going digital - general advice please

[morfeas]

hello, this is my first post here

i'm amateur photographer and i got an old canon A1 with lenses + zooms covering from 28 to 210.

i would like to give a shot to photojournalism. i found out that this is what i'd like to do already quite old with diferent education, good job, loans etc....

so i would like to start small, and even stay at this level by covering local events + stories at weekends. even doing it totaly as a hobby would please me a lot.

my prob at the time is that i think that i should go full digital for this. i dont have a dark room and not too much time either so i thought that a digital camera would help a lot as one can see the result right away, and would save quite a bit of money from development etc.

my problem though is that i realy dont have a clue of digital cameras, and i dont know what to look for at all.

i'm not talking about brands. i'm talking about characteristics, capacities, inputs /outputs for connecting to pc and whatever else is necesary and difent from the film slr.

could you please give me an idea of what characteristics i should look for? taking into account that i'm about to enter photojournalism, even as a hoby, and i'm on a budget could you make any recomendations on equipment?

thank you in advance

regards,

morfeas

 

[fmw]

I don't think there is an option. I think every or nearly every newspaper in the country works with digital images only. I'm not very conversant on Canon gear but I would try to determine which Canon DSLR, if any, will use your lenses. Then, at least you will have some of the expense out of the way already.

The Canon A1 is a famous model. It is, in fact, the model that Canon introduced to enter the professional market. Prior to the A1, Canon had only made consumer SLR's. The A1 is an outstanding machine and built like a tank. My guess is that the lenses won't work with a DSLR, however. That is just a guess because, as I said, I'm no expert at Canon equipment.

 

[stc9357]

If your going to use that on a canon dslr I think you will have to get a mount for it because I don't believe that will mount on to a canon dslr unless its a EF or EF-S lens. The real experts will tell you soon enough I'm sure.

 

[morfeas]

hi fmw, thank you for your reply.

surely there is no option in my case... and the A1 lense fittings have been abandoned by canon for years no and they definitely dont fit any new digital canon.

regarding the digital technology / cameras in general, do you have any advice on what to look for, avoid, traps / loopholes that if u fall u get stuck... anything of that kind would be very helpfull.

also, i'm not religiously bound to canon at all. nikon would do fine as well

however, what price range am i looking at? considering the market i'll try to enter, would i be ok to start for exmple with a nikon D80 or a canon eos 400D, or even go a bit highter for a nikon D200 (which i can hardly affort) ?

will i be ok starting with a camera like that? or will i find after a couple of months that im missing important camera features which i would have for exemple if i got for somethng about 2000 dollars?

the big problem is that i dont know the technology of digital camera. i'm planning of learning it on the digital camera i'm gonna buy, so i try to get as much advice as possible in order to get the some not top of the range, but still respectable equiment.

 

[fmw]

Well, I'm a believer in lenses rather than camera bodies. I realize that the sensors are in the camera body, but I still subscribe to the concept that the lenses form the images. I use a Nikon D50. With it I have a decent set of high end primes and zooms, every one of which cost more than the D50. Most of them cost 2 to 3 times what the D50 cost. So I would not be a typical recommender. I'm a pro turned hobbyist so I may not be the ideal recommender. I know what I need. It may not be what you need.

If you want to string for a newspaper you wouldn't need any more resolution than the D50 provides so I see no point in going beyond it unless you want a more rugged metal body. Then the D2 or D200 are your choices. I would pick them for ruggedness, not for resolution, however. If you want large fine art prints, then you can look for more resolution.

But, first you need to check with the newspaper for whom you want to string. They probably don't provide equipment for stringers but they might. You might talk to them about how they want images submitted. That will give you a good idea of what you need. Good luck.

 

[iPanzica]

Just thought I'd put my two cents into here .. I've owned a Canon Rebal XT (twice) and a Nikon D50. Both are Digital SLRs. At the moment I have owned my D50 for about a week. I enjoy it much more then the Canon, however I never had a problem with my Canon either. It really is preference. With Nikon you get Nikkor lens, with Cannon you don't. But as for quailly? The Nikon is 6mp I think, and the Canon was 8, do I notice the two mp difference? No. Will you... I doubt it. The picture is So big even at 6mp I have to size down. As for price a Nikon D50 (what I have) costs 699 new and I'd recomend getting an extended warrentee I did with both canon/nikon and I used my Cannon warrenty twice! Saved me a lot of money. But when it comes down to it, go to the store and put a few in your hand. I personally like the D50 better because it's all black, and feels a bit bulker to me and more beefy. But it really is choice. There is no right or wrong answer. Good luck! and keep us informed.

 

[morfeas]

hello again and thank you all for your help!

regarding the lences, it is an issue realy...

i see some good package deals and some have nikor zooms on while others are with sigma etc.

moreover i was told that nikon lences have more punch copared to the canon which are softer. is this true??? youd probably know from personal experience since you have used both...

also, is there any chance i can see how a 6mp shot looks like in its nornal size? if you have any link please tell me, if not can i send you my email and you send me a picture 6mp in its original size?

thank again

 

[Don Simon]

Hola. Unfortunately older Canon FD lenses will not work on Canon EOS film or digital cameras. This is a shame, because Canon EOS dSLRs will in fact work with manual Nikon lenses and M42 lenses (and possibly some others) with the appropriate adapters, but when an FD lens is attached via an adapter you won't be able to focus to infinity. Nor will FD lenses work properly on the Nikon, Pentax or Minolta autofocus mounts. Apparently it may be possible to make an adapter that would allow FD lenses to focus to infinity on Olympus dSLRs, but no such adapter exists yet, so it looks like there is no real way to use those lenses on a new digital SLR system.

Since you can't bring your lenses with you, there's really nothing limiting your choice. All of the aforementioned companies offer good digital SLRs. If your experiences with the Canon were good then you may as well stick with Canon, however be aware that none of the Canon entry-level cameras will feel as solid as the A1. In fact no entry-level dSLR from any company will feel as solid as the A1. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it may take a while to get used to the change in handling.

As for lenses, you'll probably be happy with what any of the camera brands or even other companies like Tamron and Tokina have to offer, as long as you bear in mind that you get what you pay for.

 

[fightheheathens]

I recently started selling cameras and stuff so i have been getting pretty familiar with the entry digital market. Anywho, while you might not need 10 mp, you have to remember that that 10 mp gives you pretty powerful cropping power so if in a fast situtation you dont have time to compose right or you just miss a good composition, you can always crop to your hearts desire later. something else to look at is most importantly the lens. Your gona hear Nikon has better glass, but to counter that, I feel Canon makes a better sensor. So all the good glass in the world will not make a better image if your sensor cant tell. and just the same the best sensor in the world will not make a better image if your glass is crap. However to put it in perspective the difference in immage quality between canon glass and nikon glass is 1-2%. same goes for the sensor.
When i am asked by someone to recomend a camera, i always go canon. The EOS 30D with 5 frames per second is pretty sweet. further more, I feel, (this point im not sure on) that a canon lens of the same quality of a nikon lens will cost slightly less. One thing that you end up paying alot for on Nikons is the name NIKON.

 

[markc]

I personally don't think you can compare Nikon lenses as a group to Canon lenses as a group fairly. You should look at the lenses you are considering individually and compare them side-by-side. In one case Nikon may be better, and in another Canon.