Thread: New camera - where to start?

Originally Posted by Pickles2

DSLR is so much easier,..no calculations to be made in normal circumstances,...No exposure, speed, focussing, depth of field etc etc, the camera will do it all.
Bushie....My lenses are all M42,...yes they can be made to "work" but to nowhere the extent on auto settings etc that a digital lens will. To be honest, even the simplest of digital stuff, including our phone, gives very good images (can't believe how good the phone is), AND, I still have all of my images PRINTED to put in my album (s!)
Pickles.

Yes, for some situations, but the ability to control everything is something I've been missing since I've stopped using film. The phone is fine for a point and shoot, and takes decent photos in good light, but they just don't do low light well.

Answers below in red.

Originally Posted by Bytemrk

Gav,

The questions I would be asking myself (some of which you have already answered) are:

• What is your budget? About $1000 to start with.
• Who will be using the camera? Just me
• Does size and weight matter to you? Not overly, no
• What sorts of images are you hoping to use it for? General scenery, low light/morning/evening and I like taking close ups of insects and birds.
• What will you do with your images? - Display them on line, Print them? Bit of both.
• Will you use it for movies as well as stills? Stills only, movies isn't a priority at all
• Will you be doing much low light work? Yes, plenty
• Do you want to have the ability to change lenses? Yes
• How rugged does it need to be?- will it be exposed to weather and dust at times? It will need to survive travelling with me in the 101.
• What sorts of focal lengths are you likely to want? How wide?.. How long? Close and narrow, to long and wide
• What sorts or accessories might you need? - tripod/flash/filters etc. Are they available for the camera I choose - at what cost? I have an ok tripod if the thread on new cameras hasn't changed, flash yes, filters maybe later as I get better

Originally Posted by cafe latte

What brand is your old slr camera and do you have any good lenses for it? Also what is your budget?
I ask as I have a lot of good lenses for my old Nikon film camera so my plan early next year is to get a Nikon d750 which is a full frame sensor slr ie you can use old 35mm lenses and get the same zoom range. I thought about the d810, but it is a grand more and I dont believe it is a grand better. By using my old lenses I can afford a really good slr like the d750 which I have seen around the 1,800 dollar mark for body only. If I had to buy lenses too I would have to shop a lot further down the food chain.
Chris

I'll go and dig it all out now - can't remember off the top of my head - it has screw in lenses. The brand isn't a name brand, but I was told it was a copy of something else? Don't really know though - I was given it all by my Wife's Grandmother - it all belonged to the Wife's Grandad and had been in storage for years before being passed onto me - it is oooooollllllldddddd.....!

What about a Box Brownie? I have two you could borrow.

Ok, a few pics of what I had when using film.

This gives you an idea of how old the setup is...



This is what I have. The mirror has fallen out of the body - and broken, so it's not doing anything anymore, but I hang onto it for old times sake. There is a 55mm Cosina lens, a 135mm INA lens and a Tasman doubler. Plus a couple of flashes one of which has a heap of filters with it. The body has nowhere for the flash and there is a holder somewhere that screw to the bottom of the camera which then holds the flash. There's an X and M port on the side the flash plugs into - never figured out what the difference was between them, I'm guessing something to do with the trigger time?



A close up of the camera. A 'Titan Hi-Lite'




The lenses are all a screw in type. No idea about what this type of thread is called, or if it is still used or if these lenses are worth using. I pretty much taught myself how to use it and this was all way before the Internet and easy access to such information, but I had a blast with it and took some great pics over the years.



Oh, and this is the flash and bits - never quite figured all this out either...

Originally Posted by bacicat

Yes, for some situations, but the ability to control everything is something I've been missing since I've stopped using film. The phone is fine for a point and shoot, and takes decent photos in good light, but they just don't do low light well.

Well no worries,...you can always make your own "calculations", and even Wifey's "El Cheapo" allows her to do that, but for most situations the auto digi stuff does a ripper job.
We've been taking a bit of stuff from the Defender, on the move, low light etc etc, and all these shots are coming out 100%, on auto!! and AFAIAC, better than most of my film stuff.
I know I can do manual stuff if I want to, but I just don't see the need. I've done a lot of photography in my time, even a bit of VERY fast motor sport stuff for race promoters etc, and all I can say is, I wish I'd had digital then.
I was talking to a few photographers in the press room at Sandown raceway many years ago, and talking about how many shots were 100%,....and one of them said to me, Martin, sometimes if I get ONE GOOD shot every couple of rolls, that's the way it is, (it was that long ago, that auto focus, power zoom etc wasn't even that common on 35mm stuff).....no such worries with digital!!
One of my best shots was an image I took of Brock going flat out towards the end of the front straight at Phillip Island,...He would've been doing 250ks+. Well I was about 50-70mtrs back from the track, I pre-focussed, and set the shutter at 1/60th & panned,......the result,....one of my best shots,...car totally sharp, wheels & back ground a total blur!!!...Got Brock to sign the enlargement when done,...He wrote "Top Shot Martin, P.G. Brock"...always got him to sign differently for me rather than the usual "P.Brock", so I've got some just "Peter G", some Peter G Brock" etc etc,.....those were the days!
Pickles.

1. Gav, do you currently have an SLR?
2. Do you have several lenses you want to use with the new camera? (Pentax is good for legacy lenses.)
3. Are you expecting to shoot a lot of flash photography? (Nikon and Canon are good. Pentax is probably not in the same class.)
4. Will you shoots sports? (Nikon is good.)
5. Is size an issue? (Pentax is small but Olympus 4/3rds is even smaller.)
6. If you want to shoot low light without flash, then you want something with good low light noise performance when you push the ISO up. (My Pentax K-5 is far better than my K-7 or other Pentax DSLRs.)

Dusty environment? Look at this US soldier's Pentax (Alex took some great pics in Afghanistan):

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo61t5fH6Qw[/ame]

I won't make a recommendation for brand because what suits me may not suit you.

Originally Posted by Pickles2

.still have my old Pentax Spotmatics & a HUGE range of lenses, all in immaculate condition....Don't know what I'm going to do with 'em

Pentax legacy lenses fetch good money, still. K-mount lenses will click straight onto a modern Pentax DSLR. M42 lenses need an adapter. I have one for my cameras.