Looking for a SLR, which one?

[shibabigk]

I am looking for a afordable high quality SLr. I am not lookin got do any fancy stuff just good old fashioned pphotography. i am not the type that will sta yout all night because there is a full moon and the lighting effects will be fantastic. I leave that up to the more talented, creative people ;-)
I need soemthing to take landscape, portraits and especially pet photos with. Movement& zoom is important wide landscapes not as much.
I am also debating wether I should go digital. I know long term they are more afordable but i am still a little hestitant. in my experience if you use old fashioed film you take fewer but better planned pictures. I usually end up with 30 good pics wether I have 36 on ngeatives or 100 on a CD.

Any input would be wonderful!

 

[blackdoglab]

Go with a used 35mm body and lens. Any Pentax Kmount body and lenses will do will and there are plenty out there. If you want something a wee bit more advanced, try an Olympus om-10.

 

[Frequent Traveler]

Well, there is much more to discuss for digital slr's (dslr).

However, for film cameras everyone will have a brand preference. As mentioned, Pentax is certainly excellent, Olympus made some fine cameras too, Nikon is not to be left out, Minolta is my personal favorite (nothing like Minolta colors and sharpness!!!), Leica is OK, ;-) and well, Canon, i guess we can't forget those guys....


Lotsa options and most of the film cams can be had for under $50 with GOOD glass if you shop well.

Enjoy- Viva la film!!!

frank

 

[Don Simon]

Hehe.. An Olympus OM-10 is more advanced than any Pentax body? :raisedbrow:

I'm glad to see someone still referring to an SLR and meaning film. As for whether you go for film or digital... well, right now film cameras are dropping to really low prices. Digital SLRs are becoming more affordable too but still nowhere near as cheap. I don't personally think digital is necessarily more affordable in the long run; that depends on how much you shoot, how much you print, how much you spend on various accessories, computer software and hardware, or how much you spend on film and darkroom equipment or processing, and how often you buy new camera bodies. Also the 'taking better pictures' argument is debatable too; after all if you want to be more selective with digital you could simply not take so many photos Basically the film vs digital question is one of preference; of which you feel gives you more control, and which workflow you prefer.

Since you say you don't want anything fancy and you want 'old fashioned photography', blackdoglab is giving good advice: for affordable good quality gear look at an older, manual focus SLR system from Pentax, Olympus, Nikon, Canon, Minolta or various other companies. Or you could go for an autofocus sytem, which will allow compatibility with a digital SLR should you decide to go digital, in which case look at Nikon, Canon (EOS), Pentax or Minolta (Dynax/Maxxum). As for the purposes of the camera that you mentioned, well that's really more an issue of lenses rather than cameras. Sorry I can't be more specific but there is nearly infinite choice for what you're looking for.

 

[blackdoglab]

Hehe.. An Olympus OM-10 is more advanced than any Pentax body? :raisedbrow:

O.K., more advanced than the basic k1000, except that it needs a manual adapter for full control. I'm slightly nostolgic about mine.

 

[Don Simon]

The OM's were great. Olympus really knew how to design a camera - the XA/XA2 are IMO one of the greatest designs of any camera, in fact of any anything. And one day I need to get my hands on an OM4...


... er anyway, resume topic... personally I think that even if you do decide to go digital it would almost be madness not to also take advantage of the current price of 35mm gear. But then as you can probably tell, I'm all about collecting photographic gear as well as using it... I'm never going to buy into the 'camera is just a tool' thing

 

[YoungPic]

personally go with a 35 mm film camera and upgrade later becuase i find you learn more with film, with digital you sometimes have the urge just to snap away

 

[Mad_Gnome]

I'm with Traveler in being partial to Minolta. Any of the major brands would serve you in good stead, however. My recommendation, however, is to pick a model that's not the one everybody else is going for. You can save some money this way while still getting quality equipment. With Minolta, for instance, look for an XD-series camera rather than the X-700 and X-570 everyone seems to be fighting over like starving wolves.

 

[Don Simon]

The XD and XE series - well they were good enough for Leica! The SRT series are very nice too. I don't even need to mention the Rokkor glass.

 

[Mike_E]

I don't think you would go wrong with a Minolta. I don't know how much to read into your post, but I would guess you would be happiest with an SRT 201/202. I had the 101 ages ago but you probably want flash sync .

Start here... http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/index-frameset.html?MinoltaSRT101.html~mainFrame

I'm not saying that this will be the best camera in the world (you won't be able to tell from the prints though), but you don't need the best wife in the world to love her right? And you will love one of these! Good luck!

mike

 

[airgunr]

One thing to consider in purchasing a camera is you are purchasing a "System" not just the camera but lenses as well.

Some older cameras will not use the newer lenses from the same manufacturer. Canon is one that does this. The older AE-1 ( and excellent camera) uses the FD mount lenses but the newer cameras like the XT will not use the same lenses.

That is the main reason I chose Nikon. All of my newer Nikon lenses (except the G and DX series) will work with my F5, FM2n or FE2 film cameras as well as any of the newest Digital SLR's from Nikon.

There are other manufacturers that maintain the same compatablility but I'm not sure which ones they are. Just keep that in the back of your mind when you are shopping for a camera.

That being said, I like the Nikon FM2n, FE2 or FA cameras for manual. The Canon AE-1 series is good as well except for the compatablity issue. I've not used any others but Pentax, Minolta, etc all have excellent manual film cameras.

 

[Don Simon]

airgunr, are you sure the old manual focus Nikon lenses will work on any of the new dSLRs? I was under the impression that they would work on the D200 and other high-end models, but not on the lower range ones up to and including the D80... of course I could be wrong there.

 

[panocho]

just a few thoughts that pop up while reading your posts...

if you doubt between digital or film, no doubt go film. why? because you can get an excellent camera for the price of a battery for a digital. they are so cheap now that digital has taking the market!! if you later want to move to digital, ok, no problem. no money lost and a beautiful camera to remember nice moments. besides, a lens that you'll probably use in the digital

whereas if you're doubting, is it a good idea to expend about $1000 not being sure of what to do...?

you take 30 good pictures out of a 36 film??:shock:
just kidding -i get what you mean: when one shoots film, one thinks it twice, whereas with digital there is the risk (just a risk, though) of shooting anything and not thinking and looking, which is what makes you improve your pictures...

ZaphodB: older lenses, they do work on any Nikon dSLR, only that you won't get any metering unless you have the d200, as you point

Are people really fighting for Minolta's X570 and X700?? Well, I have a X300 (X570 for you americans, if I'm not wrong) that want to sell... c'mon, wolves! two lenses included!!

And finally, about the eternal controversy, I'm afraid that it may not be simply a matter of preferences. Depending on where you live (and probably almost anywhere in a near future), you have to go digital -or do your own processing. And even doing your own processing, everything related with film is becoming more and more expensive, due to the increasing lack of demand.

 

[airgunr]

airgunr, are you sure the old manual focus Nikon lenses will work on any of the new dSLRs? I was under the impression that they would work on the D200 and other high-end models, but not on the lower range ones up to and including the D80... of course I could be wrong there.

Panocho is correct. I believe you can use the lenses but you do not have all the metering and auto functions. You would have to use the manual controls on the lens it'self to set the apatures.

I have not heard about the lower end cameras like the D40 not working at all with the older lenses but I was more thinking the other way. Almost all my lenses are AF with a few AIS manuals thrown in. They will work with the manual cameras as well as the newer DSLR's.

If you buy a manual camera body but invest in newer glass it will work with both systems. (except for the "G" and "DX" lenses as I mentioned before)