Need Some Help Folks, I'm Camera Stupid

[TipsE-Z]

So... The misses takes some great photos, and she always has. She's always used a 35mm with a nice lens and had good success. Recently though, we saw that places don't seem to be maintaining their chemicals as they should and the film turned out grainy and bad. With everything moving to digital I've started looking at getting her a nice SLR package to start her on her way with them; thing is, I'm a putz when it comes to all this stuff....

Any thoughts on the best bang for your buck SLR package?

Thanks in advance folks!

[daniel_buck]

What type of lenses does she have? (what mount type) There is a good chance depending on what film setup she has, that she will be able to use those lenses with a digital body. That would be ideal, since she won't have to purchase new lenses. Right off the bat the one major lens mount type that will be difficult to re-use in the digital world is the older Canon FD mount lenses (pre 1987 or so). Most other types of lens mounts (Nikon F, Canon EF, Pentax K and so on) can be mounted either directly to a new camera body, or they can be mounted via adapter rings. I use alot of adapter rings on my Canon digital body, I use older Contax Zeiss lenses, Nikon lenses, and even M42 screw mount lenses. That's one thing I like about the newer Canon digital bodies, is that they have a relatively large lens mount that is easily adapted to many older lens mounts. And most of them can swap out the focusing screen for one that has a split-diopter to make manually focusing easier.

Bang for the buck, if she doesn't have to buy new lenses, that will be the best. Otherwise, pretty much any new-ish digital SLR from the big camera makers (I like to stick with Nikon and Canon) will give great results. The only problem with the digital cameras is that unless she spends a big chunk of money to get a full chip camera, she's going to be dealing with a smaller sensor size, and a smaller viewfinder window. She is probably going to hate this, as she is undoubtedly used to the nice big viewfinder of the film cameras. I might suggest looking at picking up a used Canon 5D (a great camera), as that will probably be the cheapest way to get into a full-sized sensor, and a nice sized viewfinder. But again, depends on what lenses she has already.

And yes, it's a shame that it's hard to get good film developing anymore. I develop my own black and white, but when I shoot color, I'm at the mercy of whoever is at the lab. :-\

[TipsE-Z]

Ya, we have looked into setting up B&W in the closet at home since we have the space and it is so easy to do. Thank you very much for the input, I'm not sure what her specs are on her 35mm, I will check when I get home from work and post up later for your, and anyone elses, thoughts.

[daniel_buck]

to actually develop B&W film, you don't need much, just a changing tent and some daylight drums. I develop mine in the kitchen sink with those. But for printing, yea you need space for an enlarger, or at least a contact printer (probably not as useful for 35mm though).

[nwoods]

Definitely keep in the same family of camera/lenses as what she uses now. It will save you thousands of dollars if she sticks with the dSLR size (same as 35mm SLR, but digital). If you want to completely overwhelm yourself with knowledge, spend some time on www.dpreview.com. They have very detailed reviews on pretty much all the cameras out there.

They key is this: The camera is the cheap part. Don't stress out too much about the camera. If she shoots Canon, and you can afford a Canon 7d, go for it. Best bang for the buck. If you can't swing that coin, go for the Rebel XTi. Similar performance, less expensive housing and slightly slower (very slightly) in shot to shot speed and write to disc processing, but otherwise the same as the 7d. Both take outstanding photos AND video, and equally important, shoot well in low light situations with excellent high ISO capablity (low noise in night shots).

I don't know the Nikon range, but its similar, they have low end, mid end, and several ranges of higher end. Go mid to medium high, and then spend your money on the following:
1. Lenses. the glass controls the image quality. The better the lens, the better the image. Glass is immortal. Spend your money here, and don't worry about the little gimzo that holds the sensor (also called a camera).
2. Computer: Nice cameras like to operation on nice computers for post processing. 4GB ram min, i5 Core or higher, decent video card, and massive hard drive space required
3. Software: Lightroom and Photoshop are the goto's, unless you buy Mac, then Aperature is popular, but Lightroom is still very popular for managing all those photos
4. Storage: Need big drives, and portable drives for archiving images.

If she shoots Canon, another great site is Photography On The Net (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/). It's almost as good as MJR, but targeted to Canon shooters. Great forum.

[daniel_buck]

you find out what camera type (lens mount) she has?

[TipsE-Z]

No... I keep forgetting... Dang in-laws in town and I led a group here in Az wheeling on Saturday.... My 3 hour wheeling trip turned into 9 with a broken CV knuckle (too much cowbell), a bent tie rod (2nd I've seen bend in this same spot), and a broken T-Case.... Anywhos.... I'm sick now so I'll probably get it tomorrow or later this week. Sorry I'm so slow, but I really appreciate the follow up.

[daniel_buck]

Hah! no worries :-D Wow, I hope all that wasn't on one jeep!

[TipsE-Z]

So I just got home from work and checked out her camera. She has a Canon with a 28-80mm lens. Hope that helps a bit. Far as the computer post processing goes... I got it covered I think, here's the specs on my new one I'm building.

i7 2600K
Z68 Chipset
2TB HDD
120Gb SSD
24 GB DDR3
DVD RW
7.1 Surround Sound with lots more (for the business the sound card is cruicial)
and a nice video card but I forget what it is, 1GB Processor I tink and 1GB of ram on the video card

[nwoods]

Sweet! Let me know if I can RDP into your machine from time to time to crunch video :-)

As for the lens, it's crap. As in, cracker-jack free giveaway toy quality. If that is her only lens, no need to buy a camera specific the lens. You can get whatever fits you're budget and almost certainly meet or exceed her needs.

Assuming this is the 28-80mm lens you are referring to: http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/s...&cat=27&page=2


Now that we have that clear, you might seriously consider the form factor of the camera. There are several new styles that are appealing for various reasons.

1. dSLR: Big, fast, great battery, great quality, fast, big. Tons of lens options and accessories, and they are fast and little big

2. All-in-Ones: These look like dSLR's, but tend to be a bit smaller, and do NOT have interchangable lenses. Good image quality, but a lot of compromises. Certainly are simple. Something like this: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydschx100v/ Personally, I don't care for them. You get the bulk of a dSLR, but not of the flexibility.

3. 4/3rds: This is a relatively new style that is very popular. Slightly bigger than a Point-n-Shoot, typically have dSLR sized sensors, in a PNS body, with a few decent lenses to choose from in any given mfr's line up. Compact, great image quality, easy to use, not terribly expensive but not cheap either. Limited lenses, but typically good lenses. The GX1 is pretty nice: http://www.dpreview.com/products/pan...nasonic_dmcgx1

4. Point-n-Shoot (PNS): Humongous range of available cameras to choose from. Lenses are crap, images are overprocessed, but generally pretty acceptable. Not nearly as fast as a dSLR, batteries last hours instead of days because lenses retract and extend, flashes pop up, LCD screens are huge, and the computer tries to do all the thinking for the shooter.

5. Prosumer PNS: Camera's like the G-12 don't fit any one category. They are built like expensive SLR's, but in a PNS style housing, but are larger than PNS', and smaller than All-in-1's. Usually great sensors, great lens, great controls and options, but limited range due to fixed lens (not interchangable). The Canon G-12 is pretty awesome: http://www.dpreview.com/products/can...acts/canon_g12

[daniel_buck]

Do you know which model specifically the camera body is, or the lenses are EF mount, or FD mount? I believe there was a 28-80 FD as well, or maybe it was a 28-85. Are there other lenses as well?

If it's EF mount, you are golden, you can use any Canon DSLR with no problems at all, auto focusing and auto aperture will work just fine, and no adapters required.

If it's an FD mount, I'm sad to say but this is probably one of the harder mounts to re-use, best to just scrap it and get newer lenses. it's borderline major surgery to get FD lenses to work on EF mounts. (and the use of a simple adapter would not let you focus to infinity, making the lens essentially macro only). In either case, the 28-80 I believe is a fairly inexpensive lens, so it wouldn't be the end of the world if it's FD and you can't re-use it, as the camera body will cost many times what the lens does, so getting another EF equivalent will not break the bank.

It should say on the ring around the front lens element, FD or EF somewhere along with other stuff. If there is no marking, just let me know what model camera it is, and we can just do a quick search and see if it's FD or EF, or when it was made. If it's more than about 25 years old, she's out of luck as it will be an FD mount.

If her lenses are FD and are not very expensive, then I would say bring her to a camera store and let her hold a few of the Nikon and Canon bodies, see which feels best in her hand. They do have different feels. Personally, I like the feel of the Nikon bodies better (especially their higher end models, the rubber-ish paddings on the outsides are softer and more grippy, and I like the buttons and switches better). And then go from there to narrow what camera she likes best.



For the computer, so long as it has a semi-decent processor and 4 gigs of ram or more, it will be plenty for processing photos. You really only need a beefy computer with a very fast processor and lots of ram for photography if you are going to be processing hundreds and thousands of images in batch (like a sports photography, where you are constantly shooting all day long) or if you are doing other things with photographs that take up alot of memory (like alot of stitching, and such). For basic image processing of single images at a time, or batch processing of a few hundred or less per batch, most semi-modern run of the mill computer will suffice. It sounds like what you are building will be absolutely plenty. I use pretty fast computers at work for the heavy software needed at work, but at home for just processing digital photos and scanning film negatives I use my 3 year old laptop with a 2 core processor and 8 gigs of ram.

Good call on the SSD, that will make things nice and snappy. I would suggest having your OS and programs installed on the SSD, and also use the SSD as the first dump point for your images when you take them off the card. Work on the images initially off the SSD drive and then when you are done processing the images simply move them over to your larger (and slower) harddrives for later use.

[TipsE-Z]

That was the plan with the SSD, the Z68 Chipset automatically uses the SSD as a sort of cache for all the program files that are required to open the most frequently used programs on your computer, the remaining background files are stored on the HDD.

Thank you both very much for the info on the camera stuff. I suspect I'll take her to the store here soon and see what she likes the feel of. She's telling me to not spend the money on it right now since we are helping some friends but.... I think I should. Money comes and money goes, memories last forever (or till you go senile).

[daniel_buck]

If you can find someone who has a Canon 5D (the original 5d, or the newer Mark2), have her take a look at those as well. They are very good cameras, and the original 5D can be found for a decent price. They have a nice big viewfinder, and is a very solid camera. (it's also a 'full sized' camera body, like the film EOS-1 and EOS-3 bodies)

I can almost guarantee the first thing she will say when she looks through most any consumer model DSLR will be "wow, the viewfinder is so small." If she can live with that, then I would say any DSLR made in the passed few years will be just fine. If she wants a larger viewfinder, I would suggest the original 5d. (or the 5d Mk2) www.KEH.com has two original 5D camera bodies for $1,100 used. You can probably find cheaper than that elsewhere, but KEH is a very good secure place to buy used camera equipment, even though it may cost more than ebay or craigslist or elsewhere.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes :-) Don't hesitate to ask more questions!

[TipsE-Z]

I will for sure keep you guys posted... Man, I need to make more $$! The Jeep costs so much to build, and now I need to upgrade camera equipment because of all the gorgeous places we are going now...