Need Help Braving the Digital Waters..!!

[MTMTexas]

I have quite a lot of Nikon Film equipment. from Nikkormats to F3's, and 8008s'.

I want to go Digital too. Need your input on a camera.
I will be doing general photography, kids, family, custom cars, trains, scenics, maybe some nature if I can get at it (I'm in a wheel chair).

When I do indoor setups I use 2-3 lights (I'll need a new flash meter) but would like TTL with my SB24 or SB16.

I have four AF zooms and 3 AF single length Nikon lenses (50, 85, 300).
I have a handful of SanDisk SD cards (from our Hodak "compact SLR."
I have about $500 to spend on a body.

I was sucked in by the ads of a cheap D80 - until I read the Reseller Reviews on the sellers. I don't wnat to play their games and I really can't go the $700+ for a Legit D80 body.

My choices seem to be:
D70s
D50

I prefer New.
Any suggestions?

Anybody dealt with the MACK Aftermarket guarantees?
Are they any GOOD?

Thanks in advance for your feedback, here or e-mail me directly.

Ciao,

Tom
MTMTexas

 

[Sw1tchFX]

Your SB's won't work. You'll need to buy an SB-400, SB-600, or SB-800.

If you can afford it, i'd go with the D70 becuase of the front command dial and the i-TTL commander mode.

 

[kemplefan]

with you colection of lenses go for the d70
for me the selling point of the d50 is pay mroe for you lenses then step up to a d200 or somthing

 

[fmw]

Your SB's won't work. You'll need to buy an SB-400, SB-600, or SB-800.

If you can afford it, i'd go with the D70 becuase of the front command dial and the i-TTL commander mode.

I'll bet they will. They just won't have TTL metering and all the other whizbangs. If necessary you could put an AS15 on it and use a synch cord with the SB24 which is an outstanding and powerful little unit and has a thyristor type auto exposure capability built in.

I can't imagine why a front command dial is important even though I do have one on one camera. Someone used to shooting with F3's won't care about it. The commander mode is something I can't seem to get to work. I gave up and just use an extension cord. I'm a decent photographer but not very good at reading poorly written user manuals. Personally I see very little to recommend the D70 over the D50. With the D80 at least you get more resolution as well as extra control wheels and commander modes and super menu confusion.

The big problem you will have is dealing with wide angle focal lengths. Your wide angles won't be very wide on the digital format so be prepared to spend some money there unless you have something like an 18-35 zoom. I bought the Nikkor 12-24 which is a decent but not great lens and is pretty expensive. I think it's a poor value personally but at least it is wide enough.

If you buy a Mack warranty for a gray market camera who will do the work and where will they get the parts? Nikon in the U.S. won't do it. If warranty is an issue then get a U.S. white market camera or be prepared to send a gray market camera to Japan or the U.K. for warranty service.

Best of luck with the digital transformation. I'm sure you will enjoy it.

 

[Flash Harry]

Fuji s2 or s3 will be ideal for this type photography, use them myself, they take all af nikkor lens and work with your sb24

 

[Pablo]

just visited my camera store at lunchtime and they told me the D50 (and to some extent the 70) is more or less obsolete and getting replaced with the new D40 which they have in stock.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

I'll bet they will. They just won't have TTL metering and all the other whizbangs. If necessary you could put an AS15 on it and use a synch cord with the SB24 which is an outstanding and powerful little unit and has a thyristor type auto exposure capability built in.

I can't imagine why a front command dial is important even though I do have one on one camera. Someone used to shooting with F3's won't care about it. The commander mode is something I can't seem to get to work. I gave up and just use an extension cord. I'm a decent photographer but not very good at reading poorly written user manuals. Personally I see very little to recommend the D70 over the D50. With the D80 at least you get more resolution as well as extra control wheels and commander modes and super menu confusion.

I think they'll work in the manual A mode, but if you're going to be using that, than what's the point of having a TTL flash?

The D80 has just as many wheels as a D70, and even though the D80 has 4 more MP (big deal:roll, the D70's flash sync is half that of the D80, which is more important in my opinion for daylight fill flash and sports.

 

[fmw]

just visited my camera store at lunchtime and they told me the D50 (and to some extent the 70) is more or less obsolete and getting replaced with the new D40 which they have in stock.

Now isn't that a surprise. What they have in stock is making what they don't have in stock obselete. Amazing!

The D50 is actually the way to go. It is a better camera than the D40 and about the same price.

 

[fmw]

I think they'll work in the manual A mode, but if you're going to be using that, than what's the point of having a TTL flash?

The D80 has just as many wheels as a D70, and even though the D80 has 4 more MP (big deal:roll, the D70's flash sync is half that of the D80, which is more important in my opinion for daylight fill flash and sports.

I didn't say there was a point to having a TTL flash. However the units will work just like any other flash unit will and will be ready to use in TTL mode in a newer camera.

Remember you're talking to someone who spent a lifetime synching flash at 1/60 except with leaf shutters. The flash synch speed is so unimportant to me that it isn't worth mentioning. I think the same would be true of an F3 user who can synch at 1/125.

I'm not trying put down the D70. I'm just saying that, when they introduced the D50, they made the D70 less attractive because of the price. I have a D80. I don't view it as really any better than the D50 and it is certainly not worth the extra money in my view.. I bought it so I would have two bodies. My years of pro shooting simply require me to have a backup body in order to sleep well at night.

 

[Pablo]

Now isn't that a surprise. What they have in stock is making what they don't have in stock obselete. Amazing!

The D50 is actually the way to go. It is a better camera than the D40 and about the same price.

Hi FMW, can you please qualify that comment a bit more for my info? Using the comparison facility on the Nikon website shows very little difference between any of 40, 50, 70 and 80, apart from external LCD screen size and megapixel count. Any additional insight would be very welcome on my part.

Thanks

Pablo

 

[Don Simon]

Well re: the D40 vs D50, I don't know all the details, but the autofocus on the D40 only works with their newer lenses with all AF mechanism in the lens, and not with the 'screwdriver' ones, which could be quite limiting, since one of the main points of having an SLR system is having a wide range of lenses. Or so I thought. Also it only has 3 AF sensors vs the D50's 5. Other than that, apparently it's lost bracketing as well as the top LCD.

I'm genuinely puzzled by all the reviews that say how great the D40 is and how great it is for the money... they don't seem to have noticed that the D50 has dropped in price now too, either that or the whole idea of new stuff not being better than the old stuff is anathema to them.

Obviously take a look at all the options and if the D40 works for you then go for it, but I'd definitely recommend taking a look at the D50 and asking yourself if it's really 'obsolete'.

 

[Pablo]

yes, I must admit I did wonder at the price difference - only about AU$200 - between D40 and D50.

 

[dewey]

The D40 is smaller... and it only takes lens with the SW motors... so it's better to just grab the D50 before they vanish.

 

[Hair Bear]

MTMT, if you need to free some cash up for your purchase keep me mind for the F3 or the 8008's please.

 

[fischerfotographik]

The D40 is smaller... and it only takes lens with the SW motors... so it's better to just grab the D50 before they vanish.

When I purchased my D50, I got a surprise at the register - they knocked an additional $150 off the price; showed up on the register's LCD display as "unadvertised special", "unadvertised savings" or something to that effect. w00t!