tomm42 wrote:
On Feb 6, 12:25 pm, maya wrote:
hi,

I'm getting ready to purchase a digital camera; for a while was
considering a point-and-shoot for the time being to save money; however,
none of them have wide-angle lenses.. and the vast majority of what I
shoot these days (actually for years now) is with a wide-angle; my
"normal" lens is a 24mm.. have barely touched my 50mm in the last six
years or so.. (am putting together a photoblog, would appreciate some
feedback..www.francesdelrio.com/photoblog/.. thank you..)

I have been using a Nikon F2AS for about thirty years, so this is where
I'm coming from.. am considering either Nikon D50, D70, or D80 (is
it true the D40 has a different lens-mounting system from the others?
why would they do that?) I think I'm going with Nikon D80.. but not
100% sure yet... am traveling to India in about four days (didn't know
firm travel-date till now, trip is job-related..) so need to make a
decision double-quick..

this is a big investment and I want to make sure to invest wisely...
thus would appreciate opinions from knowledgeable folks here..

thank you very much....


Look at the D200, has the best feature set of non pro Nikon DSLRs. It
has a build quality like your F2. Can use manual focus lenses too,
but they have to be Ai or AiS, they have "feet" on the aperture ring.
An older non Ai Nikkor can damage the camera's aperture connection to
the lens. Older lenses can be converted.
Focusing with a WA is a bit of a pain with these cameras, I use a 24
f2 with a D200, with a 105 micro I'm fine. The other problem you will
run into is that the sensor is smaller, so your lenses act similar to
lenses 1.5 their focal length. A 24 becomes a 36mm, a 17mm = 25mm.
Takes a little getting used to, all Nikons DSLRs have this. I have 4
lenses 3 primes, a 17mm Tokina, a nice lens, the 24 f2 Nikon, a 55
micro, and a 70-210 f4 zoom, the set isn't perfect but works for me
and cost less than a grand. If you want to use zooms, somehow they go
with digital, the 18-70 Nikkor kit lens is good, but may not be wide
enough for you, the 17-55, and the 17-35, the latter could be used on
your F2, are excellent lenses with fairly high price tags. For wide
angle lenses there are 12-24 Nikon and Tokina, and 10-20 Sigma, a 17mm
Tokina is also a good choice .

Tom

oh my gosh, two people say I should look @ D200 instead... ok, what
are main differences, please, between D200 and D80 that will make it
worth it (i.e., justifiable) for me to purchase the D200..

thank you very much..