I think he would have used the best tools available to him to make the best pictures he could. My guess is he could continue to get better photos with film, especially at the sizes he worked with. A digital camera would have probably served him better as an evaluative tool to help him get better photos with film.

But more than a digital camera, I think he would have gone crazy with photoshop. Adams loved the darkroom, and Photoshop would have let him do things he could have only dreamed of otherwise. He'd have scanned his negatives and loaded them onto the computer.

People often put down digital cameras and image editing software as somehow "cheating," but photographers have always used the best technology available to them. Why would they want to limit their options? If the goal is to get the best image possible, then you're going to use all of the tools at your disposal. How old does a technology have to be before it's no longer considered cheating? Is auto-focus "cheating"? Is it "cheating" to let the camera calculate the metering for you?

Just as a modern carpenter is going to use electric tools--why use a hand saw, hammer, and screw driver when there are power saws, nail guns, and electric screw drivers which get the job done faster and more accurately? Do you think that builders who lived before electricity would have eschewed such tools because they were "cheating" or somehow less "pure"?

Of course, for some people, getting the best image possible isn't always the entire goal. There are people who intentionally limit themselves for the sake of the exercise, or because they like a particular effect, etc. So they only use the old-fashioned dark room. Or they shoot with a Holga or Diane. Like a builder who intentionally wants to build a house the way the early settlers did and avoids modern methods and materials.

But I don't think Adams was one of those people.

The Mods at Photo.net dont like "Wild Pointless Speculation" but I think we are more visionary over here. Right?
http://photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00Sxwy

So what do you think AA would do in our time?