Old School DSLR Cameras and Photography

Do we have a thread for old school digital cameras? I like my old film cameras a lot but a old school D90 (or somthing similar) is also a lot of fun to take out.  I think it is because of the limits of the tech at the time making getting a good shot harder than with a modern digital camera. I really do have quite a fondness for the old DSLR cameras and of course the film based SLRs that I have. 

The reason I am asking is I found my dream DSLR from 2007-2008 in almost new condition (just under 8000 shutter activations). That when released and for years later just the body was selling for 5k. I got it for less than 1/10th that. That and at the same time scored a 28-300 Nikor lens for it This was my dream setup and I now have it.  My dream camera since 2007 but at the time I was saving for a house so it was just not an option.

May I present my new to me D3.

I have other DSLR cameras but this is now the crown of my collection.  A long standing dream realized. I have always felt that the sensor in this camera (the same one used in the D700) are special. There is something about how they work that no other sensor seems to be able to match.  It is creats immages that with out any post processing are like film. The colors are somehow special.  Very natural in that what you see in real life is what you get as an image. I hate my IPhone for this reason.  Photos it takes are so processed that it is sometimes difficult to get an image that represents what you are actually seeing.

Yes the D3 is only 12 mp but after years thinking bigger mp was better I really don't think that is actually so for most situations and certainly for the type of shooting I do. 
 

Anyway let's see what other old school DSLR stuff you all have.  If people are interested I have three other Nikon DSLR cameras I can go on about.  They all have there strong points.  
 

So what do you all have on the shelf?  Anyone else still using the older DSLR stuff?  
 

Oh and obviously your cool to you photos taken with your DSLR cameras are absolutely welcome 

Heh.  My DSLR history was an original Canon Digital Rebel/EOS-300D, then an 50D, then a 7Dmk2.  The 7D is still my current "nice" camera (I've had it like 13 years now!), although now that phone cameras have gotten as good as they are I don't wind up taking the Canon out very often.  I gave the 300D to a friend a long time ago (2009?) when I got the 50D.  I had both the 50D and 7D for a long time, but then my daughter needed a camera for her photography classes a couple years ago so she got the 50D and "nifty fifty" (50mm f/1.8 prime) lens and I kept the 7D.  Later on she "borrowed" my 24-105 f/4 L lens and liked it enough that I never got it back, so I had to go buy another one -- fortunately they're pretty cheap used these days. :)

The thing I will say about post-processing is that even a DSLR requires a lot of that.  The raw sensor data requires processing even to display it on the camera, and if you save as a jpeg (instead of RAW) then it has to throw information away.  It's just that the default processing software built into the camera (or Lightroom) opts for a pretty conservative level of processing, vs what a lot of phones do.

A couple of my favorite shots with the 7D:

Most of the recent photos (past 10 years) that you see credited to me on the pages of GRM have been taken with a Canon 7D Mk II. I carry a 7D as a backup and, fortunately, have never needed it. Before the 7D, I want to say I carried a 40D, 20D and D60–so, basically, back to 2002. The D60 was the magazine’s first DSLR. Before that, we had some digital point-and-shoots. 

I have found these Canons rather reliable and easy on batteries. With the battery grip, I can take a few thousand photos. The battery grip also nicely balances the weight of the 70-200 f/2.8. 

I’m a big fan of the control dial on the back as it allows you to work exposure compensation (or other controls) with your thumb. 

Added bonus: You can pound tent stakes with a 7D. 

TL;DR: Effective tools for photography. A used 7D is a bargain in today’s market, too. (My wife has one.)

I bought a D200 a few years ago for about $100 for track photography. Some shots from this year below.

I'll have to rummage through my raws from my Canon 60D at some point to share; I no longer have that. I've since upgraded to a Canon R5 (back in 2020) and have picked up shooting film so I've amassed a collection of (non-D)SLRs. In high school in the mid-2000s we were stilling shooting film at school, with me being given an F90 (N90 in the US-market, but I was living overseas) and I hated that thing. To this day it is one of the worst film bodies I ever had to use, with awfully slow AF, wonky metering, and strange ergonomics. We eventually moved to crop-body Nikon DSLRs, I think I was shooting the D40x, and while it increased the speed of my workflow, there weren't many (if any) improvements in the AF department when shooting fast things like sports for yearbook. I made the switch to Canon when I was in college back in 2011-2012 due to better ergonomics, for me, and just overall better performance.

The 60D got me through a lot, and I was close to pulling the trigger on a 5D MkIV to really step it up, but then the original EOS R came out and I decided to wait on the next gen.

I'm a huge Pentax fan, so I've been keeping an eye out for a deal on a K1 that would allow me to use my existing K-mount and M42 glass since I have the official Pentax adapter ring.

My stepmom contacted me last month to see if I wanted my dad's old cameras (we weren't close and he passed a year ago).  She was moving and cleaning out stuff.  I said of course, he got me my first real camera, a Nikon FG in 1985 for HS graduation.

She gave me an F, F2, EM and a D80 mounted on a giant Vivitar handle.  I'm not sure she included any batteries or charge for the D80 (I was more interested in the old film camera).  I had to look up the specs, it's very similar to the D70 I used for many years (after I finally graduated from the Coolpix 995 to a legit DSLR).

I still have the D70 in a closet.