This is probably a rather crazy thing to do, but I have done crazier things for worse reasons. Also, a man will do many insane things for what he loves, and this may or may not be limited to things like cameras and games.

What can someone do when faced with new camera equipment?

I plopped down a deposit at my favorite camera store to get on the list… I will try not to lose the receipt in my trunk underneath sports equipment and old jogging shorts that I really should have washed in April.

I’m very excited about the mystical Nikon D3x. I have a D2x right now and it has treated me well. I think the new sensor, the new sweet megapixels, the new screen, and a bunch of other little goodies will be great. I’m going to have to work with some smart programmer friends to hack the thing to make it more suitable for HDR. The firmware won’t let me do what I want to do, which is:

• Press the button once to take 3 autobracketed exposures
• Have a 2-second delay after I press the button for the camera to stop the micro-shakes
• Take the shots at +2,0,-2, rather than the silly +2, +1, 0, -1, -2 that I have to do now
• Keep the mirror in lock-up mode the whole time… there’s no need for it to flap up and down like some Da Vinci mechanical wonder

A Small Diatribe on Megapixels

I think that having 20+ megapixels will be great too.  And YES, I will use the megapixels.  It bothers me when people wag their finger and say, “You don’t need that many megapixels.”  Yes I do!  I need the details… who wants to zoom in on a flower 100 feet away and see a blur?  Who?  Not me and not my great fans… we need the details.  I’ve got the tripod, and with my firmware hack I can get zero shake.  If there is a little wind, I can crank up the ISO and still get nice clarity thanks to the new sensor.

People also say that you don’t need more than 5 megapixels to get a nice 8×10.  That is very true, but I don’t think that is how most people will consume photography in the future.  I think they will consume it while in a comfy chair or couch, looking at a huge display with incredible resolution.

The other reason we need the megapixels is that we, as humans, are woefully unable to envision to doubling of tech fidelity every two years. It won’t be that long until we have the Fareinheit 451 video walls, and people are going to want walk-up resolution. For every shot, I need it to be the absolute best in quality — otherwise, why bother?

Below is the first shot I took when I got the Nikon D2x while I was in Chicago.  I’ll be putting this great camera that has served me well up on eBay as soon as my new ride rolls into town.