Hello everyone! This looks like a great forum. For this, my first post, I'd like to ask a question of the group that may have been asked before. If so, my apologies but I hope you'll tolerate it again.

In the 1970s and early 1980s I was a professional photographer. I trained in large format but was employed for the most part in a Biomedical Communications department. During that employment I did lots of macro work and used almost every professional 35mm camera of the day (Nikon, Leica, Canon), as well as the medium formats (Hassleblad, Mamiya) and large formats (Sinar, Toyo, Arca Swiss, etc.)

I left the field and went on to enjoy a career in which I never took a picture. But I miss it, and want to start again. I've decided to make the plunge and buy a Digital SLR. So while I'm deciding which one might suit me best (I'm a life-long Nikon fan) I'm curious to know how the digital experience will compare to my prevous film-only experience.

Do people still shoot film? What criteria influences that choice?

How high should I set my expectations regarding the image quality of modern cameras?

Aside from the myriad of technincal details to be learned, are professionals able to get past them and actually be creative? (I know, kind of a dumb question, but people get so bogged down with widgets)

Are the cameras rugged? Fast? Dependable?

In short, I'm looking for insight from folks who've made the transition from film to disc. I am very experienced with Photoshop and have all the software necessary to manipulate digital files (but I can't help but miss the darkroom!).

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.