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Newbie SLR Recommendations needed - Please help!



 
 
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  #15  
Old December 31st 04, 02:49 PM
Bob Hickey
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Default


wrote in message
...
I'm new to SLR cameras and photography but would like to get involved and
soon develop my own pictures and so fourth later on. I am also going to be
taking a class soon as well to help but right now I need some help picking
out the right SLR camera to buy.

I don't want to buy bottom of the line camera but also don't want to buy

the
top of the line since they can be expensive. I'm looking at spending no

more
than 500.00 on the body.

What I want to be able to do is take pictures at baseball games where I'll
need to be able to take multiple pictures quickly to get the right shot of

a
ball being hit off a bat or in mid air being released from a pitcher. I

will
also be taking everyday pictures of outdoors wildlife and indoor pics of
people.

Your help and recommendations are extremely appreciated.

Jim

Every year for about 20 yrs., I've taken headshots at the NYC
marathon. Many years have produced poor results, due to the wrong cameras.
Dreaded shutter lag.So forget those. The consistently best results were
with a Nikon FM-2/ motor, Pentax KM, Ricoh XR 1s/2s/motor. The motors on
Single. I focus on a line or sewer plate, and fire when they're 2-3 feet
away. 1/250 or 1/500 is fast enough, and a small flash is enough to isolate
the runner. Simple. After many years, I ebayed the Nikon. The clack-zap was
getting really annoying, and the Ricohs and Pentaxes use the same lenses.
Figuring shutter lag/runner distance only takes a few practice frames. All
in all, I,ve gotten my highest keeper ratio and longevity fron the old
Pentaxes. Besides, they're a joy to use. Bought a state of the art AF
pentax once. It's amazing how they can pack so much aggravation into such a
small plastic box. Sold it after about 5-6 rolls. Bob
Hickey


  #16  
Old December 31st 04, 02:51 PM
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Chris Loffredo writes:

You could consider getting used equipment. Because of digital, used
film cameras have reached record low prices: $500 can get you quite
a lot.


You should be able to get a EOS-1n for that price. Ideal would be a RS,
but you would be lucky to find one for your price.

--
Paul Repacholi 1 Crescent Rd.,
+61 (08) 9257-1001 Kalamunda.
West Australia 6076
comp.os.vms,- The Older, Grumpier Slashdot
Raw, Cooked or Well-done, it's all half baked.
EPIC, The Architecture of the future, always has been, always will be.
  #17  
Old December 31st 04, 04:59 PM
Paul Coen
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Based on that, you could get a Minolta Maxxum 7 -- not the 7D digital, but
the film camera it was based on. It still has faster AF than most cameras
on the market, as far as I know, in spite of it being introduced in fall
2000. It handles well, it's not too heavy, and as you get more experience,
it's got the features you'd want. They're getting harder to find, and the
"Maxxum 70" is a replacement for the Maxxum 5, not the 7. KEH usually has a
few used bodies in good shape. I've been ordering lenses from them for
years with no trouble. They may only have the Dynax 7 (European) unit at
this point. Some other folks may still have them in stock.

Coupled with a 5600HS-D flash and a AF-D 24-105mm f/3.5-4.5 lens, you'd be
able to do the indoor stuf, family events, etc. You'd get really good flash
results. A Tamron 28-200 lens can be very convenient as well, and pretty
cheap. It doesn't support the newer flash metering mode (the D in the
designation), but with the Maxxum 7 having flash compensation, you can drop
the flash exposure down -1, -1.5, -2 for the results you want. I leave mine
at -1 most of the time.

For baseball (with a tripod), it's easy to get a used 70-210 f/4 lens (make
sure it's the F/4!) -- if that isn't long enough, for under $400 you can
get a 500mm f/8.0 Reflex from keh.com (they'd likely have the 70-210 as
well). It's a catodioptric lens design, so it's only about 4.5" long and
weighs a pound and a half. The downside? At f/8 you'd need good light and a
fast film, and the minimum focusing distance is 13 feet or so. If you're
doing "everyday wildlife", you can get good results with the two "shorter"
lenses above. The 500 f/8 would be great in the right situation, but you'd
probably want to plan the siutation where you'd be using it. You're going
to get a lot of folks going on about image stabilization lenses from Canon
or Nikon. Forget it -- if you're doing this on a budget, you're not going
to be able to afford it. You'd be better off investing in a good tripod. If
you ever do, say, decide that you need a $5,000 Canon IS lens, the cost of
an additional body at that point is not all that significant. That 70-210
f/4 lens is a gem - sharp and nice contrast. It's heavy, and it's not too
fast to focus (although on a Maxxum 7 it's not bad, since the AF
performance of the camera is so good).


On 30-Dec-04 21:36, wrote:
I'm new to SLR cameras and photography but would like to get involved and
soon develop my own pictures and so fourth later on. I am also going to be
taking a class soon as well to help but right now I need some help picking
out the right SLR camera to buy.

I don't want to buy bottom of the line camera but also don't want to buy the
top of the line since they can be expensive. I'm looking at spending no more
than 500.00 on the body.

What I want to be able to do is take pictures at baseball games where I'll
need to be able to take multiple pictures quickly to get the right shot of a
ball being hit off a bat or in mid air being released from a pitcher. I will
also be taking everyday pictures of outdoors wildlife and indoor pics of
people.

Your help and recommendations are extremely appreciated.

Jim




  #18  
Old December 31st 04, 04:59 PM
Paul Coen
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Based on that, you could get a Minolta Maxxum 7 -- not the 7D digital, but
the film camera it was based on. It still has faster AF than most cameras
on the market, as far as I know, in spite of it being introduced in fall
2000. It handles well, it's not too heavy, and as you get more experience,
it's got the features you'd want. They're getting harder to find, and the
"Maxxum 70" is a replacement for the Maxxum 5, not the 7. KEH usually has a
few used bodies in good shape. I've been ordering lenses from them for
years with no trouble. They may only have the Dynax 7 (European) unit at
this point. Some other folks may still have them in stock.

Coupled with a 5600HS-D flash and a AF-D 24-105mm f/3.5-4.5 lens, you'd be
able to do the indoor stuf, family events, etc. You'd get really good flash
results. A Tamron 28-200 lens can be very convenient as well, and pretty
cheap. It doesn't support the newer flash metering mode (the D in the
designation), but with the Maxxum 7 having flash compensation, you can drop
the flash exposure down -1, -1.5, -2 for the results you want. I leave mine
at -1 most of the time.

For baseball (with a tripod), it's easy to get a used 70-210 f/4 lens (make
sure it's the F/4!) -- if that isn't long enough, for under $400 you can
get a 500mm f/8.0 Reflex from keh.com (they'd likely have the 70-210 as
well). It's a catodioptric lens design, so it's only about 4.5" long and
weighs a pound and a half. The downside? At f/8 you'd need good light and a
fast film, and the minimum focusing distance is 13 feet or so. If you're
doing "everyday wildlife", you can get good results with the two "shorter"
lenses above. The 500 f/8 would be great in the right situation, but you'd
probably want to plan the siutation where you'd be using it. You're going
to get a lot of folks going on about image stabilization lenses from Canon
or Nikon. Forget it -- if you're doing this on a budget, you're not going
to be able to afford it. You'd be better off investing in a good tripod. If
you ever do, say, decide that you need a $5,000 Canon IS lens, the cost of
an additional body at that point is not all that significant. That 70-210
f/4 lens is a gem - sharp and nice contrast. It's heavy, and it's not too
fast to focus (although on a Maxxum 7 it's not bad, since the AF
performance of the camera is so good).


On 30-Dec-04 21:36, wrote:
I'm new to SLR cameras and photography but would like to get involved and
soon develop my own pictures and so fourth later on. I am also going to be
taking a class soon as well to help but right now I need some help picking
out the right SLR camera to buy.

I don't want to buy bottom of the line camera but also don't want to buy the
top of the line since they can be expensive. I'm looking at spending no more
than 500.00 on the body.

What I want to be able to do is take pictures at baseball games where I'll
need to be able to take multiple pictures quickly to get the right shot of a
ball being hit off a bat or in mid air being released from a pitcher. I will
also be taking everyday pictures of outdoors wildlife and indoor pics of
people.

Your help and recommendations are extremely appreciated.

Jim




  #19  
Old December 31st 04, 07:23 PM
Lisa Horton
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Default



Happy Fricken New Year wrote:

I concur w/ Lisa. I shoot baseball (major & minor leagues) w/ a Canon
system (A2e - EOS-3 in Europe) and its been wonderful for me.
Lightweight, rugged, quiet, fast and very versatile.

Unfortunately the A2es have been discontinued but the Elan 7eII's have
taken their place. I have yet to shoot w/ an Elan 7eII but i have heard
nothing but praise about them! I sold a couple of them in my days in
camera retail and my customers loved them!

Also, the lenses that work on the A2e's & Elan 7eII's WILL work on Canon
digital (D60's & D10's) if and when you're ready to go that route.

Now you mentioned that you're willing to spend upwards of $500 for the
body. My question to you is... How much are you willing to spend on your
lens(es)?

No matter what system you finally decide on it doesnt make sense to
spend $450 on a body only to put a $150 lens on it. Consider your optics
as much, if not MORE, than your camera body.

Good luck and let us know what worked out for you.

Happy New Year!


Do note that the Euro A2E was the EOS 5, a wonderful camera, with the
best on-camera flash of any model I know of. It even zooms! The EOS 3
is, basically, a replacement of the EOS 5. They both occupy the same
slot in the lineup, the "bridge" camera, a camera that is suitable both
for professionals and advanced amateurs.

Lisa
  #20  
Old December 31st 04, 07:24 PM
Skip M
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Posts: n/a
Default

"Paul Coen" wrote in message
...
Based on that, you could get a Minolta Maxxum 7 -- not the 7D digital,
but the film camera it was based on. It still has faster AF than most
cameras on the market, as far as I know, in spite of it being introduced
in fall 2000. It handles well, it's not too heavy, and as you get more
experience, it's got the features you'd want. They're getting harder to
find, and the "Maxxum 70" is a replacement for the Maxxum 5, not the 7.
KEH usually has a few used bodies in good shape. I've been ordering lenses
from them for years with no trouble. They may only have the Dynax 7
(European) unit at this point. Some other folks may still have them in
stock.

Coupled with a 5600HS-D flash and a AF-D 24-105mm f/3.5-4.5 lens, you'd be
able to do the indoor stuf, family events, etc. You'd get really good
flash results. A Tamron 28-200 lens can be very convenient as well, and
pretty cheap. It doesn't support the newer flash metering mode (the D in
the designation), but with the Maxxum 7 having flash compensation, you can
drop the flash exposure down -1, -1.5, -2 for the results you want. I
leave mine at -1 most of the time.

For baseball (with a tripod), it's easy to get a used 70-210 f/4 lens
(make sure it's the F/4!) -- if that isn't long enough, for under $400 you
can get a 500mm f/8.0 Reflex from keh.com (they'd likely have the 70-210
as well). It's a catodioptric lens design, so it's only about 4.5" long
and weighs a pound and a half. The downside? At f/8 you'd need good light
and a fast film, and the minimum focusing distance is 13 feet or so. If
you're doing "everyday wildlife", you can get good results with the two
"shorter" lenses above. The 500 f/8 would be great in the right situation,
but you'd probably want to plan the siutation where you'd be using it.
You're going to get a lot of folks going on about image stabilization
lenses from Canon or Nikon. Forget it -- if you're doing this on a budget,
you're not going to be able to afford it. You'd be better off investing in
a good tripod. If you ever do, say, decide that you need a $5,000 Canon IS
lens, the cost of an additional body at that point is not all that
significant. That 70-210 f/4 lens is a gem - sharp and nice contrast. It's
heavy, and it's not too fast to focus (although on a Maxxum 7 it's not
bad, since the AF performance of the camera is so good).



I don't know about how much faster than the Canon 7Ne it is, but as far as
bang for the buck, the Minolta Maxxum 7 is the most feature laden body in
its price class. I recommended it to several of my friends, even though I
shoot Canon. Good, rugged camera with all of the whistles and bells you may
need.

--
Skip Middleton
http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com


 




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