Thread: Which digital SLR for pen photography?

Nikon has a D40x, but common in the 'cheaper' cameras (say sub $1000), is that they use leses that can only be used on that model. The cheapie Nikon ones have some component in the lens that is normally in the body for a nikon (I can't remember off the top of my head which), but it means that in 5 years time when the upgrade call comes you have to junk all of the lenses, which can easily out strip the cost of the camera.

The lens on my Nikon D40 is interchangeable with any other Nikon DSLR. I think you may be referring to the fact that the D40 has no drive pin, so it cannot auto focus lenses that don't have a built in motor - you have to focus manually. I think the upgrade path is away from those lenses.

I bought the D40 last year and it is a fantastic camera for the price (about $700 with an 18-55 lens). I thoroughly recommend it. As for your requirements, the D40 can operate in full manual mode. There are also the standard program settings and the aperture and shutter priority modes. For pen shots, you can use the timer option (or buy a remote) so that you don't have to touch the camera once it's set up.

I would try a good set up with your compact first and see if you can get better results.

By that I mean set up on a tripod with good lighting.

A light box would be nice but you can achieve similar results with a white sheet and a home made framework of dowel.

For a tripod you could get a "gorilla pod", they are very adjustable and easy to use and set up.
You could also use a small beanbag to sit your camera on.

When photographing items close up, as Silent said, it is best to use your timer option with the camera mounted on a tripod. That way there will be no camera shake from you being in contact with the camera and you will have sharper images.

That being said I have a canon 350D and a heap of lenses, I love it and will probably upgrade to the 50D soon.

I agree with trying the compact in a good setup, but their sensor size is 10mm (they call it 1/2.5", which drives me nuts!). The DSLR-compacts have a 23mm sensor (I think) which means each pixel is about 4-5 times the size (on an equivalent # of pixel sensor), resulting in them being better at picking up light. Hence compacts suck in low light and a good DSLR will take reaosnable shots up to 1600 ISO (and some beyond).

If you want to try with a compact, make sure you have lots of light to overcome this.

Cheers,
Dave

Originally Posted by Ozkaban

Hence compacts suck in low light and a good DSLR will take reaosnable shots up to 1600 ISO (and some beyond).

If you want to try with a compact, make sure you have lots of light to overcome this.

Good point. Without going into too much detail, the lower the ISO setting on your camera the less "noise" there will be and your image will be sharper.

If the ISO setting is adjustable on your camera get it as low as you can and flood the picture with soft/diffused lighting.

If the ISO is adjustable you can lower the setting without using additional lighting as long as the camera is stable, ie on a tripod or beanbag.
If there is not enough light the shutter speed will be slower to match the ISO and capture available light, however, if you try to take a shot like this hand held the image will be blurry.

Make sure your flash is off.

Originally Posted by Ozkaban

Wasn't the Rebel the 300/400 series cameras?

I haven't checked in a while, but it certainly was when I bought the 350D - it was the Rebel XT I think.

Cheers,
Dave

The EOS1000D is the Rebel XS (according to the flickr site)

The 350D is the Rebel XT

The 400D is the Rebel XTi

The 450D is the Rebel XSi

All very confusing and not very clever marketing IMHO, but hey they are selling a lot of these cameras, so maybe I'm wrong (it's been known to happen).

Originally Posted by BoomerangInfo

Fred, Fred, Fred,

As for live view, no I don't really use it, except in special circumstances. It has a slight lag and a couple of other inadequacies, but I'm still glad it's there for when I do need it. Despite my early reserach showing people really rely on the TTL view, I find myself preferring to compose TTL, and then I just check the back panel before clicking to check the exposure etc. It works well.

So there ya go, if you ant to clarify any points, fire away.

Russell.

Ok, having read umpteen reviews on the 405D, some seem to be just a re-hash of the Canon media release, I have a question which has not been answered in any of them.

How does the Live View get accessed on this camera?

I have read that on the EOS1000D you have to navigate several menus to switch it on or off, on some other brands (Sony and Olympus) it is just a simple button on the back).

You talk about "a couple of other inadequacies" of Live View, could you expand on this please?

We bought the Panasonic FZ-28 as a good camera for happy snaps as well as the blond wanting to take anything from a small flower through to scenery. I use it for taking photos for the web and set up on the tripod is real easy to use.

Just need to set up a better lighting setup and this will improve no end.

We use adobe cs for the editing and there is still heaps of stuff on there that I dont know about.

When looking around we wanted the big heavy slr but opted for the lighter easy to use and set up FZ-28

Looks like an interesting camera Jim, bit like a souped up version of what I have now.

Question, does it have a manual focus override?

What price bracket does it fit in?

Hey Fred,

It doesn't have live view but my Nikon D80 with a VR 18-200mm (standard on the D300) is pretty nice rig. I didn't need HD video options (I'm a former videographer) so chose the D80 over the 90. The 18-200mm lens is great solid piece of glass. That said, I also use my old Canon G3 (great camera) for a lot of close-up work until I get a proper macro lens for the D80.

No real clue why Canon pick names like this...
Explain why they called the F1 film camera an F1...sounds like something you would call a pickup truck...
I didn't worry all that much about live view, as I use the view finder almost exclusively anyway...for the money, it does all I need plus some, takes most of the Canon lenses.

People with compacts would often say to my "Oh, you have to look through the view finder". My response was always "Yes, my camera has a shutter". That's one of the dodgy things about compacts, the sutter is all electronic - there is no physical barrier to the light. Makes quite a difference IMHO.

Cheers,
dave

Originally Posted by Big Shed

I used to be a real keen photographer, had heaps of cameras (several Olympus 35mm SLRs with umpteen lenses, a full Pentax 6x7 medium format setup and a Linhof Kardan 4x5 camera, as well as a fully equipped colour darkroom).

Likewise, I had a Linhof Kardan monorail, Mamiya RZ and Canon 35mm. My wife made me sell the linhof to buy a drysuit when I got into scuba diving. I always kinda regretted selling it, but I know that if I did still have it, I wouldn't use it.

In any case, I'd buy a canon 350/400/etc. with the kit lens, plus a 50/1.4, kenko extension tubes and a tripod. With this setup, you would be able to take great macro shots as well as regular photos.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

Ok, having read umpteen reviews on the 405D, some seem to be just a re-hash of the Canon media release, I have a question which has not been answered in any of them.

How does the Live View get accessed on this camera?

I have read that on the EOS1000D you have to navigate several menus to switch it on or off, on some other brands (Sony and Olympus) it is just a simple button on the back).

You talk about "a couple of other inadequacies" of Live View, could you expand on this please?

You setup an option in the menus to use it, then simply press the "set" button to turn it on, so no biggy there.

On the 450D, LiveView only works in "creative" modes, i.e. Program, Av, Tv, M and A-DEP modes, not in the auto modes - no great loss unless you're really trying to use it as a compact, in which case, why have a DSLR??

You can't use mirror lockup, shutter/ae lock or set button in LiveView mode, and extreme lighting conditions may throw off the display brightness. FInally of course, it sucks up battery power.

You can also use a liveview to the monitor screen mode when connected directly to the computer, which is quite handy for special shots such as timelapse, although it means your camera is tethered to a PC, so range is an issue.

The lag is the main issue though I think (or reported to be, haven't noticed myself). I take mainly still shots ona tripod, so not really an issue for me. It has it's uses - taking shots above your head etc. It's really horses for courses. I just don't have the need to use it. I think Liveview actually shows 100% of the image too, whereas the viewfinder is 95%.

As an extra note about the 450D vs 1000D, they're actually very similar with most parts being identical, just a few extras, but important extras that make it worth a bit more money, but it is easy to live without them. I do really like the bigger LCD on the 450D though.

Russell.

Thanks Russell for your very clear and comprehensive reply to my questions.

I did get a chance to go out this afternoon and look at some of the contenders, not an easy task in a country town where of necessity choice is sometimes limited.

First stop was Hardly Normal and they lived up to their hardly normal standard, they had most the cameras I was interested in stock and on display. Only one teeny weeny little problem, none of the batteries were charged, so you could not look through any viewfinder, determine focus, noise. Bit like selling a car that won't start really.

On to the local Camera House store, not as big a selection, but most the cameras had a charged battery. So got a chance to fiddle with the Canon 1000D and 450D, as you say not that much to pick between them really, very nice cameras. Also had a good look athe Olympus E520, very compact, maybe a touch too compact and am a bit concerned about the size/format of the image. Nice to be able to use virtually any Olympus lens though, still have a few Olympus bits and pieces.

Finally the Sony A300, the only camera there without a charged battery. Very impressed with the overall look and feel and the layout of the controls. Especially like the way Sony have the Live View screen able to angle out for high and low shots. They also use a separate sensor when using Live View so virtually no extra delay.
Can also use all the older Minolta A lenses.

Competitively priced, about $300 cheaper than the Canon 450D with 2 lenses, I may have to go back and look at it when they remember to charge the battery.