Is my camera junk?

[Bro. Noble]

My wife was cleaning out a closet today getting ready to move.  She asked me what I was going to do with my camera stuff.  I've got a pentax SLR camera and a telephoto lense that at one time were worth a few bucks.  Have digital cameras made these worthless?  Havn't used them in years but not sure I want to part with them,  just curious if they have been rendered obsolete

[Tom]

Not obsolete in my mind.  Digital has not been able to equate with  the sharpness and detail that is available in film photography.

[Ianab]

not quite obsolete...
Although I do 95% of my photography with my digital camera there are still some things that film works better for. Long exposures in very low light for example. And as Tom said, the resolution of film is still much higher than any consumer digital camera. I believe you would need around 16 mpixels to equal a 35mm film? You can buy a digital camera like that... but it could be worth as much as ya sawmill
So there is still a market for film stuff

Ian

[ADfields]

Fast becoming obsolete I would say.   Arizona Highways, Time, Modern Photography and most all magazines now require a digital image to work from.   But a pro digital camera is still very big bucks so it's cheep to shoot 35mm and have it processed digital at a photo shop. ;)   Keep them big buck telephoto lenses and your other stuff even if you ditch the 35mm as they will fit the high end pro digital cameras that are starting to come out now for around $1500.   You know how this stuff works, in 5 years that $1500 digital camera will be selling for $200 and your 35mm will be hard to find film for. :   As our classified digital camera technology that allows NASA to read your cars plate from orbit (and other stuff) makes it's way from Los Alamos New Mexico to China this stuff will get more common place. >:(
Andy

[Percy]

My daughter was thinkin of becomming a photo-journalist and during her reasearch of the carreer, she was told that digital pics are not accepted in some courts as they are too easily manipulated. Analog(da ol 35mm) still rules in this instance anyways(so Im told) :P :P

Did ya really need to know this?? Probly not ;D

[Larry]

I bought a Pentax Spotmatic II and a bunch of lenses in Japan about 1971.  Used the camera a lot for 30 years along with another Spotmatic I picked up about 1985 in a pawn shop.

Liked my digital camera I bought in 2000 so I decided it was time for the Pentax's to go in 2001.  Both camera's were in working condition but I'm sure they could have used a good cleaning and calibration.  Don't think the light meters worked properly and it was near impossible to get the proper battery for them.  Put everything on Ebay and they brought what I thought was a very high price.  There is a good demand for those old cameras for use as a "student camera" in college photo classes.

[MrMoo]

The camera may be showing some age but ADFields is right don't let go of the lenses. The new digital SLR cameras will accept the older SLR lenses. Makes upgrading to a higher end digi less of a hit.

Speaking of digi cameras the Missus and I have been looking at them kind of seriously for the first time. Heck we may even get into the 21st century & spring for one. The old Nikon we've had for about 15+ years hasn't been working as good lately so we figure maybe its time.

[RavioliKid]

I have a 35 mm SLR, which I use when I am working in black and white.

The funny thing is that with all the options for photography these days, it seems like there are just too many choices. I rarely take pictures anymore. In fact, I have a bunch of disposable cameras sitting around with one or two pictures on them - and a whole bunch left to shoot.

If you like using the camera and you use it, it's a good camera!

[sprucebunny]

I've had good quality film cameras for thirty plus years .They've survived dropping and living on boats. I finally bought a digital because 10x(380 mm) lenses were avail. at reasonable prices. It lasted one week.I pulled the card out and it wouldn't go back in. Turns out the camera has a release (my card readers don't). Just don't know my own strength ( or stupidity).I loved it while it worked but visibly grainier than film.I think film will be around quite a while longer.

[Mark M]

You can get a slide/film scanner and make digital pictures. It takes a while but you'll get good results. The new scanners do some pretty amazing things such as color restoration and scratch and dust removal. I scanned some 30 year old negatives and was able to fully restore the faded color.

I have a couple of 35mm cameras but don't use them much anymore. The cost of film and developing always limited the number of pictures I took. With my digital camera's I can shoot as much as I want and it doesn't cost anything. I've gotten a lot better too because the camera remembers the settings so I can see what I did wrong.

[Patty]

I prefer the digital cameras myself. It was a real eye opener when we visited Germany this spring. I had a digital, my mom had a 35mm. I took hundreds of photos with no care in mind as to how many shots I had left. I would just download them into the computer every night and start fresh in the morning. Mom, on the other hand, was always worried about her film, how many shots she had left, where she could buy more film, etc. At the end of the trip, my son just burned a cd for me with all our photos, it is a fantastic momento of our trip. My mom just this week got hers developed and sent back to her. She ended up with about 20 good shots. I have 2 great 35mm cameras, but I don't think I'll be using them much anymore.