Which SLR ??

As I was reading your original post, and when you mentioned that you're interested in a low-priced camera with rear curtain synch, I was thinking, "Nikon N80." I've had one for about 6 years, and there are some nice aspects to it. It's very compact and lightweight, and I find that it's unusually quiet for an SLR. You don't mention whether a built-in flash is a requirement, but it does offer that.

A couple of downsides: If you're shooting in autofocus mode, the N80 struggles to focus in very low light. At least that's been my experience. The F100 autofocuses beautifully in low light, but it's bigger, heavier and costs more (and no built-in flash). The other downside is that the N80 uses fairly expensive batteries, unless you use the battery pack (MB16?), but then you've lost some of the compactness.

All in all, it's a nice little camera, well-designed and packed with features, at a low price. But you may need to focus manually in very low light...

Dale
 
Sad to hear there's no pentaxes with 2nd curtain. I've been oogling P30's but the DX is what kept me from gettong one (i shoot agfa portrait at EI40 or 64, and use diafine on BW)

so... an F80 or f100 from Nokin. and an SB24

now I know what to look for thanks guys and gals
 
Hi Pepe,

if you need rear curtain sync, I'd go for the F100, or well, maybe the F4. Both sell at incredibly low prices currently. The F100 is IMHO for you the best solution, I guess, since it goes well with all modern variants of AF lenses as well as the older manual focus AI and AIs lenses from Nikon and, ... Zeiss 🙄 .

Both F100 and F4 use D-TTL flash, as do all other Nikon film bodies - maybe with the exception of the F6. There are tons of strobes out there with all the capabilites you need at low prices.

Try the F100. You don't want the F80 thereafter.

Just my two cents. 😎

Ivo
 
If you go with F100 you might get the SB-50DX or SB-80DX flash, they're relatively compact and nice flashes.

Maybe the 50/1.8 AF lens? The 50/1.4 AF is really a great lens but significantly more expensive than the 1.8. For 35mm the 35/2 AF is fine, not Nikon's best lens but does the job. The AF-D lenses are suppposed to work better with the modern flashes by communicating focus distance to the flash, but I don't understand the subtleties of why or when this really helps.
 
imho and at the risk of being branded heretic, I would take a good p&s (film or digital) into that sort of environment - one with a fast cycling and adjustable flash would be more of an advantage. Inconspicuous and better for candid photos. Take lots of film or a big memory card and blast away. In pitch dark, your success rate is likely to be limited anyway and you should enjoy the occasion rather than worry about rear sync flash. One problem with a small p&s and even an SLR in the dark may be red-eye.
 
Your Canon G3 would be great for this.

Not sure if you like your zooming, but this is what I did with my G5 and a borrowed 430EX at a wedding reception.

ISO: {50,100}
Manual Focus: 1.5 metres (DoF becomes .76m >> 66m - fine for all but the biggest of halls)
Aperture: f/5.6
Zoom: Widest (7.2mm).

That all went into C1 or C2 for easy recall.

No worrying about focus lag, it's small, the flash exposure with the dedicated flash units is great (I think I dialed in -1/3 stop) and you're not carrying around something rather expensive.

And you can select rear-curtain sync.
 
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If flash is the issue then Nikon is undoubtedly the way to go. Top class cameras like the F80, F90 and F100 can be picked up for very little now that the rich amateurs are dumping them for digital; the used speedlights are also very good value.
 
About a year ago, just when the M8 was being released was a great time to buy Leica equipment - lots of people letting things go to finance the new camera.

With the D3/D300 release something similar may happen with older Nikon F-mount equipment this year?
 
I'd start with the lenses first, and then find the camera second. There are so many awesome manual lenses out there going for really cheap.
 
The F80 (N80) is an excellent camera. The built in flash will do a very good job in a close environment.
Batteries aren't cheap though. The F80 takes a pair of CR123A cells and they deplete quickly when a lot of flash is used.
On the other hand, an F80 with a AF-D 50/1.8 (very sharp) or an AF-G 28-80 zoom can be had for very little.
 
Nothing against an F100 or N/F 80, but I think you could save some money by going the N90s/F90x route. I haven't priced a N/F 80, but I shot with a N90s for years. Good, solid camera that can take the bumps with rear-curtain sync, great low-light AF, meters the old lenses, and I've seen them going for as low as $200.

The only downside is AF-S and G series lenses don't work normally, and they're a little on the heavy side for my taste. But damn good cameras nonetheless - plus they take AA batteries, unlike the 80.
 
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KoNickon said:
Still, why is rear curtain synch important for this event?
Click to expand...

Because people generally stand still until a flash has fired, after wich they assume the picture is taken and they move off, start talking, drink.

This goes double when alcohol is involved.

Plain flash won't show the "disco lights", and front curtain will leave the trails going in weird directions.

Hence.

Summary : I think it looks better
 
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