To go digital or not?

Jeff/fotog · Jul 8, 2005

I dumped all my analogue equipment some time ago and went with Sony 8MP and never regretted it. You can see some of my work at www.jefferyraymond.com that's in both analogue and digital. I think analogue and shoot digital if that makes any sense.

railman44 · Jul 8, 2005

I'm an AC/DC guy. Meaning I still shoot film and now digital too. I love the D70. I know you said you shoot a lot of wide angle shots but on the reverse side of the coin a 200mm is really 300mm. I think what was mentioned earlier in this thread regarding a D70 kit is the best deal for you at the moment. Yep, your old Nikkor lenses will work but the onboard camera metering won't (I'm assuming you own AI or AIS lenses). I owned an older point and shoot Kodak which took fairly good shots but nothing like the D70. Ended up giving the Kodak to my daughter. Go for it, you'll save a ton of dough in the long run!

molested_cow · Jul 8, 2005

Hmmm.... can you elaborate on the part about onboard metering?

There is no indication on which model is my wide angle lens. The only info unique on it is a set of numbers, which is 229911.

I have the f4/5.6 70~300 ED AF lens which will definitely work with D70 since it's relatively new. The other lens I have is 35~70mm 1:3.3~4.5 lens, which I suppose came with the F501 when my dad bought it. I intend to leave this behind and get a new lens with the D70.

So it looks like I will prefer the D70S since I would prefer a wired remote ( I mean if I am going to keep the camera for such a long time, I want to get something I want). Also I will have to get a new mid-range lens that covers 18~70mm, as well as a wide angle lens that gives me a 20mm equivilant environment. That spells C A S H. Furthermore I will need to get other accessories like memory ( probably 1 GB to be safe) and most likely a card reader. BTW can I download pics directly from D70? Also I will need to get the remote.

So far I have seen packages that include D70 body, 18~70mm lens + 70~300mm lens, 1GB Hitachi drive and maybe a battery and a bag for about $13~1400 on ebay. It doesn't look like much of a good deal really, especially if I will end up with an extra 70~300mm lens that I have to resell. That being said, if I traded that extra lens with a 12mm one, the cost will probably be similar. I'm still a student. This is more than a month's internship pay.

hobbes28 · Jul 8, 2005

He's talking about the ttl metering on the camera. You can probably save some money by getting some 512 cards from ebay instead because I've seen them for pretty cheap there.

And you can transfer from the camera directly with a USB connection. The prices on the D70 have come down since the D70s and D50 came out so I'm sure you will be able to find a good price somewhere if you keep looking. There are tons of stores out there selling them now so keep looking til you find something in your range. It's a big investment at first but the cost savings seems to come around pretty quick when you stop having to buy film and have it developed. Another bad thing you could do is go to your local store and rent one for an hour or so...:twisted:

molested_cow · Jul 8, 2005

What's ttl meter? Light meter?

railman44 · Jul 8, 2005

I'm not that familiar with a F501 Nikon. After doing some research I found it was first produced in 1986 and is AF. The Nikkor 35-70 zoom f/3.3-4.5 came in a manual lens (AIs) introduced in 1984 and an AF lens introduced in 1989. I don't know which one you have. I would assume the AF would work fine with a D70 or D70s. Your best bet is to call a quality camera store and ask them.

Oh, and personal opinion, buy a card reader. They're cheap, fast and much less hassle than going USB camera to computer. Again, personal opinion, I never use anything larger than a 512mb compact flash card. I carry an extra if I go nuts on a camera shoot. If a gig or larger card goes bad, you've lost a lot more work. My .02 pesos...

molested_cow · Jul 8, 2005

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=43456&item=7527320420&rd=1

This is an absolutely overkill deal.

And wow, this has what I want!!! Except all the other crap like mini tripod and aluminium case.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=43456&item=7528676949&rd=1

hobbes28 · Jul 9, 2005

molested_cow said:
What's ttl meter? Light meter?

Through The Lens metering. It's where the camera meters what is coming through the lens versus some of the medium format or older 35mm cameras that had a light meter that was located elsewhere on the camera and you had to look at a separate meter display. Your F501 probably has the little aperture line on the left hand side of your viewfinder display which is the same thing.