# Digital S L R's



## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

Digital SLR's .... I have been thinking of getting one ... does anybody have one? Or does anbody have any thoughts on my "short list" ??

Canon EOS 20D ... more than I really want to spend but I like the idea of an alloy body

Canon EOS 350D

Nikon D70s

Olympus E300


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

I fully intend to get a Nikon D70 but just don't have the pennies right now.

I've always preferred plastic bodied cameras to metal as they have a bit of give in them should you knock the camera against something which is quite easily done. Less chance of knocking the innards out of alignment.


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## Stan (Aug 7, 2003)

The 20D is great if you want to spend the money. The Nikon D70 and EOS350D are both great for the price, the 350d comes with the same software as it's dearer brother.

The Olympus is good too but it may not have as good lens support, ultimately.

These guy's know what they are about.









http://www.dpreview.com/


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## Ron Jr (Sep 10, 2003)

I have a D-70. Its a very good camera for the price.


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

Ron Jr said:


> I have a D-70. Its a very good camera for the price.
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It's almost half the UK price in the USA


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## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

Ive got a D30 Canon coming in July, getting on a bit now but good enough for me


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## Manatee (Jul 4, 2004)

JoT said:


> Digital SLR's .... I have been thinking of getting one ... does anybody have one? Or does anbody have any thoughts on my "short list" ??
> 
> Canon EOS 20D ... more than I really want to spend but I like the idea of an alloy body
> 
> ...


I'm in a similar state of indecision but have the Pentax istD on my list as I have a stack of Pentax lenses. I get the impression that the D70 and the Canon 300/350D take the laurels, just reading reviews.

The other option for me is a non-SLR Panasonic Lumix FZ20 - a 5MP camera with a 36-432mm equivalent Leica-designed lens and image stabilisation. The lens is superb according to reviews and that will save a lot of money as well as enabling a higher pixel count in more distant subjects. I think I may well go this route first and see how I get on with it.


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## pauluspaolo (Feb 24, 2003)

I've got an Olympus E-20p. It's a great camera (though quite old now) but I really can't get to grips with it. It'll end up on Ebay soon where it will, hopefully, sell for more than I paid for it


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## hakim (Sep 13, 2004)

Thinking of getting a D70 myself. Last I checked in Hongkong, April 2005, they were retailing for Stg650.- so they must be cheaper yet by now.

My cousin is a dealer and he reckons the Canon is the better camera even though pricier. Myself, I prefer the Nikon for its styling, heft and the lens is superb. The Canon trumps it in the actual software within the camera.


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

Still thinking









Does anyone know (or have a view) if the Olympus "Four Third Standard" (Olympus, Kodak, Panasonic and possibly Fuji and Leica??) will be adopted by all the major digital SLR manufacturers; most of whom are using a digital 35mm format.

I understand the chips are being made by Kodak who seem to make chips for a lot of manufacturers.

There seems to be very valid reasons for using this technology especially the fact that digital sensors only react to light that hits it straight on and not at an angle (colour film reacts to both).

Things seem to be changing so quickly in digital SLRs I am reluctant to pull the trigger and buy one.


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## Roger (May 17, 2003)

I have a Canon EOS 350D.

Did lots of reading reviews etc etc.......

It means little, of course, but in 8 head-to-head tests between the EOS350D and the D70, 6 magazines but the Canon ahead.

Both are undoubtedly fine cameras, but in both cases, the supplied "kit" lenses are not the best.

My recommendation FWIW buy either and you will be happy BUT BUT BUT.....go the extra mile and get a BIG memory card AND, if you can, a better lens.

Roger


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## tkd_ali (Mar 4, 2005)

On the Gadget Show they said that the D70 was the best overall DSLR.


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## makky (Jul 14, 2004)

JoT said:


> Things seem to be changing so quickly in digital SLRs I am reluctant to pull the trigger and buy one.
> 
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Had the same dilemma. Whatever you buy now will be half the price and twice the resolution in five years time. Kept my 35mm Nikon gear for serious stuff. Still shoot transparencies. Have a Minolta Scan Dual III to convert them for digital use.

Brought a Â£200 compact digicam for snapshots. Really impressed with the quality. Only 3mp but good enough.

If you do decide to go digital, I'd recommend getting 2 or 3 smaller memory cards rather than 1 large capacity card. They can crash. When you go out photographing, spread your pics between cards. Read/Write times are also a factor. If you're browsing 4 or 5 hundred pics on a single card, things can go sloooow.

I've decided to wait for a bit. When there are 15-20mp SLRs for about 500 quid, I'll buy!!!


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## Roger (May 17, 2003)

> If you do decide to go digital, I'd recommend getting 2 or 3 smaller memory cards rather than 1 large capacity card


Not much use if you shoot in RAW mode...files can be enormous

I bought my first digital camera when 640 X 480 was considered state of the art and have used most types of memory cards including the early microdrives which were considered to be susceptible to damage and crashing....I have never had a card "crash" or fail and that includes some very rough use on 3 day WRC Rally events.

Roger


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## tkd_ali (Mar 4, 2005)

you dont really need 15-20 MP's on a cam unless you are going to print the pictures off at poster size or something equally as large. Anything from 5-8 should be more then adequate.


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## Roger (May 17, 2003)

> you dont really need 15-20 MP's on a cam unless you are going to print the pictures off at poster size or something equally as large. Anything from 5-8 should be more then adequate


Normal practice for good quality prints ( and why would anyone waste expensive ink and paper on less?) is that prints be printed a 300dpi.

My Canon produces an image 3400 X 2300 (8MP), therefore for optimum print quality, an 8MP file is just acceptable for an A4 image.

Roger


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## tkd_ali (Mar 4, 2005)

fair play i stand corrected







But A4 are a bit hard to fit into your photo album


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## Roger (May 17, 2003)

> But A4 are a bit hard to fit into your photo album


How true.......also hard on the pocket if your printer eats ink carts like mine does (there are 6 in this Epson)

Roger


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## Nalu (Nov 28, 2003)

Roger said:


> > If you do decide to go digital, I'd recommend getting 2 or 3 smaller memory cards rather than 1 large capacity card
> 
> 
> Not much use if you shoot in RAW mode...files can be enormous
> ...


I've lost several Smart Media cards to crashes and recently had a problem with an xD card. Never had a problem with a CF card and my Oly5050 has an 80x 1Gb CF card permanently installed. It's faster, bigger and less expensive than anything else. Since I often can't download or swap cards (U/W photos, out in the field) and often shoot movie clips, I like a big card and the dual card slots of the Oly.


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## makky (Jul 14, 2004)

tkd_ali said:


> you dont really need 15-20 MP's on a cam unless you are going to print the pictures off at poster size or something equally as large. Anything from 5-8 should be more then adequate.
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> 
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Very true. It depends what you want to achieve.

6mp digicams will give good large prints.

I'm really talking about the benefits of upgrading from 35mm to digital.

I use slow 35mm slide film with fixed focal length lenses, often using a tripod. With a high quality lens, this is the equivalent of something in the region of a 15-20mp digicam. Sure, I rarely make huge prints or project my slides across 25ft screens. But, the quality is there. Apart from the convenience of using a digicam, there would be no advantage to buying one yet.

It might save me some money on film!


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## Roger (May 17, 2003)

> an 80x 1Gb CF card permanently installed


I recently bought a 2Gb Kingston Elite Pro, which is really fast...I take a lot of rally shots and usually in bursts of about 8 frames continuos....its one of the few cards that will keep up with the Canons 4 fps.......small and slow cards just dont do the job for me, with rally cars passing at 30 second intervals and a burst of 8 frames for each car....small and slow is a "no go"

I agree about the dual-slot, I have a Fuji S7000 (one of the all-time bargains) that has dual slots...I load a 1Gb CF and a 1Gb XD....swapping is just one button-press.

Roger


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## Jules (Aug 2, 2004)

JoT said:


> Digital SLR's .... I have been thinking of getting one ... does anybody have one? Or does anbody have any thoughts on my "short list" ??
> 
> Canon EOS 350D
> 
> ...


JoT

A camera shop I was in the other day looking at these had an offer on whereby if you buy on a Mastercard they give you a Â£100 cashback -









Cheers

Jules


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## Boxbrownie (Aug 11, 2005)

All depends on what your going to use the camera for........snaps or something more serious?

I always tell people at work when they come in for advice is to buy the smallest, best quality camera they can find on DPreview.com or Stevesdigicams.com for snappy pictures, they are more likely to actually carry it with them when they need it than a big compact or small SLR digital.

Still looking for what I want.......credit card size.....7MP......28mm W/A.....CR2 rechargable batt and/or AA's......instant shutter reaction......CHEAP!

After I find that camera I'll look for the holy grail for a rest...









Best regards David


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