Starter DSLR....dead horse.

[Scottyent]

Well, after all this....


I am back at the beginning. haha In another post asking about mirrorless camera systems, I arrived back at the fact that a DSLR is what I want, and that is what I will be getting. I love that shallow depth look, and that is the main reason I wanted to get one of these cameras in the first place. I have been looking at used models of DSLRs, and while I will be checking out some used stores on my trip in America, I will also look at those websites to get a good gauge of what is out there. Or possibly buy it online!

I have also decided on virtually any DSLR entry level that I can get for a reasonable price, because all of them will certainly out perform my expectations. But mainly, I am leaning towards Canon, and still open to Pentax so that I can share lenses with my friend! But again, if I find a Nikon at a great price, then who knows!

Thanks again to everyone for the support and help in making a decision. It was a roundabout way to get there, but I am sure that I will be very happy with a DSLR. While it might be heavier and more expensive, I just know that I will spend much more time trying to find the perfect shot, during traveling I will constantly be trying to be creative with it, and I will take TONS of pictures....and that to me is worth it!

[SIMON40]

Well,I'm not sure any of us helped- but I'm sure we made you think..!!
I'm also sure you'll have great fun with your DSLR- whichever you choose.
Keep us posted with your purchase- and don't forget to upload some pics...
Enjoy your trip in America...

[Scottyent]

Thanks Simon! You certainly made me THINK haha but I am glad that I did because in the future, I will be more aware of the choices, and I think overall I will be satisfied that i came back to a standard DSLR. I also am sure I will have fun with whatever model I get money is the target for me now, so best deal I find while at home! If I get it at the beginning of the trip, I'll take some nice pictures

[Mike Steph]

Hi, just wanted to mention as you're looking forward to getting a DSLR, I'd recommend you go for either a) a new one with as long an extended warranty on it as you can, or b) a fairly recent secondhand one, or c) consider several 35mm AF slrs at very little money. The reason is this. I went over to digital compacts about 12 years ago and none of them seem to last very long without something failing on them, or the cards becoming unreadable. Best one was a Canon G3, still works but the LCD screen packed up a couple of years back.

Then this year I decided to go for a Second Hand Pentax ist DL from eBay - good price, 2 smashing lenses, and make use of the 35mm slr lenses I'd had in a cupboard since the millenium. Got about 2 months use out of the camera then it stopped copying the photo to the SD card. It needed a new motherboard - these things are basically computers inside these days. Repair was stopped because Pentax in their infinite wisdom (and I'm sure they are not alone in this) had stopped supporting supply of spare parts for the camera to their repair shops, so that's it - it's scrap. No way to get new electronics for it. I mention this so you don't get caught too by what seems to be an excellent deal on an older Second Hand DSLR if that's the way you decide to go. Complex electronics do fail, and they have to do far more than ever a 35mm camera did. All it had to do was get an image onto film, not process it as well inside the box.

Make a point to check your chosen model is going to be supported for at least a couple more years by the manufacturer, whoever you favour. It's something few talk about but it's a fact - manufacturers do cut off support for spare parts much sooner than you'd think these days (the reason I mentioned the warranty, so you're covered for when it finally does go phutt!!).

I was so annoyed by it all and refused to cough up 500 odd GBP to get a new model or take a chance on another Second Hand DSLR that I did some calculations on costs over the next 2 years, dusted off the old 35mm SLR, bought a couple more slrs for basically a few pounds each, and they all run along quite happily like tractors, and if they fail, who cares, replacement cost is negligible.

Developing & Processing is for sure more than an SD card download and not as immediate but I can get a 36 shot 200ASA film processed straight to CD with each picture at 3000 x 2000 resolution for about 5 GBP. As you know DSLRs take less of the image than a full 35mm frame and that was a killer for my wideangle lenses, as they all became standards lenses!! At least with the 35mm set up my extreme wideangle and fisheye lenses are fun to use again, and those smashing lenses I mentioned earlier - they get used with the 35mm slrs.

At the end of the day this is about you having fun while being able to take the pictures you want to take, and the reason for suggesting 35mm is that it won't burn massive holes in your wallet because of fragile or unreliable or unsupported hardware. Frankly speaking, my confidence in DSLRs has taken a bit of a knock, and I refuse to pay 5, 6, 700 GBP for a camera that I will have to treat with the utmost care. The repair shops can still fix the old cameras by the way - there's a mesage there.

Please don't rule out 35mm - I know it's old fashioned to many, but the cameras are amazingly cheap for high end specs and the most expensive bit nowadays is the D&P. I have an SFXn and an A3 from the dark ages, both work just fine, and the recently bought Z70p and MZ-10 bodies were got for peanuts, and I had a load of fun on holiday using them recently.

And the pictures? To take them on a DSLR would have cost thick end of 2k GBP because it would have meant new lenses AND another DSLR. The cost in terms of 35mm? 15 GBP for the 2 AF cameras 20 GBP for film and 45 GBP for D&P. Says it all really.

[peripatetic]

Film v Digital still?

Film is cost effective for very low volumes, and frankly for the kind of processing you are doing - pretty low quality.

If you start pushing either the volume or the quality it gets expensive and labour intensive very quickly.

Still a great solution for some people though, as your story demonstrates. And it's still kinda fun and retro.

[TCav]

... but you can't change the ISO in the middle of a roll.

[iowa_jim]

Aside from low light capabilities, an entry level dslr offers little over a high end point-and-shoot, until we start buying lenses. A key question would be about how far you want to go with this, and how soon. If a person can live without the low light shooting capabilities, a person would do well to practice their composition with any sort of camera.

So many options - buy a nice p&s now, or a low end dslr with one lens. in 5 years, upgrade the dslr, or relegate the nice p&s to a backup and get a mid-range dslr. Its all about how fast you care to move on this.