Bobsprit wrote:

Not many pros used them these days.


That's because customers have become inured to poor quality.

Not at all. And most of those life magazine pics were shot with 35mm and medium
format, which are now eclipsed by digital quality.
FYI, a 6 MP camera matches the resolution and depth of a 35MM camera. The only
limiting factor is the lens.
It has greater depth but lower resolution. You need 22 Mpix to exceed
35mm resolution (I have a canon 10D).

Cheers