Moving to a digital SLR
Back when I lived in the UK I spent a lot of time (and money) on my photography habit, a really good friend got me hooked on the photography bug. We spent a lot of time taking pictures of aircraft at the local USAF bases. At the time autofocus lenses were really not fast enough to shoot high speed objects so the camera of choice was a Nikon 301 body with a selection of lenses, the two most used were a 300mm zoom and a really nice 500mm fixed (mirror).
Now fast forward to this century :-) i've had several point and shoot cameras, currently have a nikon coolpix (with built in wifi). I've never made the transition to a digital SLR. Santa has been good to me this year and I have some bestbuy dollars on a gift card thats burning a hole in my pocket.
With the recommendation of Doug Toombs I'm leaning away from Nikon and looking at the Cannon Rebel XLT + a nice 300mm zoom. Seems to get very good reviews and has enough settings that I can have some fun both using the camera and post processing.
These days living in Colorado there is so much opportunity to shoot with a good camera, both in terms of getting some time in the mountains and also (see below) some of the surreal sunsets we get just from the back garden. I'm guessing these amazing sunsets are a result of reflective light hitting the mountains then bouncing into cloud formations. You really do get a little of the end of the world feeling when you see them.
So, looking for some community wisdom. Should I take the plunge with the Cannon setup? Unfortunately I can not reuse any of the glass from my Nikon setup, or seem to be able to sell on ebay so I need to start from scratch.
Technorati Tags: digital photography
Hi Jon,
I used to be a Minolta guy in SLR film, but now I have the Cannon Digital Rebel... and it does just fine. Very dependable, fast action shots, good colors. Simple enough so the casual user can use it (my wife), but enough manual controls for the expert. The focus is okay, multi-point, and pretty fast... best to try it out at Wolf first to see if it's fast enough for you. Doesn't do as well in low light w/o flash, but I've yet to find an SLR that does. (probably due more to my amateur skill) ;)
There are a ton of lenses on eBay that fit it.. and of course... get your filters... they make the world of difference in cutting down the blues.
Kier
Posted by Kier on January 07, 2008 at 12:31 AM MST #
I went from Nikon-lenses (Fuji S2 Pro with a bunch of Nikon lenses) to Canon 350D (Rebel XT). Most Nikon lenses are not good enough for a DSLR (only the very expensive ones). So don't cling on to what you have just for the sake of it. Buy Canon, and trade in your Nikon gear. At least then you have the opportunity to buy the famous L-gear (Luxury, meaning dust and waterproof) lenses. Once bitten by the L-addiction, there is no turning back.
Posted by SwitchBL8 on January 07, 2008 at 05:42 AM MST #
Well, I love my Nikon Digital SLR (D1x) and I would love to take the plunge on a new D3 although it is a bit cost prohibitive.
With the exception of your existing glass, and you must take into account the DX format crop factor, when considering its value to you.
I would say that a move to most any modern DSLR would be good. The Canon is a good choice.
Posted by Shawn Ferry on January 10, 2008 at 02:48 PM MST #