Stay with N90 or go D70

[bruce_greene]

I will be seeing my family again in a week or two and will definitely bring a camera.

But which one? The HP 3,2MP P&S that was a gift about 3 years ago, the old Nikkormat FTn with a 50mm

f2 that I bought while in high school, or the N90 with the Tamron 28-80 f3.5-5.6. There is also an old

Tokina 80-200 3.5-4.5 AI that works (meters) well on both Nikons. Both lenses get used.

 

The N90 has no flash (the FTn has no shoe!), and even with 800 speed film, indoor photos are not likely. I

could buy an SB-28 for about $100., but I'm really wondering if it is time for a DSLR.

 

When I first got the N90, it had a Nikkor 35-70 on it, but the 35 wasn't wide enough so I traded it for the

Tamron 28-80 the next day. Because P&S digital cameras almost never go to 28mm wide, the DSLRs seem

the way for me to go.

 

I also really hate the red-eye that P&S types seem to give. Some really nice people look (inappropriately)

like they come from hell, but other people it seems to suit :-) The red eye reduction in the little HP doesn't

seem to help, and I don't like waiting for the camera to get ready to take a photo.

 

A pro photographer friend of mine has his D70 sitting without a lens on it while his D100 does all the

work. He says that the images from the D100 are better. So I might buy his D70.

 

I like the idea of being free from the film processing. I can take stupid photos and not feel stupid paying

for them. I should be able to get more that 36 shots and don't have to wait. But a few hundred bucks is a

few hundred bucks.

 

I want a flash; maybe the one in the D70 is sufficient for family photos. I would like a 28-80 equivalent

lens, but maybe I should wait and get one thats f2.8 (probably Tamron for price & quality) instead of the

f3.5. For now I could use my 28-80 AF-D type even though it will become a 42-120.

 

Moving to digital is tempting. Either I invest in the old system (SB-28) or cut my losses and jump into a

D70 where proper lenses and speedlight will have to wait several months. Your thoughts and experiences

are appreciated.

[frank_skomial]

"Either I invest in the old system (SB-28)" - No. If you have SB-28, use it on N90 or on D70, but if you do not have, then do not "invest" in it.

[steve_dawson1]

Either of those Nikon bodies with your 50mm lens is capable of very high quality images, and your best short term option may be to use them. No flash is a constraint you'll have to work around. Difficult, but at least it has the advantage of making you think.

 

The D70 also sounds good to me, but if your 50mm is pre AI, you won't be able to use it. I know nothing about that Tamron, the Tokina is a bit long for family photos, and other than that you say 'proper lenses' will have to wait several months. You could be all digitised but wishing you'd got your Nikkormat and 50mm.

 

BTW several Digital P&S cameras have 28mm now and they're not as excruciatingly slow as your old HP. I am not for a moment suggesting you go this route, but just pointing out that this technology has moved on.

[alan_chan4]

Just bite the bullet and trade everything you have for the D70 with a 2.8 zoom (or used prime like 24/2.8 if budget is limited). In most cases, you can do without flash because of useful iso1600.

[bruce_greene]

To get a Nikon 17-55 f2,8 costs $1199.00 at BH, but the Tamron Zoom SP AF 17-50mm

f/2.8 is just under $400.00. That is about the price of an AF-D 28mm 2.8 (which becomes

a 42mm). The Tamron looks like the best deal.

 

Everything else DX appears to be f3.5 or higher. So with an extra stop on the lens and

kicking up the ISO, I can avoid a $300 speedlight for a while?

 

The 50mm is pre-AI. I tried it on the N90 and it wouldn't meter. BTW, one of the

annoyances of the Nikkormat was that the meter just quit working in low light (even with

800 ISO) and on brightly lit days max fstop and max shutter still overexposed 800 and

even 400 film.

 

With the N90 empty of film, I can set the ISO to 1600 and experiment. Thank you for the

good ideas,

[alan_chan4]

For family photos, often you can do w/o flash unless the room was really dark. Since I use 6MP DSLR, I almost never use flash anymore for any indoor shots. With iso1600, just make sure the shots wasn't underexposed and it will be pretty good even at 100% on monitor.

[jcuknz]

Recognise that with digital you are the processing station, unlike film where you had the D&P folk do some of the work for you. So in you budget allow for at least Adobe Elements #4 or better #5, else Paint Shop Pro from Corel. It will be a learning curve for you but we all went through it.

Until you make up your mind about a DSLR you could well buy a good pro-sumer like the Nikon P5000 or Panasonic FZ8 and learn about shooting digital and getting rid of 'red-eye' with programmes designed for the job ... it certainly isn't a problem to baulk over, or condem a class of camera which do a very good job of both snapshots and more serious work.

[margaret1]

I am still learing so much about my D70, which I love-But as a newbie, I still have problems with the red eye thing. Not sure what I am doing wrong, but if I were you, I'd practice a lot with it before hand. I agree, do not use the flash unless it's really dark.

[bruce_greene]

As for Adobe software, this is where being a Mac specialist really pays off. I have access to

companies with new Macs, Adobe CS3, and expertise to assist me.

 

As for flash, I suspect (have bot checked) that a decent speedlight will have a bounce card

like the SB-28 did, and that should eliminate it.

 

As for practicing, I'll get some mannequins and try the flash. Should be free of red eye. I'm

very proud of myself for thinking of this test idea!

[brian_schall]

I had a N90s for years. Loved it. Had a 20-35, 28-85, and even a 80-200 f2.8 along with a SB-25 and SB-26. Bought a D50 with the 18-70 Nikkor and sold the whole N90s system and don't regret it a bit. Where as I shot 1 or 2 rolls of film at my little girls soccer games, I now can shot 200-300 shots. Used the built-in flash for a while but recently bought the SB-400, small but powerful enough for what I use it for.

 

I still shot film cameras, 4x5 and 6x6 Bronica, but for everyday family shooting and such, the D50 is great.

[bruce_greene]

Thank you Brian. That makes me feel better. I suspect that I, like you, will be glad I made the

decision to change,

[justinblack]

Think about the computer hardware, software, color management, archiving, and workflow

issues first. It can be liberating in a sense, but digital can also get expensive, time

consuming, and have a steep learning curve to do it "right." Just know what you're getting

into beyond a neat new camera.

[john_newell2]

Justin is right. It may be great, but it ain't cheap...the following might be a little extreme, but it isn't too far-fetched.

 

New camera.

Wide no longer wide, need new short lenses.

Some Nikon D-SLRs will only work with AF-S lenses...might need to replace existing AF lenses, and MF lenses are pretty much a write-off.

No more film, but need spare batts and cards. And, probably a card reader.

Need new computer (XP, not Vista).

Need new monitor. And calibration tools.

Need capture and/or editing software. And time to learn to use it.

Need new printer.