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is digital photography technology mature enough to merit investment in an expensive D-SLR camera?

film technology based camera such as Nikon have reached a level of maturity that enabled someone to use the camera for many years. I would like to know if it is worthwhile to invest in the Nikon D200 or do digital SLRs have weaknesses that might be resolved over the next few years.

Public Comments

1. Wait a few years for what? EVERY technology is increasing. It will never be done 'developing'. Film can give you sharpness, but for nearly every user, digital will give you everything for nothing. After the outlay for the camera, you never buy film again. Never pay for development again. Never pay to send photos again. If somebody blinked you can delete it. Too dark? Fix it yourself. Cropped wrong? Fix it yourself. Too large? Fix it yourself.
2. Best value: Don't invest in cutting-edge ANYthing electronic- it'll be cheaper before it's even delivered. You're better off buying last Summer's star. I've made 20x30 prints from my 6.3mp digital images- and they've been beautiful.
3. I prefer film for my 11:14 in. prints, but have seen decent digital prints in 4:6 size that have looked fine. It is easier for the novice to edit images digitally on the computer.
4. The fact is that digital imaging keeps evolving so rapidly, that digital cameras, like computers, become obsolete quickly. This was never the case for film cameras - once and a while, you would develop a major improvement, but otherwise the technology would remain steady. I would advise just buying what you can afford. Its safe to assume you'll be upgrading your camera every couple years, if you want to keep up, or if it fails on you.
5. Absolutely. I purchased a DSLR (Canon Digital Rebel) about 2 years ago and now it's my main camera. I have a couple of Canon SLR film cameras that I've used for 25 years. I take batter shots with my digital than I do with the film cameras. The instant feedback that you get from the histograms really allow you to tweek the exposure for your shots to the point where its tough to take a truly bad shot. The only drawback to digital is that film is more sensitive -- in outdoor situations where you want bright highlights as well as shadows, you're better off with film This is actually the only situation where film (for me) outperforms my digital cameras. Also, if you want to imply motion with zoom while you're exposing a shot, the only digital cameras that this works with are DSLRs. The point-and-shoot cameras lock everything including the zoom while the shutter release is pressed. Everything here was taken with digital - http://outdoorphotoguide.com/community/photos/