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Photo Forum / Digital Photography / DSLR Cameras / December 2006first digital slr
A colleague of mine is hoping to buy a digital slr. He has previously been using film. Any suggestions on likely models he might look at? He thought about 8 megapixels would suffice, and I think he'd be interested in a sensible low end and a mid-range option. Thanks for any suggestions. All the best, Angus Manwaring. (for e-mail remove ANTISPEM) I need your memories for the Amiga Games Database: A collection of Amiga Game reviews by Amiga players http://www.angusm.demon.co.uk/AGDB/AGDB.html > A colleague of mine is hoping to buy a digital slr. He has previously > been using film. [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > I need your memories for the Amiga Games Database: A collection of Amiga > Game reviews by Amiga players http://www.angusm.demon.co.uk/AGDB/AGDB.html The lenses for the film camera he has may be usable on a digital SLR of the same brand. > The lenses for the film camera he has may be usable on a digital SLR of > the same brand. The layout of the controls will probably be similar as well. According to Angus Manwaring <angus@angusm_ANTISPEM_.demon.co.uk>: > A colleague of mine is hoping to buy a digital slr. He has previously > been using film. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > He thought about 8 megapixels would suffice, and I think he'd be > interested in a sensible low end and a mid-range option. The first question is -- what lenses does he have, and in which camera line? If they can be used with the DSLRs, they may be a good reason to select one line over the others. Note that, except with the high end Canons (out of the budget range suggested by your description of his interests), if he is more interested in wide angle shots, he will most likely need to add at least a wide angle lens, as the crop factor will make his existing lenses appear wider than they are (in terms of subject area coverage). For example, a 27 mm focal length lens will behave like a 40.5 mm lens on a Nikon DSLR body (1.5 crop factor), and like a 43.2 mm lens on a low-budget (entry level) Canon (1.6 crop factor). Beyond that -- what sorts of subjects is he interested in photographing? Under what lighting conditions? This may skew the choice towards some line over another -- because of available lenses and such. Sports photography would suggest longer lenses and faster ones. Portraits could probably be easily handled with existing lenses from his collection -- if there is a DSLR which will accept those lenses. Enjoy, DoN.  SignatureEmail: <dnichols@d-and-d.com> | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564 (too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html --- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero --- On 23-Nov-06 00:27:11, DoN. Nichols said >According to Angus Manwaring <angus@angusm_ANTISPEM_.demon.co.uk>: >> [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >> He thought about 8 megapixels would suffice, and I think he'd be >> interested in a sensible low end and a mid-range option. > The first question is -- what lenses does he have, and in which >camera line? If they can be used with the DSLRs, they may be a good >reason to select one line over the others. Thanks, good point, well made. My understanding though is that he intends to start completely from scratch. Assuming that's right, any views on likely camera models? I don't think he's particuarly interested in sports photography, on anything particuarly specialist - just general holiday/family/out-on-a -walk-with-my-camera-type photography. All the best, Angus Manwaring. (for e-mail remove ANTISPEM) I need your memories for the Amiga Games Database: A collection of Amiga Game reviews by Amiga players http://www.angusm.demon.co.uk/AGDB/AGDB.html > On 23-Nov-06 00:27:11, DoN. Nichols said > >According to Angus Manwaring <angus@angusm_ANTISPEM_.demon.co.uk>: [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > anything particuarly specialist - just general holiday/family/out-on-a > -walk-with-my-camera-type photography. The Big Two (popularity-wise): Either the Canon XTi/400D (10.1 megapixels, about $800/£420/¤620 with one lens, 18-55mm) or the Nikon D80 (10.2 megapixels, about $1200/£625/¤927 with two lenses, 18-55mm & 55-200mm) would be good cameras to start with. Prices will probably remain fairly stable for a while on these. Both very competent cameras, especially in the areas of use you've specified. Either will be an easy transition if he's used to using a film SLR. If he does want to just stick to 8 megapixels, he could probably get a good used Canon XT/350D for under $500/£260/¤390 (with the 18-55mm lens) if he shops around, as many people are dumping them to get the XTi. Same with the Nikon D70, but it's only 6.1 megapixels. It normally has an 18-70mm lens bundled with it. Prices on both of thses these are falling fast as people are buying the newer models (XTi/400D and D80) and dealers and users are trying to offload theirs before the prices bottom out. If he can wait a month or two, the prices on these will probably be even lower. According to Ken Lucke <ken@glass-stones.com>: > > On 23-Nov-06 00:27:11, DoN. Nichols said > > >According to Angus Manwaring <angus@angusm_ANTISPEM_.demon.co.uk>: [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > My understanding though is that he intends to start completely from > > scratch. Assuming that's right, any views on likely camera models? If he has good lenses, it is a shame to abandon them. Especially if they are either Nikon or Canon lenses (the two lines which have been suggested below.) > > I don't think he's particuarly interested in sports photography, on > > anything particuarly specialist - just general holiday/family/out-on-a > > -walk-with-my-camera-type photography. O.K. If it weren't for the 8MP requirement, the D50 might even do well -- though I find it a bit too limited compared to my D70 (I tend to want to be able to control things quickly when I'm not just leaving it set in "Program" mode for quick response.) > The Big Two (popularity-wise): > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > of use you've specified. Either will be an easy transition if he's > used to using a film SLR. Agreed. And he should try both in his hands to find out which is the more comfortable fit, and which has the controls where he can easily reach them. This is often the thing which brings about a choice between the Nikon and the Canon cameras if a pre-existing collection of lenses does not force the qeuestion. And for some people the Nikon is the better fit, and for others the Canon is -- so he really should try both. > If he does want to just stick to 8 megapixels, he could probably get a > good used Canon XT/350D for under $500/£260/¤390 (with the 18-55mm Out of curiosity -- what are the other curency units being given there? the group shows up to me as: $500/\243260/\244390 with the '\243' and '\244' being the representation of extended character codes which my editor will not display. I will guess that the first is UKP, and the second is Euros based on the differences in the numbers once I ignore the escaped octal codes. > lens) if he shops around, as many people are dumping them to get the > XTi. Same with the Nikon D70, but it's only 6.1 megapixels. It > normally has an 18-70mm lens bundled with it. And that is an excellent lens as "kit" lenses go. I got my D70 body only, and later when I felt the need of the wider angle on that lens, I went back and got the lens. (By then, I had read the favorable reports here -- previously I had not expected a kit lens to be really worthwhile owning. :-) > Prices on both of thses > these are falling fast as people are buying the newer models (XTi/400D > and D80) and dealers and users are trying to offload theirs before the > prices bottom out. If he can wait a month or two, the prices on these > will probably be even lower. And -- by now all dealers should have the D70s not the D70, which means that a wired remote control should be a possiblity, and a somewhat larger display screen fitted. For users selling off personal cameras, there is likely to be a mix. Mind you -- when I get (someday) my D200, I don't expect to ditch the D70, as it is still a very useful camera. Enjoy, DoN. SignatureEmail: <dnichols@d-and-d.com> | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564 (too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html --- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero --- > Out of curiosity -- what are the other curency units being given > there? the group shows up to me as: [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > first is UKP, and the second is Euros based on the differences in the > numbers once I ignore the escaped octal codes. Yep. Spot on. I noted he was posting from the UK, so added the additional values. Some newsreaders strip the high-bit characters, some news services strip them. Most don't. I probably should just use the words "pounds" and "euros" in the future to make it more gnerically accessible. According to Ken Lucke <ken@glass-stones.com>: > > Out of curiosity -- what are the other currency units being given > > there? the group shows up to me as: [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > the words "pounds" and "euros" in the future to make it more gnerically > accessible. Yep -- that is safer. There are probably a few still reading news on plain ASCII terminals, which would certainly not know what to do with those. :-) When I go to a window which *can* display them, I get the UKP sign for the first, but the second is a small square with four radial lines extending from the corners -- not a Euros symbol as far as I know. :-) Enjoy, DoN. SignatureEmail: <dnichols@d-and-d.com> | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564 (too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html --- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero --- > When I go to a window which *can* display them, I get the UKP >sign for the first, but the second is a small square with four radial >lines extending from the corners -- not a Euros symbol as far as I know. :-) That makes sense because Latin-1 doesn't have a euro symbol. SignatureThat was it. Done. The faulty Monk was turned out into the desert where it could believe what it liked, including the idea that it had been hard done by. It was allowed to keep its horse, since horses were so cheap to make. -- Douglas Adams in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency > When I go to a window which *can* display them, I get the UKP > sign for the first, but the second is a small square with four radial > lines extending from the corners -- not a Euros symbol as far as I know. > :-) The little "sun" or whatever we should call it is used to indicate 'krone' (the name of our currency) in the Scandinavian countries at least; I don't know if it is in wider use in other countries as a more general 'local currency' icon. It's not widely used here but people working with money will be used to seeing it at least, in computer printouts and suchlike. On 24-Nov-06 03:53:31, Ken Lucke said >> Out of curiosity -- what are the other curency units being given >> there? the group shows up to me as: [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >> first is UKP, and the second is Euros based on the differences in the >> numbers once I ignore the escaped octal codes. >Yep. Spot on. I noted he was posting from the UK, so added the >additional values. Some newsreaders strip the high-bit characters, >some news services strip them. Most don't. I probably should just use >the words "pounds" and "euros" in the future to make it more gnerically >accessible. Displayed fine on my Amiga's newsreader - and many thanks for the info. All the best, Angus Manwaring. (for e-mail remove ANTISPEM) I need your memories for the Amiga Games Database: A collection of Amiga Game reviews by Amiga players http://www.angusm.demon.co.uk/AGDB/AGDB.html On 23-Nov-06 19:00:58, Ken Lucke said >The Big Two (popularity-wise): >Either the Canon XTi/400D (10.1 megapixels, about $800/£420/¤620 with >one lens, 18-55mm) or the Nikon D80 (10.2 megapixels, about >$1200/£625/¤927 with two lenses, 18-55mm & 55-200mm) would be good >cameras to start with. For my own interest I was reading up a bit on the Canon XTi on dpreview, and looking in the forums it seems there may be a bit of a sharpness issue, and not just with the cheap lense. Any thoughts/experience with this? All the best, Angus Manwaring. (for e-mail remove ANTISPEM) I need your memories for the Amiga Games Database: A collection of Amiga Game reviews by Amiga players http://www.angusm.demon.co.uk/AGDB/AGDB.html >A colleague of mine is hoping to buy a digital slr. He has previously >been using film. > >Any suggestions on likely models he might look at? If he already owns good lenses, he should consider a dSLR that will use those lenses. A good lens is much more important than more Mpix: >He thought about 8 megapixels would suffice, and I think he'd be >interested in a sensible low end and a mid-range option. For 8x10 prints, you need 1600x2000, or 3.2 Mpix for a good print (200ppi), and 7.2 Mpix (300ppi) for a great print. I personally love the Canon line, and think you can't do better for the money. -Joel ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Free custom Hanukah songsheets in Hebrew and English: http://liturgy.exc.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > A colleague of mine is hoping to buy a digital slr. He has previously > been using film. [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > I need your memories for the Amiga Games Database: A collection of Amiga > Game reviews by Amiga players http://www.angusm.demon.co.uk/AGDB/AGDB.html Angus, Olympus Evolt E-500: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympuse500/page26.asp It's good value, has 8MP, great review, not too expensive. Most stores sell it with 2 lenses. Here in Canada, the price varies between $850 to $950 with the 2 lenses. Take care, Marcel On 26-Nov-06 17:14:48, Celcius said >Angus, >Olympus Evolt E-500: [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >Take care, >Marcel Noted, many thanks. :) All the best, Angus Manwaring. (for e-mail remove ANTISPEM) I need your memories for the Amiga Games Database: A collection of Amiga Game reviews by Amiga players http://www.angusm.demon.co.uk/AGDB/AGDB.html |
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