Photography: Going Pro for $200: Revisiting the Nikon D1 (Shawn M. Tomlinson's Guide to Photography Book 5)

Photographer and writer Shawn M. Tomlinson, author of the Photo Curmudgeon column and books, explains in detail the joys of working with a professional, albeit older, digital single-lens reflex camera, the Nikon D1. “In fact, you can put your hands on a professional DSLR body and a lens for around $200 if you really want to know what all the fuss is about,” Tomlinson writes. “No, I’m not talking about a Nikon D4S that, ah, “fell off a truck” somewhere. I’m talking about the very first, ground-up DSLR for the professional market. The Nikon D1. Many may scoff, but there are good reasons to acquire this pro DSLR that once cost $6,000 when it was new in 1999. That’s $8,551.01 in 2014 dollars, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The first reason is you can get one now for around $100.” The author covers the basics of buying and working with the Nikon D1, illustrating his points with many photos shot with that pro DSLR.