weapon of choice

[Hutch]

So, what's  your go to camera?

personally I really like my Canon Elan 7. good heft, but not too much. controls are easy to access. Definently plan on gettin a bigger lens.

Also just entered the digital age with a Kodak easyshare Z760. pretty neat little camera.

Used to own a Canon AE1-P absolutely an awesome camera!


Hutch

[Killdeer]

I like Canon too. I have an Elan 2E 35mm and a powershot S60 digital. I am looking to get another digital, one that will take my lenses.

This is gonna take a while, though.

$$$$$    
Killdeer

[Weasel]

Canon 20D and Rebel XT digital bods.  Looking real hard at the Panasonic Lumix compact digitals.  They weigh about 3 pounds less than my current setup of the 20D & 17-40mm L.  A whole lot cheaper to replace should I take a fall or get soaked.

Jerry

[Killdeer]

I was looking at the 20D, and also the 5D. Both have features that I would like. Aside from the obvious difference in price, why should I go for the 20D over the 5D?

Killdeer

Forgive me if I don't get back to this soon, I have a ton of stuff to do today and will be gone over the weekend.

[Guru]

Mine is just a little Sony DCS-P200,it's tiny,but it's great in my pack and takes nice hero px,decent scenery pix....

[five-oh]

Just got the Panasonic DMC FZ30.  12x optical zoom (420mm equivalent) 8mgp.  It's got auto and manual focus, manual zoom and a ton of stuff I don't know how use yet.

[skeeter]

I have a Olympus C740 digital camera for my quick pixs but still go to the Nikon N80 35mm for my quality pictures.  I will eventually move my Nikon system over to digital when the price comes down.

[tmccall]

Mine is a Kodak DX7590.  I'm pretty pleased with it.  The camera before it was a Sony Cybershot, I forget what model???  The photos I've posted have been pretty much evenly split between the two.  The DX7590 takes a much better photo, but I would love to learn to utilize some of the manual features for adjusting shutter aperature and f-stop.  The lack of a manual focus is my main complaint.

[Ray Hammond]

Nikon N70 and a Konica Minolta D'Image A2.

[Huntrdfk]

Mine is a Sony Cyber Shot DSC-85, also have a Canon Elph that is decent.  I also have acess to a Nikon D50 SLR that has me wanting one of the SLR digital cameras now.  Forgot how much I missed SLR cameras until I started trying this one.

David

[Chad Edgar]

Jerry, sent you an email about the Pentax-Lumix.

Kodak EZShare 740.  10x digital zoom, and I think 7 or so megapixels.  Nice and compact.  The big plus is that I can turn off all sounds associated with it, manually adjust exposure meter, shutter speeds, aperature values (not as much as I would like though), and film speeds.  I can also change how it meters light.  If it only had a manual focus I would absolutely love it!

[non-typical]

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5. A step up from the Nikon Coolpix I used to carry. The 12X optical zoom is a wonderful feature. This model is lighter than the FZ-30 model so I can hang it around my neck and stuff it under my camo and it still isn't in the way when I shoot a bow. The more I use it the more impressed I am with the quality of images it produces. I'm wanting to explore filters for it as that is one of the things I miss using from my SLR days but oh lordy the difference in weight is worth it!

[Weasel]

Originally posted by Killdeer:
I was looking at the 20D, and also the 5D. Both have features that I would like. Aside from the obvious difference in price, why should I go for the 20D over the 5D?

Killdeer
 

Killy, it depends on what your needs are and what you like to shoot.  I'd love to have the 5D for the full size sensor so I could use my 17-40mm for wide-angle scenic and have it perform as a 17-40mm.  However, I prefer the 20D for wildlife because the smaller sensor gives me a 1.6X crop factor, making my 400mm the equivalent of a 600mm+.  I bought a 12-24mm ultrawide for the 20D for $500 (the difference between the 20D and 5D is almost $2000) so I could do the wide-angle stuff I like to do.  With the crop factor, the 12mm is ~18mm.  When I shot film, the 20mm was my absolute favorite landscape lens.

As far as the difference in megapixels between the two?  I'd make a 20"x30" from my 8mp 20D any day!  How much bigger do you need?

[jcsnapshot]

I'm gonna love this forum, great idea.
Weapon of choice is Nikon D100, and this spring I will be ordering the D200.    N80, and a few manual Nikon bodies now collecting dust next to a Bronica ETRSi system  :(
Killy, before I bought a 5D, I would seriously consider the Nikon D200 with 28-200 Dx lens.
Jim

[Weasel]

The D200 looks like a great body, but I think I'd wait until it was on the market for awhile to see if there are any problems.  Admittedly, Nikon has better quality control than Canon, but I'd still wait a couple months anyway (like I'm doing now with the introduction of the 5D).

Actually, the D200 was the camera I was waiting for - for too long.  I shot Nikon for 30 years, but when they announced the D50 - yet another consumer camera for the masses - instead of the D200 I got ticked off, sold it all, and went with Canon.  Another reason was that I was constantly frustrated by the hunting focus of the 80-400 VR.  Very sharp lens, but why Nikon didn't make it an AF-S is beyond me.  The Canon 100-400 IS is lightning quick compared to the 80-400mm. So for MY needs (want to emphasize that) and pocket book, the Canon 20D fits me better.

[Hutch]

So Jerry, what was it that made you want to shoot digital over film?


Hutch

[jcsnapshot]

Jerry, I know what you mean about waiting. However, the nice thing about the digital era is that the "fix" is only a download away. Its not like the "mechanical" days, when if there was a glitch you had to have the camera repaired. By this spring I figure all the bugs will be wworked out.

[Weasel]

jcsnapshot, you're absolutely correct.  It was mainly the 80-400mm  VR that I was frustrated with (it cost me a shot of a fox trotting right at me 15 yards and closing.  Not to mention numerous attempts at flying waterfowl).  The D50 pushed me over the edge.  I think you're smart to wait.  And I think the D200 is going to be a great camera.  I was happy with the D70/100 for landscapes.  Just too slow for the moving wildlife.

 

Originally posted by Hutch:
So Jerry, what was it that made you want to shoot digital over film?

Two things.  I recognized that's where the industry was heading and I'd trailed behind technology all my life.  The other thing is my wife took up photography with me.  The first year we went through $1200 of slide film & processing.  That didn't include print film, processing, and enlargements.

[Killdeer]

Thanks for the insight, Jerry. I didn't have a clue about crop factor. How does that work?

Jim, I already have a considerable investment in Canon L lenses, a 100-400 IS and a 17-35L, plus a run-of-the-mill 28-80 USM to fill in the gaps. Canon and I are married, and I can not afford a divorce!

Killdeer

[Weasel]

Originally posted by Killdeer:
Thanks for the insight, Jerry. I didn't have a clue about crop factor. How does that work?  

It's easier to draw on a piece of paper than explain.  Especially for a benighted photographer  

The digital sensor is smaller than a 35mm frame.  That's why they call it a "crop factor".   The focal length of a lens is based on the 35mm frame size.  So when the digital sensor is smaller than the 35mm format, it's like cropping the center out of the 35mm frame.  For example, when you use a 400mm lens with the 20D that has a crop factor of 1.6x, you are in a sense shooting with a 620mm lens because you are only using a small part of the 35mm image area.  If I could draw a smaller rectangle inside a 35mm rectangle you would see what I mean.  The area of the larger 35mm rectangle outside the smaller rectangle (representing the digital sensor) is cropped off, hence the term "crop factor".  

While that is a boon to the wildlife photographer, it is also a bane to the wide-angle loving landscape photographer.  24mm becomes 38mm.

That is also why the 5D is called a "full frame" model, because the sensor is the same size as a 35mm film frame.

Jerry