Digital Camera ?

[Joe Mioux]

Anna, aka Mrs Mioux, has been wanting a new camera for the past year. She turns the big 50 on Sunday. So, I thought this would be a good time to buy her a new camera.

She has had a little Olympus 3.2 mega pixel point and shoot since '01 and she likes it, but she wants to get something better.

Personally, I think she would be happy staying with the point and shoot route, but I think she wants to go DSLR.

I have checked past camera threads, but thought I would start a new one given that technology and prices change frequently.

Probably, leaning towards Nikon but would be interested in other brands as well.

I am still a 35mm film guy as I have some really nice lens. However, those lens are Minolta mounts and the cameras are Minolta.

btw, that reminds me are there any adapters for old SLR lens and dslr cameras? especially thinking Minolta mount lens with Nikon cameras?

thanks

Joe

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Joe....I researched this a lot last year before buying a DSLR for the LOML. In the Canons and the Nikons.....there reallly isn't a significant difference. Check to see how the autofocus works....some IIRC...have the motor in the lens....some the motor is in the camera body.....At the high end consumer/low end pro models.....You say Nikon....I say Canon....or was it potato?....


I bought my wife at NIkon D40X 10 megapixel....though over 6mp..most won't tell the difference.....I bought it at Cosco because it came as a package deal and I didn't have to shop everywhere to get the two lens....it came with a memory.....I added more.....I also ordered a filter to cover the lens and an extra battery.

[Jim Becker]

There is a lot more electronics in current lenses that are optimized for DSLRs, so even if there is an adapter that might adapt a Minolta lens to another brand, it's probably not going to be the best idea.

Both Nikon and Cannon have wonderful options in the DSLR space these days. I'm a Nikon guy, so I'm obviously more inclined in that direction. I know that Ritz and others are running some pretty good special deals on DSLRs right now, so it's really not a terrible time to buy, that's for sure!!

[Mike Henderson]

The disadvantage of a DSLR is the size. Make sure she handles the camera and is satisfied with the feel. I bought a DSLR and my wife hated it. Had to then go buy a point-and-shoot for her.

Mike

[Ken Garlock]

Hi Joe. Go to the Ritz site and take a look at the Sony A-350. One of the selling points for you is that it will accept the legacy Minolta type-A lens. As I recall, Sony uses Zeiss lens.

Otherwise, I would look at the Canon offerings. The Canon Rebel Xsi is a nice camera.

Happy Turkey Day.

Foot note: This last summer, LOML bought a pair of Nikon 8x40 binoculars. As I was looking them over, I noticed that they were assembled in Japan, and the Lens were made in china. What is the world coming to? You can't even trust the Germans to make their own components. Even so, they are the best binoculars I have ever used.

[Randy Cohen]

I have a couple of old minolta lenses and I researched it and found that they are useless as far as digital camera usage goes. Unfortunately Minolta was bought out some years ago by Konica (I think) and there are no minolta digital cameras.

[Colin Giersberg]

Sony is the proud owner of Minolta cameras. My brother (one of them) has the Sony A100 camera (replaced by the A200) and he isn't happy with the build quality of it. A co-worker has the A200, and while it takes good photos, the feel and sound of it to me just does not say quality. I am not bashing the brand, just stating an opinion. I am sure they will last a long time, but they are not for me. I have the Nikon D300 and love the camera. The photos are great, if I don't mess them up, and I like the feel and heft of the camera. Yes, it is rather heavy, but that probably makes it more steady in your hands, simply because it takes more effort to move it around.
My older brother has several Nikons, and he has been using them for years. His current cameras are the Nikon D3 and the D300, but he is patiently waiting for their next new camera. Supposedly, Nikon is coming out with a 24mp FX format (that is full frame. There is no crop factor) camera. So far, there are only rumors, but no ideas on cost or availability. His cameras are expensive, as is mine, but for most people, the camera should last for a very long time. The D300 has a 150,000 shutter cycle life span, and the D3 has a 300,000 shutter cycle life span. The D300 actually has more megapixels than the D3, but the D3 is more than twice as expensive. The D300 was $1800 new, body only, and the D3 was $5000 new, body only. Those prices have come down with new camera releases, but can still be considered expensive.
Do your research, check out Thom Hogan's website for Nikon, DP Review for most any brand, and FM Forums for the same. Check out the photo categories to get some idea of the photo quality that you can get with a DSLR. You don't have to go expensive, as most any camera will give excellent results, but the more megapixels, the larger you can go on enlargements without losing detail.
Also, the lens or lenses you buy can make a big difference in photo quality. The larger lenses (200mm and up) bring the object in closer than lenses that are smaller than 200mm. I have the Nikon 18 - 200mm zoom lens, which gives me a broad range of photo opportunities, from close up (7" of 8") to infinity. Naturally, I would like to get a 200 - 400mm zoom lens to bring objects in even closer, and then there are the huge telephoto lenses that are more expensive than the cameras that my brother and I have, easily pushing past $8000.
The benefit is that you control the size of the photo, not the camera, such as a point and shoot. Yes, they have zoom functions too, but nowhere close to what a DSLR setup can do.
I hope this may help you in picking a new camera that you and your wife can both enjoy for a very long time.

[Joe Mioux]

well, coming back from stl on a poinsettia run, I stopped in at the O'fallon Il Creve Coeur Camera store.

started looking at the coolpix p80, then the d40, then d60 then the d90.

I ended up with the d60. cost came in comparable to Ritz online, except for the sales tax. However, CCCamera does offer some really good instore programs, so the long and short of it, the Creve Coeur buy was a better value.

I hope Anna likes it.

Now, if I get to buy myself a camera.... i think i will start and probably end with a d90. that is a pretty nice camera.

a bit of background... I used to be into photog pretty seriously. Developed my own film, and printed it. Even rolled my own film canisters. but that was a long long time ago.

joe

p.s. I didn't go sony because my Minolta lenses were all manual focus, thus no compatabality.

[Jim Becker]

Congrats, Joe. Nice choice. I'm sure she'll really like that D60. And yes, that D90 is a really nice camera...it will be my next one when I "upgrade" from my D70 one of these days. (The D90 actually can shoot video, too, which is a real kicker for a DSLR!)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Joe,

I don't think you'll regret that decision. The D60 replaces the D40x I bought for my wife last year. Killer camera.....takes great photos. The wife loves it. In fact, she got worried that on our trip coming up in 3 weeks...the rain we might see could ruin it. So....I bought a shockproof, waterproof to 30 feet Olympus so that if it rains....we leave the Nikon in the motel and sacrifice the Olympus.

[Gary Breckenridge]

Buy a Nikon from a real camera store. Pay a bit extra for the better service. Also buy an extra memory stick and a fabric case with belt loops. Get at least 10 megapixels and a real zoom lens that actually zooms out of the camera body. The Coolpix S550 is a good place to start looking. A Gorillapod is also nice.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

well, coming back from stl on a poinsettia run, I stopped in at the O'fallon Il Creve Coeur Camera store.

started looking at the coolpix p80, then the d40, then d60 then the d90.

I ended up with the d60. cost came in comparable to Ritz online, except for the sales tax. However, CCCamera does offer some really good instore programs, so the long and short of it, the Creve Coeur buy was a better value.

I hope Anna likes it.

Now, if I get to buy myself a camera.... i think i will start and probably end with a d90. that is a pretty nice camera.

a bit of background... I used to be into photog pretty seriously. Developed my own film, and printed it. Even rolled my own film canisters. but that was a long long time ago.

joe

p.s. I didn't go sony because my Minolta lenses were all manual focus, thus no compatabality.

Gary,

He bought the Nikon D60........he thinks he'll buy himself a D90 in the future..