"The Spectre" writes:
I realize digital is the reason but that digital SLR these guys are lusting
over will be yesterdays news in 6 months just like computers and other
consumer electronics. No matter what 35mm film is still a much better medium
than digital for "quality" images right now. Sure digital will certainly
catch up soon enough but it IS NOT there yet so why the mass panic to dump
35mm and go with what are really 1st generation digital SLRs?

I'd say DSLR's ones are 3rd generation or so. 1st generation =
Nikon/Fuji E1/D1, 2nd gen = Nikon D1, 3rd generation = current stuff.

Also, what makes a $1000.00 nikkor lens any less useful with a
digital camera than a film one? How can those lenses fetch such a
low price used yet be sold as new at same prices as ever?

If it's a recent AF lens it's probably holding up better than older
or MF lenses. However, I think SLR stuff in general may be taking
a beating because most of it is being replaced by non-SLR digicams.

Finally, a camera like a Nikons F series are built to take
punishment and withstand the rigors of professional use that I just
do not believe current digital cameras poses.

As far as I can tell, the D1/D2H/EOS-1D/etc. are just as tough as the
F series.

Not to mention they are works of ark in their own right. So how can
an F5 which is a state of the art, professional camera designed from
the ground up to be the best and sold in limited numbers as "world
class" sell for less than a mass produced DSLR that will be
surpasses in 6 months by the latest and greatest digital wonder.

That's basically what the F5 is, a digital wonder with a film train.
The F2 and maybe even F3 are another story, but those are ancient history.