
First full frame DSLR under
$4,000 and benchmark ISO performance
2005 December: Nikon D200 Diary
The Nikon D200 is 10MP full
featured DSLR for about $1.700.
2006 February: Phase One P45
Diary
First 39MP medium format back.
2006 September: Nikon D80 Diary
The Nikon D80 is the first
Nikon 10MP camera below $1,000.
2006 October: Canon EOS Digital
Rebel XTi (400D)
Canon's first 10MP camera
below $1000
2006 November: Leica M8 (milestone
camera)
First 10MP digital rangefinder
camera
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