another digi camera (SLR) thread

[danielf]

Right, I'm getting one. It has to be SLR. I've been looking at reviews at

http://www.dpreview.com/

I'm thinking about the Nikon D50, which is £650 with a lovely looking 18-70 mm lens. (from here

(The D50, as I understand is a slightly simpler version of the D70 which gets very good reviews as well, but is 100 odd quid more expensive)

Main rivals appear to be:

Canon EOS which gets equally good reviews, but appears to be a bit more expensive (same retailer

The Pentax *IST is a little cheaper, but the reviews aren't quite as positive

Any thoughts? This camera would be replacing a Pentax 35mm unit (which the gf who is the main photographer here is very fond of)

Also, I'll need a memory card with it. How many shots can one expect to put on a 512 meg card?

Ta for any input

[Roy MM]

I'm not a photographer but my bro is, he gets his stuff from:- http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/defa...bd24dd86fbe9af

[Angua]

The most positive advantage with the Nikon is the lenses (means you can put a polarising filter amongst others on). And having seen Nikon Digital is the choice of professionals I would stick with them.

[altis]

Bear in mind that each of these SLRs has their own lens mount. This is a deliberate ploy by the manufacturers to lock you into their system. If you already have some Pentax lenses then well worth looking at the *istD and *istDS.

If you haven't already got a load of lenses then check out some of the new superzoom cameras. Due for release this month is the Fujifilm FinePix S9500 (28-300mm equivalent) and next month the Panasonic Lumix DSC-FZ30 (35-420mm equivalent). These have lots of advantages over a DSLR - cheaper, less to carry around, sensor doesn't need cleaning every year, some also have optical image stabilisation.

Another site to wade through is:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/
Check out the 'best cameras'.

[Bifta]

Also if you do decide to go for a Nikon, make sure you've got some image editting software as pretty much all of the images I've seen from my old mans D70S have been undersaturated, easily fixed though.
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Originally Posted by Angua

The most positive advantage with the Nikon is the lenses (means you can put a polarising filter amongst others on). And having seen Nikon Digital is the choice of professionals I would stick with them.

I'd rather take Canon L series glass over any Nikkor lens, far superior Also, you can put all manner of filters on Canon lenses too, they're normally cheaper as well as they're only 58mm. AND you'll probably find that Canon is the professionals choice, I've seen several reporters and wildlife photographers with EOS 1DS Mk2's.
__________________

Originally Posted by danielf

Also, I'll need a memory card with it. How many shots can one expect to put on a 512 meg card?

Ta for any input

Probably around 120+ high quality jpgs or 60 (ish) RAW's.

[SMHarman]

An EOS 300D image at 6Mp will probably create a 3Mb JPEG so that would be 170 images. RAW will half that.

Your GF needs to visit a camera shop and try them, look feel, usability, find out about backward compatability of the lenses she owns.

I would be getting the EOS, but only because I have a compatible flash, 3 lenses, Cokin mount system etc.

And you should always buy a daylight filter for a lens to protect the first optical element from scratches, dust etc. Better to replace a £5 filter than a £500 lens.

[Bifta]

Originally Posted by SMHarman

An EOS 300D image at 6Mp will probably create a 3Mb JPEG so that would be 170 images. RAW will half that.

Your GF needs to visit a camera shop and try them, look feel, usability, find out about backward compatability of the lenses she owns.

I would be getting the EOS, but only because I have a compatible flash, 3 lenses, Cokin mount system etc.

And you should always buy a daylight filter for a lens to protect the first optical element from scratches, dust etc. Better to replace a £5 filter than a £500 lens.

a 512mb card in a 300D will store 142 jpg's (best quality) and 56 RAW (I've just checked on mine).

[danielf]

Ta everyone. I had thought about the lenses. We currently have a Pentax 35-80 plus a 100-300 (which we hardly use, and which is a bit of a pain to carry around) Obviously there is the external flash (we have a sigma) which would probably need replacing as well.

The thing with the lenses though is that, as I understand, you basically need to multiply the specs by 1.5 when used with a digital camera. So, the small lens would effectively be 53-120 which means we would need to buy a smaller lens anyway.

The 18-70 (effectively 28-105 seems a very nice one lens solution.

The pentax apparently underperforms on jpeg (but not RAW) (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxistds/page24.asp) which counts against it.


I'll have a look at the superzoom, but I think the gf wants the control of a 'real' camera.

SMHarman: Yes, we will be visiting a shop to handle the product before buying it. I'm just doing my research to narrow the field down

edit: this guy speaks very highly of the nikon 18-77 mm lens (as well as the d70/50)

[SMHarman]

Cannon have created a 'digital' lens which is sold as a package with the 300D which deals with the long lens problem.

Thinking about it that a nice bonus, turning the 100-300 into a 150-500 for free.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by SMHarman

Cannon have created a 'digital' lens which is sold as a package with the 300D which deals with the long lens problem.

Thinking about it that a nice bonus, turning the 100-300 into a 150-500 for free.

It would be, but we'd have to carry a tripod as well (and as I said, it's not used much, possibly because we don't have a tripod)

ROY: 7day shop looks good. Nikon d50 with 18-55 lens is £50 cheaper than on best cameras.

[andygrif]

Originally Posted by danielf

I'm thinking about the Nikon D50, which is £650 with a lovely looking 18-70 mm lens.

<snip>

Canon EOS which gets equally good reviews, but appears to be a bit more expensive

You'll find that most tog are either in the Canon or Nikon camp - there are two forums, Nikonians and Photography-on-the-Net that deal with each camp. My personal preference is Canon - namely as Bifta said becuase of the Canon L lenses which are far better than even the Nikkor glass.

But in reality there is little chose between competing Canon and Nikon camera bodies. It's all about personal taste, as SMH suggested, take a trip to a camera store and try them out....one thing I didn't like about the Nikon was that the camera strap kept catching on the programme dial changing the setting.

Originally Posted by SMHarman

And you should always buy a daylight filter for a lens to protect the first optical element from scratches, dust etc. Better to replace a £5 filter than a £500 lens.

Good advice...you'll also see these called a Skylight filter. However I use a UV filter on my lenses, as there is less colouration that with Skylight which have a slight warm tint to them - but I'm being anal. If you also want to be anal about your UV filters, pick B+W filters - they're more like 30 quid for a UV Haze, but they're much much better than the Hoya or Jessops' own brand.

Whether you pick the Canon or Nikon will dictate your own-brand lens choice - both have good ranges, personally speaking the range of Canons is much better and wider - with something for everyone. If you want the bargain of the decade buy a Canon 50mm f/1.8 - it's plasticy and will break if you drop it, but the glass is stunning, the quality of the shots are wonderful and the minute depth of field you can get out of 1.8 is trouser-wettingly cool! And the best bit....buy it from 7dayshop and it's 55 quid - but produces shots almost as good as the f/1.4 50mm at five times the price. This lens is really good for portraits BTW.

Outside of the own-brand lenses, some of the Sigma lenses are top notch. Most 3rd party manufacturers offer their wares in all the major fittings such as Canon, Olympus and Nikon.

If you're looking at Sigmas, try and go for the APO and EX lenses - which are their equivalent of the Canon L lenses. If you're feeling flush then pick the Sigma 50-500mm (yes that's half a metre!!) lens. For outdoor shots with lots of light you will not get a better lens under £1,000 (and you can pick these up for about £600).

But the thing about lenses is that buying a brand does not denote a quality standard. Many years ago I bought the Canon 75-300 USM lens for the extra focal length. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad lens (well Ok it is actually), but when you compare it to my new 70-200mm L you would never believe that they came from the same camera! So there's one to avoid. Also avoid any lenses for sale in Dixons/Currys. Period.

Check out those forums linked above, search on what lenses people are raving about, generally they'll shove up some comparison shots to help you - but without it buying lenses is a minefield, so never be afraid to ask for their help.

Phew...I'll stop now, my fingertips are starting the bleed

If you need any more advice, just holler....

[Bifta]

I wouldn't say all Sigma APO lenses are of equivalent quality to L glass. I tried a couple of Sigmas in Jessops the noise from the AF was enough to wake the dead. I borrowed a Tamron 18-200 F/3.5-6.3 XR Di II , stunning lens, I've ordered one and decided to give away my 90-300mm USM (worst lens ever).

[Graham]

Originally Posted by danielf

I'm thinking about the Nikon D50, which is £650 with a lovely looking 18-70 mm lens [...]
(The D50, as I understand is a slightly simpler version of the D70 which gets very good reviews as well, but is 100 odd quid more expensive)

I was planning on getting the D70, but now Nikon's replaced it with the D70s it's almost impossible to find. A couple of local camera shops (Jessops and London Camera Exchange) each have one left for just under £700, but this site http://www.camerabox.co.uk/product.asp?ProductID=1229 has the D70s for £724 with the 18-70 lens.

(Scroll over to the right hand side of the page and there's also a useful chart on memory cards and the number of pics you can get on each depending on the MP count eg 160 on a 512MB card for a 6.1 MP camera)

From what I've heard the D50 may have a slightly lower build quality than the D70s, but the hardware is slightly better, the spot meter sensor is wider (thus less accurate) and you don't get as much control over EV compensation (just checking that site you gave, it gives 1EV steps instead of 1/3EV steps. The 70s has more controls (and IMO more control) the 50 appears to be simpler to use, but with less functions.

There again, the 50 has USB 2.0 and uses SD cards, whereas the 70s has USB 1.1 and needs CF cards.

Any thoughts?

Because I already have Nikon lenses, I'm not looking to change models, so I can't help on that choice, it's just whether to go for the D50 or the D70s!

Also, I'll need a memory card with it. How many shots can one expect to put on a 512 meg card?

See above

[danielf]

Well, I discussed it with the GF tonight, and we are leaning towards the Nikon mostly because of the 18-70 mm lens. The D50 looks favourite over the D70, mostly due to it being slightly cheaper.

Time to handle the real product in the shop I suppose...

[andygrif]

Absolutely, if you're looking at that end of the range, make sure you pitch it against the Canon 350D, which is a lovely little unit. Don't put too much emphasis on the kit lens (the one that it comes with) as generally these are terrible compared with what's available. Most pros would never buy a camera with an included lens - but saying that the kit lens on the 300D and 350D is pretty good as they go - but still ripe for replacement.

But as I said before, it's all personal choice - see which one you feel is most comfortable in your hands, which one is easiest to use and which one takes the better shots. If you go somewhere like Jessops, ask them to set up both cameras to the same settings and take a shot on each - if you've got a memory card lying around take it with you, get them to transfer the images to your card and take them home and study which one looks best.