Here's the irony. Now that I am not photographing full time, I want to look into a new, reasonably priced DSLR. I know there is a geek or two around here who scour all the camera specs. That in no way refers to you, Sam.
Here are my requirements. All my lenses are "D" film models, including my 70-180 Micro, which I live and die by, and is no longer manufactured, so it must be fully compatible with them all. Compact Flash would be nice, but let's face it, flash cards are so cheap it doesn't really matter and I already have a universal card reader. A body which could use my ancient SB-25 would be great, but I'm not holding my breath. I convinced my father to keep the SB-600 (I think) he got a few years back, just in case I needed it with a new body. I will still be using pro strobes fairly regularly and need a convenient way to trigger them. Currently I use the SB-25 bounced up and backwards, set manually to minimum (1/64) power. I have a hot shoe/PC adapter to use in a pinch, but I hate being tethered, and the cable always falls out.
I want the fastest auto focus in existance and every exposure mode known or unknown to man. Oh wait, no I don't. Manual, program with shift, aperture and shutter priority are quite sufficient, thank you. Exposure compensation with 1/2 or 1/3 stop increments as well. This should all be basic stuff with the insane cameras out these days.
I just want reliable image quality. I will shoot RAW or low compression JPG, and that's about it. I am NOT looking in the price of the D300, regardless of what whizbangs it has. So, I can get a D80 body for about $750 or a new D200 for 1K. In the end, the D200 doesn't seem to have much over the 80, but I don't know what the insane hordes have found wrong with the blooming or whatever freakshow stuff they obsess over.
I think several of you have a sense for what is a priority with equipment for me. I want to photograph, not play with toys. I do not want to be slowed down by bells and whistles.
Suggestions?
Here are my requirements. All my lenses are "D" film models, including my 70-180 Micro, which I live and die by, and is no longer manufactured, so it must be fully compatible with them all. Compact Flash would be nice, but let's face it, flash cards are so cheap it doesn't really matter and I already have a universal card reader. A body which could use my ancient SB-25 would be great, but I'm not holding my breath. I convinced my father to keep the SB-600 (I think) he got a few years back, just in case I needed it with a new body. I will still be using pro strobes fairly regularly and need a convenient way to trigger them. Currently I use the SB-25 bounced up and backwards, set manually to minimum (1/64) power. I have a hot shoe/PC adapter to use in a pinch, but I hate being tethered, and the cable always falls out.
I want the fastest auto focus in existance and every exposure mode known or unknown to man. Oh wait, no I don't. Manual, program with shift, aperture and shutter priority are quite sufficient, thank you. Exposure compensation with 1/2 or 1/3 stop increments as well. This should all be basic stuff with the insane cameras out these days.
I just want reliable image quality. I will shoot RAW or low compression JPG, and that's about it. I am NOT looking in the price of the D300, regardless of what whizbangs it has. So, I can get a D80 body for about $750 or a new D200 for 1K. In the end, the D200 doesn't seem to have much over the 80, but I don't know what the insane hordes have found wrong with the blooming or whatever freakshow stuff they obsess over.
I think several of you have a sense for what is a priority with equipment for me. I want to photograph, not play with toys. I do not want to be slowed down by bells and whistles.
Suggestions?