what small digital camera to pair up with my film cameras?

[meandihagee]

hello everybody,

any thoughts on what cheap digital camera should i buy as a test camera for strobes?

i need something rather portable and cheap just to see how the lights looks before i use my film cameras.

i'm hoping there are alternatives to a dslr...

thanks

 

[TXForester]

If you are testing strobes then you'll need something that would fire the strobes. Depends on how the strobes are being fired. If by optical slave, then all most any camera with a built in flash might work. If by radio slave or sync cord, then something with a hot shoe attachment is needed. You might need an adapter like the Wein if you are using a cord and the trigger voltage strobes are above 6 to 12v. You don't want to fry the camera.

Tanon G series has a hot shoe attachment. It has manual settings if you want to go that way, and the older models are pretty cheap, yet provide nice images. I a G6 for it's meter to test natural light expose settings for film cameras with out built in meters.

 

[sojournerphoto]

I picked a Canon G7 from ebay for my daughter or if you want new then the Panasonic LX5 is worth a look. Not particularly 'budget' thogh.

 

[meandihagee]

If you are testing strobes then you'll need something that would fire the strobes. Depends on how the strobes are being fired. If by optical slave, then all most any camera with a built in flash might work. If by radio slave or sync cord, then something with a hot shoe attachment is needed. You might need an adapter like the Wein if you are using a cord and the trigger voltage strobes are above 6 to 12v. You don't want to fry the camera.

Tanon G series has a hot shoe attachment. It has manual settings if you want to go that way, and the older models are pretty cheap, yet provide nice images. I a G6 for it's meter to test natural light expose settings for film cameras with out built in meters.

i want to trigger them via cable...

 

[ottluuk]

okay, basically you want a hot shoe, an easy way to set exposure manually and a decent screen where you can actually see something useful about your lights. and maybe histogram view, to get a better idea of what you're looking at. and cheap.

to be honest, i'd get a used low-end DSLR from a generation or two back plus a 50/1.8. point&shoot digitals are generally frustratingly slow to operate when you need to set manual exposure. the exceptions (Canon G-series, Panasonic lx-3/5, higher end Ricoh's) aren't really that cheap. If you want small, Oly E-410 is pretty small.

 

[mike_j]

If you can afford a bit more than a compact a Panasonic G1 might be good. Hot shoe, full manual control, reasonable IQ and always the possibility of using your other lenses via an adapter.

I suggest the G1 rather than the later models because they are available quite cheaply.