Newbie here: coming from a point and shoot

[jchamb26]

Please do not flame me lol. Well the time has come and my point and shoot just isnt going to cut it any longer. I will not be doing any professional weddings or photos for money (well i dont intend to). What I enjoy shooting is cars. I enjoy shooting 1 car alone, group photos, rolling shots (although this wasnt really possible with my point and shoot), ect. I thought i had my mind set between the Cannon XTi, XSi or the Nikon d40x. I have Adobe Photoshop CS3 so image editing shouldnt be a problem, i will just have to learn how to work with it a little better. I really really love the look of the fisheye lenses when shooting cars. and also enjoy doing low light, dusk nighttime shots. If one was going to be better than the other one, which would you guys go with?

Also my grandmother passed away about a year ago and she was a photographer. I always took interest in her photographer so she left me all her gear. 2 35mm Minolta's and ishloads of lenses, BIG lenses and filters. I hear that if these lenses are auto-focusing that they will bolt up to A series Sony dSLR's? But how does sony stack up against its competitiors?

Out of all the ones ive held and felt i would have to say that the d40x, d60 has felt best.


EDIT: also the reason I have narrowed it down to these is because i am told for what I am going to be doing (initially... but the sky's the limit) that i shouldnt spend more money on the body, but instead grab one of the aforementioned dSLR's and save the rest of the money for glass. Any insight?

Thanks,
Josh

[downtrodden]

whoever told you to grab better glass is correct- the glass will affect the quality of your images more so than the body you choose will. The features of one SLR vs. the other nowafays doesn't really have a profound impact on the image you take, but only on how easy or comfortable it is to take said image. If you like the feel of the D40X, then that is a body you should look into getting.

As far as all your Minolta lenses though, it would be sad to see them go to waste- you should post a listing here of the lenses you have in your inventory... Sony might be a good way to go for you! Sony offers the advantage of In Body image stabilization, which means you do not have to pay more for the stabilization to be in the lens. The only downside and complaint i have with sony is the cost of the body compared to what features are offered. Sony has a couple great looking SLR's coming out that you may want to take a look at. If you don't have to buy lenses, then maybe paying a little more for a Sony body would be ideal for you! This should also still leave you enough money to buy a wide angle or fisheye lens for your car photography...

The lens list and a budget would be tremendously helpful in narrowing it down for ya and suggesting sony bodies to look at... :D

~Cory

[jchamb26]

awsome i will do that tonight when i get home from work. Stay tuned guys...

[kenack]

I'm also leaving the point and shoot after 2 Nikons died. I'm coming fron the point and shoots for mainly travel and always used my non auto focus Nikon FE & FM for better shots. I'm at the point that I don't use film or slides anymore and find myself wanting to go 100% digital.

I have some older Nikon glass from the 80s all non AF so will probably just sell with the bodies etc. so will be free to chose a new format. I will be mainly shooting lanscapes and structures with a some local flavor thrown in. I'm going to be traveling a lot and most of it on motorcycle, so this is a big factor in vibration and dust, etc.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Ken

[Phill D]

kenack for the lightest weight dslr option you should look at Olympus something like the E510 if you want IS. Mind you its replacement is probably due soon so you could wait for the new spec E520? or get a 510 when the prices drop. As far as I can see for lightweight camera & lens combinations then Olympus is the way to go. This isn't a very active Olympus forum though & the 4/3rds sensor format doesn't seem very popular here as it is a bit noisier at high isos than the canon & nikon sensors.

[Phill D]

jchamb26 Cory's suggestion seems spot on to me the latest Sony dslrs look pretty good on paper. Don who is a regular Sony supporter here I'm sure will be best able to advise on using your old lenses. As being a P&S user myself currently with IS though I would not want to move up & have to pay a lot extra for the IS facility. (That's one of the reasons I haven't graduated to a dslr myself yet) Instantly having IS on all your old glass seems a pretty compelling argument to look hard at Sony.

[jchamb26]

awsome ill try and pm him, but last night someone threw a wrench in the works. I have an aquaintence (sp?) i know from college that has a D80 that he bought as a backup camera. He says this thing has never been used and still has the 1 yrs manufacture's warranty. It is the D80 body and Nikon 18-135mm lens. He wanted $800 but i talked him all the way down to $700. Now this seems like the obvious choice since a d40x with the 18-55mm is gonna run me $600 brand new.

My questions to you all are:
does this deal sound too good to be true?
is there a way for me to tell if it has been used or not?
i dont think it is, but what if its stolen?
what other kinds of questions do i need to ask this guy?!


Thanks for your insight,
Josh

[erichlund]

If it's basically like new, then it's a very good price. However, the warranty is from the date of original purchase, not from when you get it from him. Somewhere in the menu you can check for sensor activations. That will tell you how many shots have been taken. The number should be very low or zero. Someone else here may be able to give you the actual way to find that info. I never actually look, so I don't recall how.

[jchamb26]

yes if someone could tell me how to do this that would be awsome. My main concern is if the d80 is on its way out. However that lens is around $300 so it would have to come down quite a bit even for this to not be a good deal. Is there a way i can purchase an extended warranty after i aquire this camera? or is it even necessary on dSLR's i mean do they have a lot of issues?!

[erichlund]

Just because the D80 is not the latest and greatest does not mean it is not a great product. It still takes great photos. It's has more features than the newer D60, and in RAW, probably has just as good image quality. It may not have quite as good latitude for high ISO, because Nikon is making rapid advances in that area, but it is a very capable tool. Buying the camera when it's not the latest fashion also means that you get a better price.

[downtrodden]

Personally, before making up my mind, I would post a listing of your old minolta glass here for someone more knowledgable to look over and tell you if you have great stuff. If you have really nice glass already, then why go for a body and system you'll have to buy more lenses for in the future? however, if your minolta glass isn't the greatest, then i'd seriously look into that D80. It's a great camera...

[jchamb26]

awsome well here goes... pics of the minolta st00f.

horrible pics, point and shoot = fail

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc149/joshsphotos86/Camera%20St00f/DSC00765.jpg

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc149/joshsphotos86/Camera%20St00f/DSC00766.jpg

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc149/joshsphotos86/Camera%20St00f/DSC00767.jpg

135mm
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc149/joshsphotos86/Camera%20St00f/DSC00769.jpg

70-210mm
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc149/joshsphotos86/Camera%20St00f/DSC00770.jpg

49mm
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc149/joshsphotos86/Camera%20St00f/DSC00771.jpg

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc149/joshsphotos86/Camera%20St00f/DSC00772.jpg


hope that helps and again i dunno what the hell is happening to the point n shoot

[Visual Reality]

Do you have a macro mode on the camera? If so, you will need that to focus up close.