Digital or Film SLR? (1 Viewer)

[Thomas Newton]

I believe the Minolta Maxxum 5D and 7D also have mirror lockup, integrated with (2-second?) self-timer mode.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

One other thing. In many cases where you might want mirror lockup for those shorter exposures, you can probably work around the lack of mirror lockup by simply bracing the camera better on your tripod and maybe take multiple shots in continuous mode to produce a good one. Just put some extra weight (or some of your own weight) on the camera to dampen any mirror slap vibration -- some do that anyway even if there's mirror lockup in order to avoid camera shakes from external things like wind. Since you're not shooting film, you won't be wasting film w/ multiple shots either.

Of course, if you handholding the shot, then mirror lockup is pretty pointless.

 

[Brian Perry]

For any D70 owners and other aspiring digital photographers, I recommend the book "Nikon D70 Digital Field Guide" by David Busch. I bought one off eBay for under $10 and it really has gone a long way past the owner's manual in explaining how to use the camera and also gives a lot of good basic photo advice.

One question I have for Man-Fai (or others): I bought a circular polarizer to get better outdoor colors (bluer skies, etc.). Should I also buy a UV filter or would that be overkill? Can these filters (even good ones) just be added on without degrading the lens' optics?

 

[Scott Kimball]

Never "stack" filters.
Only use filters when needed.

Others will say a UV or Skylight filter should be on the lens as protection. I follow this reasoning only when shooting in hazardous conditions (salt water, dusty air, etc). Other than that, I leave filters off unless optically needed. Each layer of glass you add affects the optics of the system, degrading performance. Stacking filters compounds the problem and adds flare possibilities.

You can use a lens hood to improve contrast on bright days. It will have no negative effect, and provdes some protection to the front element.

That said, a good UV or Skylight filter, and a good CPL should be in your arsenal - just keep them in your bag til you need them.

-Scott

 

[LDfan]

Can the higher end (non-SLR) digital cameras do the long exposure type pictures? I guess these are referred to as prosumer models?

Jeff

 

[Paul McElligott]

Some have the long exposure (15 seconds on Canon IS2) but most don't seem to have a "bulb" setting (meaning that the shutter stays open for as long as you hold down the button). The higher end Nikon Coolpix cameras do, but I haven't found any others (so far).

 

[Ed B]

For starters you might want to go the digital route the astro photography stuff is not the easiest place to start at. As you read there are so many variables with this also when shooting these types of shots.

You should start off with more of the basics such as how ISO, aperture and shutter settings effect your photos. Starting off with an SLR (film or digital) will be expensive because your going to want to get new lenses and most decent lenses cost more than a DSLR. There are many digital pro-sumer cameras out there which are a step above the point and shoot which offer a decent set of features at a good price point. These cameras have manual overrides which will allow you to learn more about using the various settings on a camera.

The top of the line P&S cameras like the Canon A620 (brand new) are fantastic performers in their class, they produce great photos and have lots manual settings as well. Something with all the settings that this has would also allow you to learn more about photography.

Just to give you an idea of what results a good digital P&S can produce check out my photo galleries at http://www.pbase.com/eddyb/a95 All the photos there were taken with my Canon A95 (the previous model to the new 610/620.)

Consider this if you go the SLR route you might still want a smaller camera to use as a backup or when you dont want to carry the bulk of a larger camera around. There are models like the Canon S80 that will fit in your pocket and lots of DSLR guys are getting smaller cameras as backups.

Ed

 

[AjayM]

Mirror lock up isn't going to be needed on a long exposure (say over a minute), the milliseconds that the camera is shaking from the mirror slap isn't going to expose anything if it takes minutes/hours to properly expose the rest of the picture.

The hat trick is good, and no need to worry about camera shake once you have the lens covered.

Andrew

 

[Peter Winton]

An interesting point of view, although I can't totally agree with it.

Digital is not where it needs to be for film replacement - quite right. But given a few years time, I reckon it will be.

Film production is gradually being stepped down. Nearly all the trad film producers have had to go into the digital market - not necessarily out of choice, but beacause film sales were diminishing, and still are.

Nearly every new PC in this country has a 'digital' package available as an option. A reasonable quality digital camera is nearly always part of that package, and this extra cost option is not very expensive.

You are quite right to mention more special creative photography, but I do maintain that digi cams are getting more and more creative-friendly as the years go on. Again, I reckon that in a few years, DSLR's will meet chem-film cams head on.

The best part of this is the waiting for it to happen! In a way, I hope that 35mm doesn't die - for personal reasons as well as pure preferential ones, but given the way the digital market is accelerating, I do fear the worst for 35mm chemical film.

 

[AjayM]

Very true, see above. Especially in the "true" consumer market, the people who buy a camera to snap pictures of their kids birthday party, or their vacation (essentially people who have no "artist" reason to be taking photos, they collecting memories).

Medium/Large formats have not felt much if any impact from the digital market. A few people have switched over on the medium format front, but that's still a large investment (minimum of $10k to get entry level MF digital).

Andrew

 

[Peter Winton]

Couldn't agree more. I guess it really hinges on this part of the market as to how well 35mm will survive. Just think what would happen if/when the cost of these MF's were to come down.....

We'll never know until it happens!! But it's a really interesting topic.

 

[LDfan]

Well I went against everyone's advice and purchased a used Canon Rebel G with 2 lenses. The camera was still in like-new condition and only cost me $75 including the lenses. I am reading through the instruction manual now. Man, these SLR cameras can be intimidating with all the modes and features.

One question is about filters. I would like to buy a polarizing filter. Can anyone recommend a decent brand or type to use on a Canon Rebel?

I want to get some good practice with a film based camera before dropping the money on a $1000 digital SLR.

Thanks for all the help.

Jeff

 

[Jay Taylor]

I prefer B+W filters that are multi-coated to reduce reflections. If your camera has a beam splitter in the light path of your TTL exposure meter then you should get a circular polarizer. If not, a linear polarizer will work.

Sorry I don’t know if your camera has a beam splitter or not. The digital camera you might buy in the future may have one so it may be to your advantage to buy a circular polarizer regardless.

I don’t know what size filter your lenses take but a multi-coated 52mm Top-Polarizer (linear) costs $53.95 and a multi-coated 52mm Circular Polarizer costs $79.95 at B&H Photo Video. That’s more than the cost of your camera!

The good news is that if you buy decent filters now, you may use them on future same sized lenses when you go digital.