Digital or 35mm in budget

I am an indian and my budget for buying a new camera is 25,000INR i.e

about 500 USD with a 28-above and a 70-above lense. I have done 35mm

photography for about 8years with a viviter 3000v and three lenses(50,

28-70 and 70-210 all viv) and now like to have a better sets of

equipments. Now I have gone through the reviews of various cameras in

photo.net and elsewhere in the net. The cameras I have thought of are

Nikon F75/80 or the Nikon D50/70. Now the first two are of my reach

but not the last two. Now what should I do? SHould I go for the 35mm

of wait for some months to have enough money to buy a D.

When it comes to digital I would wait. the prices keep dropping and the features are added to them almost every 4 months. Have you thought of going to a larger format? maybe 120? Just a thought. As for the V3000 and your choice of lenses. they are all great lenses and the camera is a great camera. Remember with digital you will need to upgrade your computer to do it right and you will have to add that factor into your budget.

Larry

Thanks Larry for your advice. But I already have a computer intel systems. I have a little worry about the large prints. I can do even 32-34(not a very well known format but) prints of my photos using my uncles manual colour lab, can I go for these afterwards? About the camera, it's really a good one the 50mm lens too, but the zoom lenses are not up to the marks. The 70-210 is a one touch one and as you look up or down it zooms itself, the 28-70 gives free of cost chromatic abbaration. However I like to use body-lens adapter for potraits which gives beautiful results in case of the large zoom.

Thank you for your comments, but I will like to see more.

Welcome,, Prasun. First, the camera equipment forum might be better for your question as 35mm or digital are not very "alternative". This forum deals with pinholes and toy cameras and such.

 

That said, do you know why you want to move up from the vivitar? Defining that would help. Do you want AF? Different kind of metering? For what kind of shooting? For $500 I'd say go with film and spend as much as possible on lenses. Remember that none of the cameras on your list will meter with manual focus lenses which are so cheap nowadays and offer great quality. I could not afford to spend much and opted for high quality fast manual lenses over cheap AF zooms.

 

I put together a set of Nikon N90s, Nikkor 50/1.4 AI, Vivitar Series 1 105/2.5 macro and Nikkor 180/2.8 ED AI-S for about $450. The lenses are fast and some of the best available. And for this quality, I chose to give up on AF and went with the N90s instead of my older N80.

 

Now is a great time to buy manual focus film gear. I'd say wait it out until you can spend a little more to take the digital plunge. There is a comparison of various Nikon bodies on my web site that might help you in your decision.

 

Best,

Anupam

Thanks Anupam, I like potraits and landscapes, sometimes flowers(potraits again). I need a autofocus very much for my eyes. Metering is not that a great issue since my viv meter is not working for a long time, but for some diffucult conditions it is required. I also like the film over the digital, I have tried with one coolpix( 5 mpx but the model I dont rember, friend). Another thing you can tell me, can I use non TTL flashes like the cheap achiver I have with the F75/80s?

I wouldn't bother with non-SLR digitals. As for the flash I suppose it would work in manual mode but I use a $15 nikon flash and I think TTL makes life a lot easier.

Hi Prasun,

 

with autofocus it also depends on light levels. If you shoot in plenty of light all is fine, in lower light many cameras are not fine, for autofocus. $500 will buy you a Nikon F4 with a 50mm lens in good condition, it is a great camera. You could get a Minolta body and lens of equal build and performance cheaper. Good luck.

What mount are the lenses you own? - I have some Vivtar 2000 which takes Pentax k-mount lenses. In fact I purchased it together with a Pentax *istD DSLR.

 

If you have a computer able to cope with digital it might be nice to have. I like it for risky shots. It makes a difference if you can burn 4GB of RAW captures or max 4 rolls of film during one concert. - The expected 15 keepers look better...

 

Wait as long as you can and avoid changing systems if you're unable to go for their better lenses in the long run.