Considering a DSLR ...

Hey guys, thanks for the input! I don't think I'll be buying a 5D or D700 just yet. I just can't really justify spending that much on a camera, and full frame isn't really a huge concern for me right now. I'll probably end up going with a low or mid-range Nikon or Canon, but I'll still look around a bit. Have any of you had any experience with the Sigma SD14? I've heard good things about it, but if it's so great wouldn't more people be buying them? What do you think?
 
mcgrattan said:
... Also, I find it quite hard to find second-hand K-mount primes at reasonable prices. I have a nice fast 50, and fast-ish 28mm and 135mm lenses, but in the UK I can't find any portrait length primes that aren't quite expensive, for love or money.
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You might consider the Helios-44M, a Soviet-made 58mm f/2 lens made in M42 screw mount. With the digital crop factor it's equivalent to a normal 75mm, and the lens performs quite nicely with pleasant bokeh when using wide-open aperture for short depth-of-field to isolate your subject. With the lens aperture control set to M (for manual) I can use the camera in aperture-priority mode. You will need the M42 > K mount adapter.
 
ChrisN said:
You might consider the Helios-44M, a Soviet-made 58mm f/2 lens made in M42 screw mount. With the digital crop factor it's equivalent to a normal 75mm, and the lens performs quite nicely with pleasant bokeh when using wide-open aperture for short depth-of-field to isolate your subject. With the lens aperture control set to M (for manual) I can use the camera in aperture-priority mode. You will need the M42 > K mount adapter.
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Chris - sorry for being a pedant. 58mm is probably around 85mm on 1.5x crop camera, which is probably an even better focal length.

I would also recommend something like the Tamron Adaptall 35-80/2.8 or even the 35-70/3.5 : very decent image quality and around £20 - £30 in the Uk with a PK adaptor.
 
^^^^what he said (and an earlier poster) - if you're after a lower-to-mid range DSLR then any of them are more than good enough, and you're best going with what fits best in your hand, looks best through the viewfinder and works with the kinds of lenses you're likely to want to use.

Another thing you might want to consider, if you're really trying to save the pennies, is to look for an "obsolete" model with little-to-no presumed value on the used market. I'm thinking of "old, obsolete" roughly 6MP models. The one that springs immediately to my mind is the original Pentax K100D (not the super) though I don't know what current market perception of that model may be. I do know that I have photos on my wall at A3 (roughly 11"x14" size) that are more than just "good enough", taken with my Canon 300D, which is considered so passe that I doubt I could sell it no matter what the price, or even give it away.

Buy one like that and you'll have more to spend on lenses, which "last" longer (in a market sense) and will have more impact on your overall image quality anyway.

...Mike
 
zuikologist said:
Chris - sorry for being a pedant. 58mm is probably around 85mm on 1.5x crop camera, which is probably an even better focal length.

I would also recommend something like the Tamron Adaptall 35-80/2.8 or even the 35-70/3.5 : very decent image quality and around £20 - £30 in the Uk with a PK adaptor.
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Yes - of course - thanks for the correction! I have the worst cold I've ever suffered and didn't have the energy to check my figures!
 
ChrisN said:
I have the worst cold I've ever suffered
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Completely off-topic; but if its that bad then it probably isn't the dreaded swine flu that we were all supposed to panic about, but now aren't - according to the same people who told us to panic in the first place (Nicola Roxon being in the 1st rank of those).

[all those not in Oz can ignore the local reference]

That's unfortunate, really, as "the swine" is probably safer...

...Mike
 
I have actually tried the 58mm Helios with an adapter. I liked it. Probably shouldn't have sold it when I had a clear out of M42 stuff a while back. The Tamron zoom sounds interesting.
 
Are you an "available light" kind of photographer or are you planning to dabble in strobist-type photography (off-camera flash)?
 
mcgrattan said:
I have actually tried the 58mm Helios with an adapter. I liked it. Probably shouldn't have sold it when I had a clear out of M42 stuff a while back. The Tamron zoom sounds interesting.
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I am sure I have a spare Helios lying around. Probably not the best condition, but yours if you want it (and I can find it!).
 
kxl said:
I'm an unabashed Nikonista.

My first DSLR was a D70 - just to see what the fuss was all about.

My second (and current) is a D200 - because it'll meter with AIS lenses.

My newest (just ordered) is a D700 - fantastic low light capabilities and full frame.

If it fits your budget and you go with brand "N" the D700 is an easy choice.
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How funny, it's exactly my same path into digital, but I have already the D700 since february. Aside the high iso capabilities it's the "rangefinder-like" viewfinder you get when using DX crop frames. Highly recommended !

Depending on your budget, I'd start from a D200 (now very cheap and really "pro" for several things) instead of leaning D60 / D90 (which have for sure their pros) OR I'd go straightly for the D700 if you can afford it.
 
chippy said:
I like the high end Canons (1 series) for their great viewfinders that are like the old infamous OM cameras (mech Olympus cameras from the 70's-90's+) as well as their res and so on, but you are not likely to be getting one of them any time in the near future by the sounds of it.
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Being the happy owner of an OM2 as well as a Canon 1Ds Mark II I can say that unfortunately the 1Ds viewfinder is not quite as good as the OM ones. Better than most DSLRs though? Definitely!
 
I always throw in for Pentax on these threads. The new K-7 looks awesome, and the K20D is excellent as well. But the main thing is that the Pentax Limited primes are some of the best prime lenses ever made, particularly the FA31/1.8.

I really want the K-7 and it will be a challenge for me to hold off until the price drops a few hundred.
 
I've got a 5D mk1 and a 1dS3. both are incredible. Even now the 5D still makes lovely pictures. Low light performance on both is remarkable, though I'm told that the Nikon see in the dark D700/D3 is even more so, atthe expense of more cost than a 5D and les resolution than a 1Ds3/5D2.

Canon's 50 1.4 is actually a nice lens optically, with some character when opened up. It's pretty unpleasant to manual focus though (not that you usually need to). The 85 1.8 is great, the 1-- 2.8 macro remarkable and my wides are Zeiss. The 35 1.4 is suposed to be a cracking lens, and one I'd like as autofocus is a good thing on dslrs. The 35 2 is much less expensive, doesn't have usm manual focus override on it and needs to be stopped down a bit to work as well as the pricey ones.

One big factor for between the crop sensor and 35mm full frame cameras is the viewfinder. The 5D is good and the 1Ds3 is excellent - the 1Ds3 is the first dslr I can reliably manual focus with, though the 5D is not impossible. The crop sensor cameras have much smaller finders - a 0.72 finder on a crop camera is still 0.72 with a 50, so is a cut out from the full frame finder. I can't focus any of them. The prosumer models are noticeably better than the 'entry level' cameras,

You can use lots of nice glass on a canon camera - including Zeiss Contax - if you can live with stop down metering and manual focus.

Brand - try them and choose your poison.

Mike


1Ds3 iso 3200 Zeiss Distagon 35 f2

U25074I1246555404.SEQ.0.jpg
 
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