Which Digital SLR....

[Racers]

Hi, Lurker

I choped my OM2 and lenses in for a Nikon D80. It looks like you can use certain old olympus lenses on a olympus DSLR with one of these http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/4 ... apter.html

The size of the lense will change due to having a smaller sensor.


Pete

 

[woody67]

Numpty question here we come folks!............I've got a heap of my dads Minolta lenses, obviously bayonet....so....can I adapt them to fit my new Canon 1000D? It just seems such a waste that there's zoom and macro lenses etc, currently going to waste.

Don't worry, I've already gone to get my coat.........

Thanks

Mark

 

[Digit]

In theory yes! Theory says it all though doesn't it?
The area of the sensor on a digital is vary much less than the area of a 35mm neg, therefore, if the lens would fit straight on it would seem to you to have a much longer focal length.
In other words it has to be mounted further forward to achieve the same result as on your 35mm camera.
Adapters will do this but you may well lose the auto diaphragm operation in the process.

Roy.

 

[woody67]

I get your drift Roy, BUT, I've tried the Minolta lense and it's too small......hence my query about an adaptor. Sorry I didn't mention it earlier.

Thanks

Mark

 

[Digit]

Having repaired a lot of cameras in my time, I once had a collection of nearly 100 of 'em, try a camera forum for info and supplies.

Roy.

 

[big soft moose]

Numpty question here we come folks!............I've got a heap of my dads Minolta lenses, obviously bayonet....so....can I adapt them to fit my new Canon 1000D? It just seems such a waste that there's zoom and macro lenses etc, currently going to waste.

Don't worry, I've already gone to get my coat.........

Thanks

Mark

in a word no - minolta lenses will fit on the sony alpha (or some will anyway) canon eos system lenses and third party lenses in EF or EFS fit will fit your canon

you can get an adaptor to take canon fd lenses and old screw fit M42 lenses but in truth its not worth it as you will lose both the AF and TTL metering.

i'd tend to ebay the minolta lenses and look out for some canon ef lenses second hand.

 

[woody67]

Thanks BSM - It's been bothering me for a few days now - wanna buy some second hand lenses?? :wink: :wink:

Flea bay it is then. What's a good second lense to look out for?

Mark

 

[RobertMP]

Because Canon cameras have one of the shallowest body face to sensor depths you can get adaptors for a surprising amount of lenses made by other makers - Minolta included. All they do is provide a mechanical mount for the lens on the body - the camera controls cannot make it focus or set the aperture but the cameras metering will still work.

Macro lenses even if they have AF are usually used in manual focus and setting the aperture yourself is no hardship so it may be worth the £15 or whatever it is for an adaptor off ebay just for the macro lens.

 

[Vormulac]

I'm still uming & arhing.

I have a film Olympus OM2n with some really nice lens so I'd like to put them back into use if I can.

I went to Jessops & asked the spotty erk if my OM lenses were compatable with Olympus digital offering and he went "dur" or similar. Would I need an adapter ? I asked, Dunno he replied. With that I chucked the camera at him & walked out. No wonder they are about to go bust!

Jessops HQ is not far away & I might try again via there.

My mate who is into Photography says buy a Canon

I continue to dither

Any Olympus DSLR users here???

This all sounds very familiar, I went into Jessops to get a Cokin filter set at the weekend, the young chap behind the counter looked slightly dumbstruck and then said "What's it for, Canon or Nikon?", not wanting to have to beat an appropriate response into his skull I made my excuses and left.
Believe me Lurker, your mate who is into photography uses a Canon and like the vast majority of keen photographers is almost totally biased by the kit he already uses, it's one of the most brand-snobbish hobbies/past-times you can find! The only way to find which slr you want is to work out your budget and then go a large shop and try them all out, because if you don't like the way it feels, you're not going to use it, no matter how brilliant it looks on paper or how much your mate likes it.
I bought a DSLR about a year ago and as I do tend to, I did a ridiculous amount of research on the subject. Naturally, if you look long enough you will find completely contradictory information, but the crux of it was that they will all take excellent photos if you know what you're doing. With that in mind I looked at the specs for each of them and decided on an Olympus as it had a feature non of the others did. I then went into a large Jessops as I happened to be passing and decided to look at the camera I would be ordering online later that day - boy am I glad I did! I didn't like the Olympus much, rather like the Canon it felt like a toy with nasty cheap plastic, the Nikon was far better, but didn't have many of the features I was looking for. The Sony was ok but at that stage no-one was really sure where Sony were going with their SLRs, so I decided against that one, then I picked up the Pentax that all the websites are so snooty about and it clicked instantly (pardon the pun). It fitted my hand perfectly, all the controls were in the right place, it was fast in operation, felt robust and had a few nice touches none of the others did.
Now, if money was no object would I have bought a Pentax? Probably not, all the things I love about the Pentax are available from the other manufacturers, you just have put some extra '0's on the price.
My point is that no-one can tell you what the camera *you* will want to use is, you have to try them out first and don't be dissuaded by anyone's opinion, try them all.

In answer to your question, in my close circle of slr-user friends we have a Canon user, two Pentax users (including myself) and an Olympus user. The Olympus user is very happy with it, but it as we discovered with considerable annoyance at my son's christening it will often not work in low light conditions, it just fires off continuous strobes from the flash, dazzling everyone, ruining everyone else's photos and making everyone squint. However, my sister and brother in law are both professional togs and they use Olympus.

Hope this helps.

V.

 

[Blister]

Before I got fully addicted to woodworking, I went down the route of photography. I love to look at photographic images, my other half and i share the same tastes in this area. For some reason I could never get the technical side of photography. I can compose a shot very well. But I've never broken out of auto settings.

My camera is a Nikon D50 and I really like Nikon camera's as a whole. There is a brilliant website that you can spend hours on written by a guy called Ken Rockwell. Go have a look he's a realy nice guy.

wizer , The D50 you have , is that the special edition one :lol:
with no memory card , it saves battery life and time , and you cant take any photos with it ? but it looks good in the hand !!

 

[wizer]

#-o ](*,)

 

[cutting42]

Believe me Lurker, your mate who is into photography uses a Canon and like the vast majority of keen photographers is almost totally biased by the kit he already uses, it's one of the most brand-snobbish hobbies/past-times you can find!

Hear Hear Vormulac

This is so right, and I am just as guilty of it wanting to justify my own decision by getting others to join in and buy the same as well.

The Pentax story is a bit sad really, my dad was a huge Pentax fan with 5 or 6 Pentax film bodies, mostly ME super but his dream camera - the LX pro quality camera was his pride and joy in fact even since his digital defection he still uses the LX for black and white arty pictures. He defected to digital before Pentax had a real digital solution and joined me on the Nikon trail. I see that Pentax are drifting away from the mainstream from their strong position a few years ago. In the film years it was Nikon, Canon, Minolta Olympus and Pentax as the top 5 with not much between them except the real high end Nikons and later the Canons. Now in terms of market share it is Nikon and Canon dominating with Sony(Minolta) a distant but gaining third. Olympus are really struggling and Pentax are in danger of falling off the chart.

This was 2008 in Japan Europe will no doubt be different.

In terms of brand names:

Nikon : 39%
Canon : 38%
Sony : 8.5%
Olympus : 3.8%
Pentax : 1.6%
Panasonic : 1.4%

This is the market share for individual camera models:

1 Canon EOS Kiss X2 with 19.1%
2 Nikon D60 10.9%
3 Nikon D80 10.6%
4 Nikon D40 9.1%
5 Canon EOS Kiss Digital X 8.4%
6 Canon EOS 40D 6.7%
7 Sony α350 4.2%
8 Nikon D300 3.3%
9 Sony α200 2.6%
10 Nikon D90 2.2%
11 Canon EOS 50D 2%
12 Nikon D40x 1.9%
13 Canon EOS Kiss F 1.8%
14 Sony α300 1.7%
15 Pentax K200D 1.6%
16 Panasonic Lumix G1 1.4%
17 Olympus E-510 1.4%
18 Olympus E-520 1.2%
19 Olympus E-420 1.2%
20 Nikon D700 1%

 

[Racers]

Hi,

I agree with Vormulac about the snobbish nature of photographers they are all ways eyeing up your camera to see what you have got, I used to put a peice of black tape over the Olympus on my OM2 and watch them strain to figure out what it was, I recon most didn't have a clue wat it was, try it its a great laugh.

Pete

 

[Vormulac]

Oh yes indeed, I've had the sneers from other enthusiasts about my feeble Pentax, they didn't half look sour when it started to rain and they had to dash under cover because their 'superior' cameras weren't weather-proof though. I was able to switch around in the collection of 20-30 year old lenses I bought for peanuts off ebay too as the mounting is the same now as it has been for 35 years and as the image stabilisation is in the body, not on the lens - that always gets a grumble or two as well :lol:
I'm not knocking anyone's decision, you have to get the right one for you, I would have a full-frame Nikon if money was no object (ignoring Hasselblad craziness for a moment! ) but the people who are so stuck up about these things really have *very* little idea what they are on about.

 

[Digit]

I'll say! I remember years ago when I was in camera club and the secretary turned with with his new super duper top of the range Japanese Ying Tang Tong SLR. I asked him why he had changed from his previous model.
'The other one was too soft focus for my liking.'
Knowing the model he had been using I was surprised. Then I found out that despite spending an arm and a leg on cameras he was enlarging with a cheapo enlarger with a diffuser screen and a Wray bottle bottom!

Roy.

 

[Lord Nibbo]

Oh yes indeed, I've had the sneers from other enthusiasts about my feeble Pentax,

Pentax! Thats almost a gloat compared to my Chinnon from Dixons :lol: I thought back then in the sixties I was the bee's knee's with that Chinnon. :lol:

 

[woody67]

:shock: :shock: :shock: .....SO.....Have I done OK buying my Canon 1000D ?? :wink: Personally, I love it - especially the natural fall and feel to hand.
Got some good snaps of Simon Weston today at a nursing conference - quite an inspirational, cheerful and motivated guy....anyone like to add?

Thanks

Mark

 

[Racers]

Hi, Mark

If you like and it fits your hand and you use it then you have done all right, no point in getting one you won't use.
Pete

 

[Vormulac]

:shock: :shock: :shock: .....SO.....Have I done OK buying my Canon 1000D ?? :wink: Personally, I love it - especially the natural fall and feel to hand.
Got some good snaps of Simon Weston today at a nursing conference - quite an inspirational, cheerful and motivated guy....anyone like to add?

Thanks

Mark

Bingo - that's the magic phrase I've highlighted above, that's what it's all about. If you love the feel of it and find it works for you then you are going to want to use it. There is a saying that 'the best camera is the one you have with you', if you love it you are more likely to have it with you and learn how to use it. It amuses the Hell out of my missus that I carry my camera to work every day, I just can't bear the thought that I might see something I want to capture and not be able to.

Incidentally I met Simon Weston years ago when he visited my school in Plymouth, I held the door open for him and he stopped for a chat, smashing bloke.

 

[bugbear]

:shock: :shock: :shock: .....SO.....Have I done OK buying my Canon 1000D ?? :wink: Personally, I love it - especially the natural fall and feel to hand.

Technology is a good and wondrous thing.

Most DSLRs (and many of the better compacts) are far better than most of us will ever need.

I admit that these photos aren't "art", but that's my fault, not the camera's, and they were taken with Canon compacts (A510 and A630)

So (at the risk of annoying the purists), "any" (half decent) camera will serve.

analogy; if you're only able to drive at 100 mph, the distinction between porsche, maserati, bugatti is irrelevant (but still genuine).

BugBear