WHAT TO DO ABOUT DAD ???

Well sports fans, it had to happen. I've been dreading this day for a few
years now, but today I finally got the call with the bad news about dad.

Dad wants a new digital camera.

It seems that his old Mavica just isn't giving him the quality pics he thinks
he deserves. He's also growing tired of carrying around all those 5.25"
floppies.
I don't know what his problem is since he can get almost 20 pics on each
floppy.
Perhaps my 20D galleries are starting to convince him that 1 megapixel won't
bring him digital nirvana.

So today he calls me up and tells me he needs my expert advice in choosing the
perfect camera for him.
My first question in such circumstances is always the same: "How much do you
wanna spend?"
He replied in the usual way: "As little as possible."
Everyone wants everything ... it's just that nobody wants to pay for it.

When I suggested a few price points ("less than $400", "less than $700"), he
stunned me with, "Oh I don't know .... maybe $1000 or at least less than
$2000."
I almost dropped the phone!

Two grand opens up a whole 'nother shelf to look at. In fact, I can probably
dump ....er, I mean .... transfer ownership of my Totally Digital D60, a proven
performer, and still have a few bucks left over for that macro lens. And
that's after the Annika Family Discount!
Hmmmm......

Dad must be getting senile as he even gave me his credit card # so I could
order him what "he" needs.
Now I'm sure dad would love the 600mm f/4 or maybe the 65mm MP-E Macro (with
the twin ring lights, of course!). And that new 16-35L is an automatic. Or
perhaps dad would prefer a series of "L" primes?
That 200 f/1.8L is supposed to be pretty sharp.
Decisions, decisions ....

I've been jonesing for the 24-70L ever since I saw those crystal clear tsunami
pics that tourist took with it and his 1Ds. So I could let dear old dad have
the D60 with my workhorse lens (the incredible 28-135 IS) and I could order one
of the 24-70L's for myself. Or perhaps since most of his shooting involves
real estate (both outside and inside) he might prefer the 20mm f/2.8? That
would be a nice fit on the Totally Digital D60. Or I could suggest a fixed
lens cammy like the Powershot Pro1.

Are there any digicams with larger LCD screens? I know he's gonna bitch at any
of the small screens I've seen. And I'll need to tell him to keep everything
in the green "P" mode for Perfect Pics.
And then he'll need a card reader .... and batteries ... and an extra CF card
or two.
This is gonna get ugly.....

On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 03:20:34 +0000, Annika1980 wrote:

Well sports fans, it had to happen. I've been dreading this day for a few
years now, but today I finally got the call with the bad news about dad.

Dad wants a new digital camera.

It seems that his old Mavica just isn't giving him the quality pics he thinks
he deserves. He's also growing tired of carrying around all those 5.25"
floppies.
I don't know what his problem is since he can get almost 20 pics on each
floppy.
Perhaps my 20D galleries are starting to convince him that 1 megapixel won't
bring him digital nirvana.

So today he calls me up and tells me he needs my expert advice in choosing the
perfect camera for him.
My first question in such circumstances is always the same: "How much do you
wanna spend?"
He replied in the usual way: "As little as possible."
Everyone wants everything ... it's just that nobody wants to pay for it.

When I suggested a few price points ("less than $400", "less than $700"), he
stunned me with, "Oh I don't know .... maybe $1000 or at least less than
$2000."
I almost dropped the phone!

Two grand opens up a whole 'nother shelf to look at. In fact, I can probably
dump ....er, I mean .... transfer ownership of my Totally Digital D60, a proven
performer, and still have a few bucks left over for that macro lens. And
that's after the Annika Family Discount!
Hmmmm......

Dad must be getting senile as he even gave me his credit card # so I could
order him what "he" needs.
Now I'm sure dad would love the 600mm f/4 or maybe the 65mm MP-E Macro (with
the twin ring lights, of course!). And that new 16-35L is an automatic. Or
perhaps dad would prefer a series of "L" primes?
That 200 f/1.8L is supposed to be pretty sharp.
Decisions, decisions ....

I've been jonesing for the 24-70L ever since I saw those crystal clear tsunami
pics that tourist took with it and his 1Ds. So I could let dear old dad have
the D60 with my workhorse lens (the incredible 28-135 IS) and I could order one
of the 24-70L's for myself. Or perhaps since most of his shooting involves
real estate (both outside and inside) he might prefer the 20mm f/2.8? That
would be a nice fit on the Totally Digital D60. Or I could suggest a fixed
lens cammy like the Powershot Pro1.

Are there any digicams with larger LCD screens? I know he's gonna bitch at any
of the small screens I've seen. And I'll need to tell him to keep everything
in the green "P" mode for Perfect Pics.
And then he'll need a card reader .... and batteries ... and an extra CF card
or two.
This is gonna get ugly.....

It's already ugly. You posted it here and you know how some folks get
about discussing digital on the group.

But if you want your Dad to get the best he can get, steer him away from
all that Canon **** you keep raving about and let him buy the clearly
superior Nikon D70 with 18-70mm DX lens. Every magazine review out there
puts it way ahead of the cheaper EOS garbage that evil Canon has been
foisting on their unsuspecting customers since they abandoned the FD mount.

But then I suppose you might get jealous when ole Pops starts showing
you a thing or two with his superior equipment.

Go on, get him the Nikon.

I dare ya.

--
Google is a proliferator of hate speech, slander
and other disgraceful texts. Google allows their
system to be used for anonymous trolling without
consequence to offenders. Google should be avoided.

But if you want your Dad to get the best he can get, steer h=ADim away
from
all that Canon **** you keep raving about and let him buy th=ADe clearly
superior Nikon D70 with 18-70mm DX lens. Every magazine revi=ADew out
there
puts it way ahead of the cheaper EOS garbage that evil Canon=AD has been
foisting on their unsuspecting customers since they abandone=ADd the FD
mount.
-----------------------------

Where are these magazine reviews?
Do any of them compare the D70 to the Canon 20D?
No, I guess that wouldn't be fair, would it?

Annika1980 wrote:

Are there any digicams with larger LCD screens?

Several of the later P&S Sony's have large screens ... and of course the Maxxum
7D sports a large screen... but that would screw your D60 conspiracy. I think
I'll give your fatehr a call and remind him of your larcenous heart ... of
course he might be proud of that.


--
-- r.p.e.35mm user resource: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- r.p.d.slr-systems: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm
-- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin
-- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.

Annika1980 wrote:

Are there any digicams with larger LCD screens?

Several of the later P&S Sony's have large screens ... and of course the Maxxum
7D sports a large screen... but that would screw your D60 conspiracy. I think
I'll give your fatehr a call and remind him of your larcenous heart ... of
course he might be proud of that.


--
-- r.p.e.35mm user resource: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- r.p.d.slr-systems: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm
-- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin
-- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.

On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 10:29:21 -0800, Annika1980 wrote:

But if you want your Dad to get the best he can get, steer h*im away
from
all that Canon **** you keep raving about and let him buy th*e clearly
superior Nikon D70 with 18-70mm DX lens. Every magazine revi*ew out
there
puts it way ahead of the cheaper EOS garbage that evil Canon* has been
foisting on their unsuspecting customers since they abandone*d the FD
mount.
-----------------------------

Where are these magazine reviews?
Do any of them compare the D70 to the Canon 20D?
No, I guess that wouldn't be fair, would it?

Well, off the top of my head... Shutterbug & Practical Photography are two
that I have read recently who both put the D70 on top of its peers. There
are probably others, but I wouldn't know, I live in Africa.

Interesting that you should make a comparison with the 20D. I'd like to
see that, because apart from the bigger sensor, what advantages does it
offer over the D70 (or the D60, for that matter)? I seriously hope they
have improved on the auto-focus for one thing.

Get Pops the D70. He might leave it to you in his will (because it will
clearly outlast any Canon you might give him).

--
Save photography - shoot a roll of film today!

Roxy Durban wrote:

Interesting that you should make a comparison with the 20D. I'd like to
see that, because apart from the bigger sensor, what advantages does it
offer over the D70 (or the D60, for that matter)? I seriously hope they
have improved on the auto-focus for one thing.

Yes, autofocus is one of the big improvements between D70 and 20D.
I knew low-light AF and sport shooting would be a bugbear with the D70,
but couldn't justify the extra $ of the 20D. I'm quite happy with the
D70, but would love a telephoto. That's the other advantage of the
Canon is the wide selection of good lenses, including stabilised
lenses at the slower f's (Nikon's VR tend to be on its beasts).

Shutter lag is also lower on the 20D than the D70, though it's
primarily the AF component that you'd notice.

Get Pops the D70. He might leave it to you in his will (because it will
clearly outlast any Canon you might give him).

Hmmm. Given Bret's stock of Canon lenses, it might mean he doesn't
lose a lot of those through 'attrition' (borrowing) as well.

--
Ken Tough

Annika1980 wrote:
But if you want your Dad to get the best he can get, steer h?im away
from
all that Canon **** you keep raving about and let him buy th?e clearly
superior Nikon D70 with 18-70mm DX lens. Every magazine revi?ew out
there
puts it way ahead of the cheaper EOS garbage that evil Canon? has been
foisting on their unsuspecting customers since they abandone?d the FD
mount.
-----------------------------

Where are these magazine reviews?
Do any of them compare the D70 to the Canon 20D?
No, I guess that wouldn't be fair, would it?


Sure comparisons between two digital cameras are off-topic
in this newsgroup?

--
Sander

+++ Out of cheese error +++

From: Roxy Durban
: I wouldn't know, I live in Africa.

Truer words were never spoken.

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 15:52:43 +0200, Ken Tough wrote:

Roxy Durban wrote:

Interesting that you should make a comparison with the 20D. I'd like to
see that, because apart from the bigger sensor, what advantages does it
offer over the D70 (or the D60, for that matter)? I seriously hope they
have improved on the auto-focus for one thing.

Yes, autofocus is one of the big improvements between D70 and 20D.
I knew low-light AF and sport shooting would be a bugbear with the D70,
but couldn't justify the extra $ of the 20D. I'm quite happy with the
D70, but would love a telephoto. That's the other advantage of the
Canon is the wide selection of good lenses, including stabilised
lenses at the slower f's (Nikon's VR tend to be on its beasts).

Last year I shot Super 12 rugby with the D60 and regardless of what lens I
used, about 60-80% of my shots were out of focus. Wasn't the case with a
lot of the EOS1D users. 10D users had similar complaints. The 20D only
really became available during the off-season, so I haven't had an
opportunity to speak to any owners about its sports performance.

However, I did shoot the last Sharks Currie Cup match of the season using
the D70 and the Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR AF-S and it rocked! IF only there
was a grip for the D70 with a vertical release!

Shutter lag is also lower on the 20D than the D70, though it's
primarily the AF component that you'd notice.

D70 certainly doesn't seem to be a slouch in this area, though. I think a
lot of the out of focus images I was getting with the D60 had a bit to do
with the shutter lag.

Get Pops the D70. He might leave it to you in his will (because it will
clearly outlast any Canon you might give him).

Hmmm. Given Bret's stock of Canon lenses, it might mean he doesn't
lose a lot of those through 'attrition' (borrowing) as well.

IIRC he only has about three lenses, of which two are L class. If he sold
them all along with the 3 EOS bodies he has he'd be able to buy a D70,
70-200mm f/2.8 with TC20eII and possibly a 28-70mm f/2.8 AF-S. Then he'd
be cool. Right now he's as square as a hare.

--
Save photography - shoot a roll of film today!