Newbie Question

Youngblood97 · Aug 13, 2003

Hey first post here so be kind. I am mostly a digital photographer (Sony F707), but I recently got a hand-me-down Nikon EM to play with. The focus is really messed up and the film rewind handle is broken to. It doesn't seem worth it to get it fixed since I saw it on ebay for about $25.

The question I have is should I just buy another Nikon EM cause I have a few attachment lenses and I could reuse them? Basically is the Nikon EM a good camera? Or should I just get a newer camera that can use the extra lenses I have?

I would like to get a decent camera, if possible, for around $100 preferably one with a motor. Any suggestions on what to get, where to look, or what to do. It doesn't have to have all the bells and whistles since my digtal camera has most of them. Just something that will give me great prints for those times where digital is not appropriate.

Thanks in advance !!! 8)

RRose · Aug 13, 2003

Can I ask when is digital not appropriate? With all the advances in digital in the last few years, don't the better digitals rival film cameras in most ways? I doubt if I will ever go back to film on a regular basis.

Youngblood97 · Aug 13, 2003

Well time between pics in not always that fast. I can do a 3 pic burst but besides that it takes a couple seconds between pics so if you want action pics, like 10 in a row you are out of luck.

Also it is hard to take an instant picture most digital cameras take a second or two from when you press the button to when it takes the picture for focusing and other adjustments.

Also some places i work with and sell pics prefer film or very high megapixels like 6+ which are very expensive to buy so a film camera is a better option. Just to name a few

Bob_McBob · Aug 13, 2003

RRose said:
Can I ask when is digital not appropriate? With all the advances in digital in the last few years, don't the better digitals rival film cameras in most ways? I doubt if I will ever go back to film on a regular basis.

Black and white photography. You can play around with curves and channel mixers as much as you like, but 99 times out of 100 it won't have the same look as nice black and white film. Then there's high speed black and white film...

Unless you go up to a DSLR, you don't have anywhere near the same level of speed and functionality you'd get with even a $100 manual focus SLR. You have basically no control over depth of field with "prosumer" digital cameras, which is a huge drawback - it really hampers creativity. Using anything over ISO 100 results in nasty digital noise. The contrast detection autofocus systems on most of these cameras are dreadful. There's a huge lag between pressing the shutter release and when the camera actually takes the photo. etc etc... :twisted:

tr0gd0o0r · Aug 13, 2003

Do DSLRs have a shutter lag? Cuz I really want to get one (as soon as i can get ahold of a few thousands dollars) and if i have to deal w/ shutter lag I dont plan on spending that money, and do u get an actual control of depth of field? cuz i've played w/ some digitals w/ "manual mode" and the shutter speed is effective but dof control is completely ineffective