I carried the Nikon F on the ground and in the air for the USAF and found that they could absorb so much use & abuse, plus the quality of the lens and body were outstanding. So I went with the Nikon F, which I still have. But, since one is never enough, I also have Rolleiflex, Graphlex and Calumet (4x5) cameras. ALL GREAT!!! Now I am using, very happily, I must admit, a very simple, but VERY flexible Nikon D50. On manual I an use virtually all my lenses. I actually miss the weight/heft of the old cameras, you knew you had something in your hands, and yes it took TWO hands.

I am sorry, I don't understand your question. I am 80 years old and have thousands of pictures physically. I plan to provide as good storage as practable for the originals and digitize all that I can on an Epson V550 (maybe not the best, but what I have, and it has done extremely well in the past).

I will store then on my HDDs, in machine, and backup and eventually on multiple DVDs. I am currently using Carbonite for backup.

The main reason that I dislike the subscription model goes back to a philosophical problem I have with "It's ONLY $10 a month". I think this is a generational question. If I don't have the "cash" to buy something, I wait until I do! By minimizing the cost to "X/mo" many (probably, mostly younger consumers) are lured into building debt aggrigations greater than they either understand or can sustain.

If I need PP software I look around and see what is available and affordable. For years, I used Corel, and then it seemed that it got rather expensive. I am an 80 year old retiree(who worked at both the highest and lowest governmental/industrial Photographic technology levels)

Guess what? GIMP and other "open source" systems work AS WELL OR BETTER!

Just beware of "easy monthly payments"!!!

Regardless of the thread, WE DON'T NEED "WHAT THE F..."

Interesting update in practical useage. However, you are still doing the same principals but updated, more commonly available equipment. I was working with sensitometers and densitometers calibrated to NBS requirements.

Good discussion, but the H & D Curve the sensitometric characteristics of emulsions with regard to time, developer, agitation and temperature when a sensitometer. The resulting densities were read with a densitometer and plotted. The resultant curve was called the H & D Curve and the steeper the straight-line portion was, the higher the contrast.

Nothing is NEW (or at least very little). This 80 year old photographer (amature, military, and commercial) grew up with film, chemistry and Ansel Adams. His books were slim physically but of great depth of knowledge. Other than some of the technolgy, little has changed. Exposure is a simple algebraic equation (E=I x T). The exposure needed is dependent on the recording medium (film or digital) and the processing (chemical or digital).

Good discussion! Humor makes a close and personal thread pleasant. I have used a reversed f:2 50mm lens with both my Nikon F and D50 quite successfully with both rings/tubes and extension bellows. I have also worked "close" at over a hundred miles with sattelite imagry.

As an OLD photographer who worked with dye-transfer and even Printon I am truly pleased with digital printing! I have had such good results, even with just my HP Officejet 6600 printer, and HP, Epson and even Staples papers, but it is a little early to judge the perminence. What I used to do with dodging, burning and masking and smelly chemicals, I can now do with the computer. At my age, archival is a relatively minor concern; also digitalization of the image, even if it is analog, provides the longterm security.

Try GIMP---FREE & powerful and updatable

The Epson V550 scanner will handle both very well. Agree that working from the nearest to the primary source is best. Having been processin film since the "50's" (19 not 18) I fully appreciate that there is always a larger amount of information available the closer to the primary source.

Paint Mines Interpretive Park east of COS.

An Epson Perfection V550 Photo comes with software and handles up to 4 - 2 1/4 negatives or positives at a time.

After years of using Nikons in the air, on the ground and in the lab/studio I bought my first Nikon F Photomic when they were shutting the line down. It's quality and above all, its nearly indestructability were key decision points. If they could hold up to my use as a military air and ground photogpher, anywhere in the world that was a good testamony. Unfortunately, I don't think that any of the newer DSLRs are as physically durable.

Just a suggestion: go to crucial.com and run the scanner on your system. It will not only tell you what you have, but what you may add to your system.