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Digital DSLR Camera's


Swifty Morgan

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I am thinking about upgrading from a point and shoot (too much delay) and going back to an SLR.

The old Pentax needs too much work, so... I am looking at some of the new offerings.

What might be some suggestions from you shutter bugs out there???

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Tanner,

 

If'n yer ol' Pentax lenses are "K" mount,

 

You kin still use them on most newer Pentax DSLR's.

 

Sum you just won't be able to use AUTO mode,

 

and you'll use manual focus.

 

Shure save ya' havin' ta buy new lenses ;)

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Hal,

This may sound a bit wierd but I am looking at Canon and Nikon and getting away from Pentax.

Thanks all for the responses, keep em comin as I am looking at personal experiences with what is good and what is not.

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Nikon D7000....hottest DSLR on the market. About $1400 for body and lens. Competes in quality with the full frame Nikon D700 and D3s models.

 

Look up some of the online reviews on this new camera. Only been out a couple of months.

 

T.H. O'Sullivan

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I do a lot of photography (see my web page: see the link below....still have 3 35mm slrs, one 4x5 view camera, and have been doing digital since about 1995. a couple of years ago I got a Canon DSLR and lenses etc. happy with it. I got my wife the Canon PowerShot. I was very impressed with it.

 

She loaned (read "gave") it to one of the grandkids as he was taking a photography class, and I was a bit upset as I used it as a backup camera, but then I looked at some of the new PowerShots and they are incredible. They have about a 24x OPTICAL zoom. The optical zoom on those cameras have more zoom than I have with my 300mm lens...and the programs on them are awesome...plus you can go to manual....

 

My point being is to look at the options on everything and see if you would be happy. I have to have a hotshoe so I can use my off camera flashes and strobes etc....

 

hope you like what ever you get....

 

good shootin

curley

 

http://sdough.smugmug.com

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The Canon Rebels are probably a good deal. I usually overdo everything and have a 20D and a 50D and some pros I know use 40Ds, they are great and have a superb set of lenses available.

__________________

Marshal I vote you got it right. Especially in the light that many Rebel models shoot out of focus......... The 30D is a good model also. The D5 is a good pro model, no onboard flash.

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Tanner being an Olympus fan and shooter from the days of the Pen F (the half frame 35mm) and OM-1 my first digital camera was a point and shoot Oly that cost more then any film camera I'd ever bought. When I went to a digital SLR a couple years ago I stayed with the brand and got a two lens E410 setup that cost less then half what that first one had.

 

One big thing to consider is what type of output you want to produce. If you plan to make prints then how big and what type of printer will you be using. Good prints need big files, big prints need bigger files but the only person I know who does/did anything larger then 8x10 on a regular basis was a pro. He had a 17" roll stock dye sub printer that with a 10meg file would rival anything, to my eye, that I haf ever produced with 35mm or medium format film. Even common ink jet home type photo quality printers will give you an 8x10 that at arms length, which was conisdered normal viewing distance, is hard to tell from a chemical print even when you do them with a "low" resolution 3 meg camera. You dont need a 10 meg camera to make good print.

 

If you are going to shoot stuff to be viewed electronically, on line etc the only thing you have to consider is the resolution of the screen they will appear on. I have yet to see a really big file on a really big HD monitor or TV but your average cell phone camera now grabs a image big enough to do the job for your laptop/website.

 

Remember the size of the sensor in your new SLR will have a lot to do with lens choices. Dont have the conversion factor ready to hand but that old 70-210 zoom for the Pentax will be more like a 150-320 because of the sensor versus negative size. Make sure whatever you get has a hot shoe for your existing flash guns etc. Be careful about manual controls on the new camera. If you were used to working with the two basic variables, aperture and shutter speed and want to continue to do so make sure they arent buried in a menu someplace that you have to drill down to.

 

A couple of to dos... If it uses a special battery, get at least one extra especially if you are going to be using on camera flash a lot.

 

Buy extra memory cards, download or at least swap them when you are done with a subject. Set up a good file structure for your photos and after you down load burn them to optical media. Do yourself a favor and LABEL the CD/DVD etc with something more then "cowboys pictures" etc. Go ahead ask how I know not to do this, I dare you.

 

Remember the old days when we bought mailers to drop our film into while on vacation so you didnt carry multiple rolls of exposed film around with you? Same idea with digital, get it off the memory card and store them someplace safe that way you can never shoot over it or have a glitch with the camera delete them etc. I looked at a 500gig, USB, external hard drive for notebook/netbook computes that would make a dandy photo vault, cost was $80 at staples.

 

Well I've gone astray here but you always get your moneys worth when you asked for free advice here on the wire.

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Back when my kids were competing in high school rodeo, I went shopping for a camera. I had it down to the Canon Rebel and a Nikon that was higher end. Several people in various camera shops, etc., asked what I was planning to do with it, and every one of them recommended the Canon Rebel. The new Rebels are even higher megapixel and have even more features, but I still use the old Rebel. I set it to the highest resolution, and it takes super pictures. I teamed it with a Sigma lens set and have never looked back...

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I have a 18-55 (I'm writing this from memory, so I'm not sure what the bottom number is but I think it's 18), one that tops out at 90, and a 70-300 zoom. covers all the bases...

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Guest Copper Mart

I carry a 28-135mm and a 70-300mm. They cover everything that I like to do. Also have a standard 55mm, but hardly ever mount it.

 

Mart...

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Thanks much...

Imma thinkin (stand back) that Canon is going to be the way to go...

Model I not real sure yet.

But on lenses I can do a little tradin around.

Does anyone use smugmug or flikr?

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Tanner, add me to the list of satisfied Rebel users. Bought one as a kit deal from Wally World back in August - got the camera, 18-55 zoom lens, rechargeable batteries and charger, a small memory card (2G?) and a Canon brand camera bag for $499 + tax. They had the equivalent Nikon (don't remember the model) for the same price, but it was the camera and lens only. Our youngest daughter has the same model and she was thrilled with hers. That and the fact that, at the time, the Canon had better reviews than the Nikon was all it took for me.

 

Good luck in whatever you decide on.

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Kinda like shooting Irons it is all a matter of how much you are willing to spend.

 

Any of the name brands will be a great camera.

 

Couple of years back spent mega bucks on a Cannon 50D for the wife.

 

I got the 17 -85 IS USM and the 70 - 300 IS USM lenses - decent glass not the L pro level

Camera takes great pictures. Good burst capability. 15 Mega Pixels makes for pretty huge photo files.

Think all things being equal the glass is probably more important than the camera.

 

One day I will figure out how to connect it to my 77 mm 25x Kowa TSN3

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Thanks much...

Imma thinkin (stand back) that Canon is going to be the way to go...

Model I not real sure yet.

But on lenses I can do a little tradin around.

Does anyone use smugmug or flikr?

 

 

I am on smugmug:

 

http://sdough.smugmug.com

 

 

curley

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I have a Sony a550 DSLR, I went with Sony because I could use my Minolta lenses, the a550 is 14.2mp has a fully adjustable view finder and an optional live view. It takes awesome pics and can do much more than I am capable of doing with it. My son bought me the vertical grip for x-mas.

 

a550

 

Some pics from this summer

 

Doc

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