What used digital SLR to buy

Digital SLRs have been too expensive for me to pay much attention to
who makes what model with which features, etc. They still are.

But I see some less current models on Ebay that look like they might
be approaching my price range. So what do I buy?

About me:

I'm reasonably knowledgeable about photography, at least the ancient
variety that involves film. I've got a couple of Canon AE-1 bodies
and six lenses ranging from 17 to 200mm. I know that I won't be able
to use the lenses effectively with any digital I get. (I've heard of
the FD-EOS adapter, but it seems VERY clumsy)

I will want to be able to change lenses. I like wide to very wide
lenses and that doesn't come standard. A zoom to cover normal to
modest tele would be nice.

I want the option to control as much as possible manually. There may
be some whiz-bang modes I can scarcely imagine, but I like to be able
to make my own adjustments.

I will probably infrequently make large prints. I'm guessing that
means I can get away with less than the latest, greatest resolution.

I like shooting at night. I don't mind having to steady the camera. I
don't like flash very much. But, looking toward the future, I'd like
to be able to control off-camera flash.

It would be nice if the batteries would last a while.

It would also be nice if the whole CAMERA would last a while, although
I'm sure they will need more careful handling than my old Canons.

I'd love to get something decent, maybe used, maybe just fallen out of
favor due to newer, better models for say $500.00 or a little more.
Possible?

Greg Guarino

Digital SLRs have been too expensive for me to pay much attention to
who makes what model with which features, etc. They still are.

But I see some less current models on Ebay that look like they might
be approaching my price range. So what do I buy?

Digital Rebels seem to sell for relatively cheap, and if you wait 1-2
months, they'll probably get a lot cheaper. (Search groups.google.com for
"d350" or "rebel xt" to see why.)

I will want to be able to change lenses. I like wide to very wide
lenses and that doesn't come standard. A zoom to cover normal to
modest tele would be nice.

Whichever you go for, 17mm or 18mm is about as wide as the kit lenses
will be, and with the crop factor, that comes out to about 28mm equivalent
FOV. If you want shorter than that, then you start spending a lot of
money - assuming you're not going to want to drop just 1mm to a 17mm, the
next non-fisheye lens would be a Sigma 12-24 for $670, then the Canon EF-S
10-22 for $800.

I want the option to control as much as possible manually. There may
be some whiz-bang modes I can scarcely imagine, but I like to be able
to make my own adjustments.

I believe that all of the dSLRs will let you shoot in full manual mode,
if you want.

I will probably infrequently make large prints. I'm guessing that
means I can get away with less than the latest, greatest resolution.

8x10s look pretty darn good with 6 megapixels. I've seen a couple of
20"x30" prints that looked fairly respectable from 6 megapixels, although
they were pictures without tons of detail to begin with. Trying to enlarge
a high-detail print that high might disapoint.

It would be nice if the batteries would last a while.

Any of them with lithium batteries.

I'd love to get something decent, maybe used, maybe just fallen out of
favor due to newer, better models for say $500.00 or a little more.
Possible?

Brand new, silver DigiRebs are only $770 after Canon's rebate, so I
wouldn't expect to pay more than $650 on ebay (although some people still
do) - but again, after April 4th (or thereabouts) when the Digital Rebel XT
is released, the "old" Digital Rebels should drop even more.

steve

On 1/28/05 9:23 PM, in article ,
"Greg G" wrote:

Digital SLRs have been too expensive for me to pay much attention to
who makes what model with which features, etc. They still are.

But I see some less current models on Ebay that look like they might
be approaching my price range. So what do I buy?

About me:

I'm reasonably knowledgeable about photography, at least the ancient
variety that involves film. I've got a couple of Canon AE-1 bodies
and six lenses ranging from 17 to 200mm. I know that I won't be able
to use the lenses effectively with any digital I get. (I've heard of
the FD-EOS adapter, but it seems VERY clumsy)

I will want to be able to change lenses. I like wide to very wide
lenses and that doesn't come standard. A zoom to cover normal to
modest tele would be nice.

I want the option to control as much as possible manually. There may
be some whiz-bang modes I can scarcely imagine, but I like to be able
to make my own adjustments.

I will probably infrequently make large prints. I'm guessing that
means I can get away with less than the latest, greatest resolution.

I like shooting at night. I don't mind having to steady the camera. I
don't like flash very much. But, looking toward the future, I'd like
to be able to control off-camera flash.

It would be nice if the batteries would last a while.

It would also be nice if the whole CAMERA would last a while, although
I'm sure they will need more careful handling than my old Canons.

I'd love to get something decent, maybe used, maybe just fallen out of
favor due to newer, better models for say $500.00 or a little more.
Possible?

Greg Guarino
Any of the big names in digital SLRs that have just been replaced with a
newer model would probably fit your criteria. One good recommendation might
be the Canon 10D (just replaced by the 20D). It has plenty of modes,
including fully manual. Also, if you believe the rumors the dRebel is soon
about to be replaced with a newer model.
Chuck

On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 21:16:02 -0700, "Steve Wolfe"
wrote:



I will want to be able to change lenses. I like wide to very wide
lenses and that doesn't come standard. A zoom to cover normal to
modest tele would be nice.

Whichever you go for, 17mm or 18mm is about as wide as the kit lenses
will be, and with the crop factor, that comes out to about 28mm equivalent
FOV. If you want shorter than that, then you start spending a lot of
money - assuming you're not going to want to drop just 1mm to a 17mm, the
next non-fisheye lens would be a Sigma 12-24 for $670, then the Canon EF-S
10-22 for $800.

That much I'm aware of. I wouldn't buy a really wide lens right off,
but I want to have the ability to add that on in the future.



Brand new, silver DigiRebs are only $770 after Canon's rebate, so I
wouldn't expect to pay more than $650 on ebay (although some people still
do) - but again, after April 4th (or thereabouts) when the Digital Rebel XT
is released, the "old" Digital Rebels should drop even more.

steve

Hmmm... Sounds interesting. Thanks.

Greg Guarino

Also, if you believe the rumors the dRebel is soon
about to be replaced with a newer model.

http://www.upcdatabase.com/item.pl?upc=013803049626

: )

steve

"Steve Wolfe" wrote in message
...
Also, if you believe the rumors the dRebel is soon
about to be replaced with a newer model.

http://www.upcdatabase.com/item.pl?upc=013803049626

: )

steve

How about this one

http://www.upcdatabase.com/item.pl?upc=027075076662

"Steve Wolfe" writes:

Brand new, silver DigiRebs are only $770 after Canon's rebate, so I
wouldn't expect to pay more than $650 on ebay (although some people still
do) - but again, after April 4th (or thereabouts) when the Digital Rebel XT
is released, the "old" Digital Rebels should drop even more.

However, you had better check the details, and possibly move fast. I believe
Canon's rebate ends at the end of January (ie, in 2 days). Note, the digital
rebel has many/some of the manual features that the 10D had removed, but there
is a russian hack that gives you back most of the features at a cost of voiding
the warranty.

--
Michael Meissner
email:
http://www.the-meissners.org

Greg G wrote in
:

I will probably infrequently make large prints. I'm guessing that
means I can get away with less than the latest, greatest resolution.


What do you mean by "large"?

Why do you think you need an SLR, rather than one of the higher quality non
-slr digital cameras?

--
Delete the inverse SPAM to reply

On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 07:52:06 -0600, bob
wrote:

Greg G wrote in
:

I will probably infrequently make large prints. I'm guessing that
means I can get away with less than the latest, greatest resolution.


What do you mean by "large"?
I think I've got exactly 2 pictures in my house that are 8x10. Most of
my pictures stay as 4x6; the better ones sometimes get to 5x7.

Why do you think you need an SLR, rather than one of the higher quality non
-slr digital cameras?

1. I want to be able to change lenses. I am especially interested in
wide-angle photography and I'm pretty sure that no camera's "built-in"
lens goes as wide as I would like. I understand that it will be an
expensive proposition to get such a wide lens, but I don't need to do
it right away. I've got lenses for my film cameras that go from 17mm
to 200mm. Even if someone were to make such a zoom, it wouldn't be
likely to do the whole range well.

2. I like to have control over the other parameters that SLRs
typically provide. I like to be able to set the aperture to control
depth of field and shutter speed to freeze action or deliberately blur
it.

3. I like to look through the actual lens that's taking the picture to
help gauge the depth of field. I'm hoping that depth of field preview
is something I might find on a digital. I suppose that could be
covered by the display, but it wouldn't be nearly as detailed.

4. I'd like to be able to focus manually, sometimes, particularly when
I've got close foreground objects mixed with distant ones. Autofocus
is nice for shooting pictures of (moving) people.

In short, I like the flexibility and control that I'm used to with my
film SLRs.

Greg Guarino

On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 20:07:30 GMT, Greg G wrote:

2. I like to have control over the other parameters that SLRs
typically provide. I like to be able to set the aperture to control
depth of field and shutter speed to freeze action or deliberately blur
it.

Many point-and-shoots let you set aperture and shutter speed
manually. But with their small sensors, you're likely to have
more DOF than you want in some situations. And DSLRs have usable
high ISOs, which is nice for freezing action. (I'm addicted to
available light, and, having recently switched from P&S to DSLR,
I can't get over how easy it is to get shots that I would have
missed in the past.)

3. I like to look through the actual lens that's taking the picture to
help gauge the depth of field. I'm hoping that depth of field preview
is something I might find on a digital.

I can tell you for a fact that it's present on the 20D, at least.

I dreamed recently that when I used DOF preview, the image in the
viewfinder went black-and-white. Neat feature. I was psyched until
about an hour after I woke up, when it occurred to me that that was
completely impossible, and I realized I'd had a dream.

4. I'd like to be able to focus manually, sometimes, particularly when
I've got close foreground objects mixed with distant ones.

My experience with the Olympus 8080 was that while it offered manual
focus, the controls for that were awkward, and I couldn't tell when
things were in focus -- possibly due to excessive DOF, possibly due
to the relatively low resolution of the EVF (compared to an optical
viewfinder).

--
Ben Rosengart (212) 741-4400 x215
Sometimes it only makes sense to focus our attention on those
questions that are equal parts trivial and intriguing.
--Josh Micah Marshall