So my first digital dslr camera was the Nikon D1. I bought it years after its first release. When it first came out in 1999 it was around $3000 or more, I think I paid about $350 for it. It was an ok first digi slr for the money I guess you could say. I used it mainly to learn all the features of the Nikon digital world and also so I could learn all the pros and cons of post processing (as I was used to film at the time).
The major drawback for me was the TERRIBLE battery life. I had like 3 or 4 batteries and each one would only stay alive for about 30 minutes if the camera was in use. The frame was similar to a small tank tho. You could drop it, forget it on the roof of your car in the winter, or let your friends borrow it for the night and not have to worry about it being broken. I think everyone who is new to and wanting to learn digital photography should buy a D1 for a few months, then just hock it on Ebay afterwards. You don't want to keep it and use it for good unless you are some sort of weird "I like to use crappy stuff and revolt against society" sorta person.
Either way, the pic above was one of the first keepers from my D1 era. Notice my horrid black and white conversion and how the grass looks like asphalt. I will give this attempt one kudo....the rock walkway looks decent. My complaints are not from the camera, they are from my novice post processing skills at the time, and the fact that I didn't know what an f-stop was.
In closing, I would like to buy another D1 just to have. I could sit it on my stand and look at it so I could be all nostalgic about the past. Then I could get mad at it and throw it against the wall. I might take a few pictures with it thru a mirror so I could use them in my Ebay gallery as I re-sell it.
