[Recovered Thread: 103882]

[stowaway7]

Guess I'm "old school" but having come from a long line of film SLR's starting in the late 60's to me Anti-Shake is called a tripod. Nice feature but not a deal maker/breaker when it comes to considering a system.

[ennacac]

A tripod is the real answer, but when you are out on a unplanned shoot without one and the light is failing, anti-shake is really your friend. Just a tool like anything else, but nice to have in some situations, especially the built into the body version, which makes all your lense anti-shake.

Tom

[PeterP]

IS is not a must have, but it is a nice to have.
Great photography has been done for a long long time now without it :idea:

[BenjaminXYZ]

The best for your caseis to get a dSLR with build in S.R. or A.S. with a fast F/1.4 prime glass.

Personally I am more concerned about high ISO quality (high ISO performance)than A.S./S.R.

So lets say camera x have better high ISO performance without I.S. than camera y with I.S., I will prefer to choose camera x. I place high ISO performance/quality first before I.S. of any kind. :idea:

So for me, it is not a "must have feature"

I can always substitude I.S. with faster lenses if I want.

[schatham]

Which camera would you then recommend?

I am considering several, only one of which has the Image Stabliazation feature. The ones that I had considered were:
Canon EOS 350D Digital Rebel XT
Canon EOS 30D
Canon EOS 20D
Pentax K10D *IS feature
Nikon D80

Those are just the ones I can find locally & get my hands on to see how I like the camera.

The others with IS
Sony DSLR A100
Panasonic Lumix DMCL1
Minolta Maxuum 5D
Minolta Maxuum 7D


That said, the cameras I currently use is a Nikon FE 35mm camera, I have a Nikkor Macro lens for it, and a Quantaray(?) 70-210mm zoom lens for it. My digital is a HP 850 Photosmart. Both take decent pictures, but the problem I have is in finding fast film for the Nikon. From what I understand, the lenses I have for my old 35mm Nikon should also work on the D80, but they'd be fully manual.

Of those Digitals listed above, only the Maxuum's and the Nikon D80 have ISO 3200 capability. What I don't like about the Maxuums is that they're 6 megapixel, and I have a 4 megapixel camera now - for the re-investment in a camera, I had wanted to get more of a "boost" in megapixel capability.

The other requirement I want for a digital SLR is that I'd get one that came with a lens that'd give me at least what I have now (the macro lens is less important than the zoom) - roughly a 70-210mm zoom. More would be better. But, you end up cutting your own throat on that - just a few compacts & SLR-like cameras have things roughly that size telephoto lens - none of the DSLR's that I know of. The Nikon D80 comes the closest.

I'm not tied to Nikon - especially at the $1300 price tag on the D80, but the possibility of using a lens I already have makes it a little more appealing.

SC

[mtngal]

Ihave absolutely noNikon experience, so don't have first hand knowledge about whether your old lenses would work or not. I do have a Pentax camera and am happily using manual lenses I bought 20-25 years ago. I would definitely NOT be scared off of Nikon because your lenses might be manual. If your lenses are excellent lenses, and you like them, it should count for a whole bunch - if you change systems you'd have to buy something else to replace them and would that added cost of replacing the lensesbe more than the price difference between the Nikon and the other cameras?

Just my 2 cents, unless you don't like the ergonomics of the Nikon camera, or there's something you just have to have on another camera that the Nikon doesn't, I'd buy the Nikon.

[schatham]

The main thing I don't like about the D80 Nikon is the price ($1300 + tax). And it doesn't have the anti-shake in it, but does have ISO 3200.

The lenses I have for the nikon are a doubler, the macro lens and the QUantaray (I think it is a mid-range Sigma brand lens)70-210mm. However, I have heard that Sigmas and the Nikon Digitals don't get along well - something about them getting stuck and not released is what I have read.



SC

[ennacac]

Don't forget the Pentax K100D, for about $599, which has built in SR (IS)

Tom

[mtngal]

SC - Entry price is certainly an Ouch! That would certainly give me pause, also.

You've given me another reason why I'm glad a boyfriend gave mea Pentax MEcamera 25 years ago - you could buy a K100D, DA 50-200 and a Phoenix 100mmmacro lens for less than that (that's what I have, along with a couple of manual lenses that I got with the ME).

[BenjaminXYZ]

N.T.