35mm Digital Equivalent

[holeinthewall]

Hi, I'm looking for a digital camera that has a viewfinder like a 35mm (not tiny where you have to quint to see in it), and a 2:3 proportion of the photos so 4x6 photos will print without cropping along with the ability to blow up photos to at least 20x30 without sacrificing any quality (which needs to be very high [if there are digital cameras that match the quality of 35mm]). And I would like to be able to manually control the settings (shutter speed and f stop) Could you recommend a camera below $1000 that meets these specifications? Thanks!

 

[fmw]

Can't help you there. In my opinion 35mm is not capable of making good 20X30 prints. Even though I believe the 35mm type digitals have better image quality than 35mm film they can't do it very well either. That's a huge enlargement from a tiny image. Other than that, any DSLR will meet your requirements.

If you can run your budget up to around $15000-$30000, then there are some digitals that will handle a 20X30 print with aplomb.

By the way, the world rarely provides perfect 2:3 compositions. Most of us need to crop every single image we make. I know I do.

I'm not into recommending specific cameras but I'm sure you will get plenty of recommendations from others. Welcome to TPF.

 

[holeinthewall]

Thanks for the help fmw. The ability to enlarge to 20x30 was the one feature I was looking for that I haven't found with 35mm. I was under the impression that digital photos with very high resolutions could be enlarged to a size like 20x30, though I may be wrong. What kind of resolution would be necessary to enlarge to said size?

Additionally, I would have to disagree with you about the 2:3 compositions. All of my photographs, currently 35mm, found there home on a 4x6 piece of paper as a result of my Pentax K1000's viewfinder of the same proportion.

 

[midget patrol]

The Nikon DX sensor in my D50 is 3008w x 2000h pixels which is almost perfectly 2:3. Every current nikon DSLR uses the DX proportion sensor in varying resolutions. The Nikon D40, D50, D70, and D80 all fit what you're looking for. I have two beautiful 24x36 prints from my D50 that I couldn't be happier with.

 

[markc]

What kind of resolution would be necessary to enlarge to said size?

It all depends on how discriminating you are. If you aren't picky, 3000x2000 pixels would be ok. If you are looking for quality, you'd probably want something closer to 9000x6000 pixels. Personally, I wouldn't want to print my 3072x2048 images any larger than the 12"x18" max that I'm at, and they are images with shallow DOF where lots of overall sharpness isn't important.

 

[Iron Flatline]

Most of these megapixel images will be fine to print at 20x30. If in doubt, get an Adobe Photoshop plug-in from Fred Miranda called SI Pro. That's a Stair Interpolation software that enlarges your image in very small increments (but with one mouse-click) that will allow you to get a great print. At $20 it's reasonable, and cheaper than most cameras.

 

[ksmattfish]

Could you recommend a camera below $1000 that meets these specifications?

Not yet. Maybe in a few years. The DSLRs that fit your specifications the best (not completely, but close) would be the full frame Canon DSLRs: the 1Ds MkII at $6800, and the 5D at $2800.

I have printed files from my Canon 20D (8mp APS-C size sensor) up to 16"x24", and I was amazed at how good they looked. I just took the finished file and up-sized it to 110% in Adobe PS, until it was the resolution I needed. I did have the best digital printer I know do the printing.

I hate the small 20D viewfinder. I've installed split screens in my 20D's, but it's still too small. Even the 5D viewfinder isn't as big and bright as many 35mm SLRs. I don't know why they can't give us a nice viewfinder; I think it's one of the most important parts of the camera. I guess they feel most people use auto-focus and it's not important.

 

[Torus34]

20" x 30" is a piece of cake with a 4x5.

 

[fmw]

Additionally, I would have to disagree with you about the 2:3 compositions. All of my photographs, currently 35mm, found there home on a 4x6 piece of paper as a result of my Pentax K1000's viewfinder of the same proportion.

I would seriously recommend you look into the creative possibilities that cropping images provides. Cropping is perhaps the easiest way to improve the impact of your images. It always has been.

 

[LWW]

A D50 and Genuine Fractals sosftware should do the job just fine.

LWW

 

[Alex_B]

digital-camera-wise to get this below $1000 is an illusion. as already said.

software tricks might help, denpending on the qualities your prints have to have.