Are digital SLR cameras in the $1000 range as good as 35mm SLR cameras, with regard to image quality?

Question

Don't answer if you don't know. Don't cut and paste your answer.

Answer 1

yes

they are very different yet similar in many ways and you have immediate access to your pics with digital

Answer 2

Image quality these days has very little to do with film vs. digital (although there are still a few purists around who'll argue this point forever!)

It has more to do with the quality of the lens and the skill of the photographer.

But to answer your question as simply and directly as possible, assuming identical lens quality, of course there are $1000 digital cameras that are as good as 35mm SLRs.

I own two of them.

Answer 3

If you limit yourself to either film OR digital - simply put - you limit yourself.

This is really little more than the Nikon vs. Canon wars.  Each has their own camp or support, but when you come down to it, the more educated and experienced will always admit that either one works well enough to choose for the task when one is better than the other.

Sometimes film is better and sometimes digital is better.  Neither one trumps the other in every circumstance.

I've heard that 17-20 MP is comparable to film.  This would depend on WHICH film of course, since various films have different grain size.

If I scan a 35 mm slide at 4,000 dpi, the Nikon Coolscan V-ED creates a file that is 5,782 pixels by 3,946 pixels.  This calculates out to 22.8 MP.  By the time you crop the slide mount out of the scan - even though this nearly matches the unmounted dimensions of a 35 mm negative or unmounted slide - you are left with 5340 x 3630 pixels or 19.4 MP.  "19-to-22 MP" is close enough for me.

Here is the scanned slide for your evaluation.  Read more about this in the caption under the picture.  View it in the original size.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstei...

I finally own a camera, though, that I would put up against most 35 mm that I have shot and that's the Nikon D300.  It's "only" 12.3 MP, but with the good glass in front of that, I am very pleased.

D300 samples for sharpness.  If you view these full-size, it is almost the equivalent of a 30x40 inch print.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstei...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstei...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstei...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstei...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstei...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstei...

How about the $1,000 range?  It depends on what you want to do with the images, of course, but I think it is fair to expect performance SIMILAR to film from a D80 or Xti/XSi.  You could find a D200 by now for about $1,000.

D200 samples for sharpness:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstei...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstei...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstei...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstei...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstei...

Answer 4

While there may still be come comments about image quality when it comes to film vs. digital at low ISO's (100 and 200), DSLR's excels when it comes high ISO settings.

While not a $1000 camera, the advertising shots taken with the Nikon D3 (the ones of the racing motorcycles) were shot at 6400 ISO so the photographer could shoot at a high shutter speed and small aperture.

Answer 5

yes

Answer 6

Its debatable.

Most dslrs use aps-c sensors....the DX for nikon and the EF-s for canon and they provide sharp pictures.

You can get a 35mm sensor sized camera, but there is NO difference in quality since many 35mm sensors do not have more pixels than their aps-c counterparts.....as the D300 actually has a higher resolution than the D700 or the D3.

Canon tries to push that their 35mm sensor line as a full format line, which they are gravely mistaken.

Supposedly, there is less color noise in the CCD, but since most DSLRs are CMOS...the argument is now moot.

35mm film is comparable if not greated to digital, especially when scanned with a scanner like the Nikon Super Coolscan 5000....at 21mpx....

The colors and details are amazing....better than those cheapo walmart prints...you will automatically see a resolution and color difference.