I need help choosing my first dslr

[marco_landini]

Hello guys. I need help for choosing my first dslr. I own 35mm film nikon cameras and some very good primes : 28

2.8 ais, 50 1.8 afd, 105 2.5 ais. I love primes and these, in my opinion are very good and absolutely great price-wise.

Anyway, for street photography, I use a contax t2 film camera, because of its compactness and unconspiciusness,

the lack of mirror shake, and the great fixed lens. Now, I' d like to start shooting digital, because of convenience and

because modern dslr's can produce image sharpness and results like 35mm film or better. Expecialy for street

photography, I would appreciate the convenience of digital, due to the vastity of wasted frames. I know digital

compacts are not able to produce IQ similar to dslr's. And sigma dp1 is too expansive to me. So, I'm looking for the

smallest as possible dslr for street photography, which can mount a good moderate wide prime (35-40 mm focal in

35mm), and can use my other nikon primes too for other works, like potraiture ecc. I find Nikon d40x a nice choice.

It' s small and good priced. Is not a problem for me the lack of metering when I do posed portraiture or static

subjects, I can check the immediate feedback on the lcd screen and adjust for the next exposure. When I will use

the 50 1.8 af no problem at all. And for street photography I am used to pre-set the film camera exposure and shoot

without changes untill the light will change. So, I could use my great 28 ais, and If I would, I can add a 20mm 2.8 af

in the future. So, I consider the D40x for : great image quality, compactness and good price. Do you agree with me ?

Have you any other suggestion for my goals ? I considered also the possibility of Canon Xti or Xsi digital rebel ( 400d

or 450 d) . With an adapter ring they have more compatibility to my old ais nikon lenses then nikon d40x...! But I will

be able only to stop down and so I will loose the viewfinder brightness, much more important on streets and low light

situation then the capacity of metering. It' s only my opinion. The other solution could be drastical : shift enterely

from nikon system to pentax system and buy a k100d with 21 fa limited lens and some good smc primes. What do

you think about it ? Thank you very much in advance for your wonderful and useful comments. Ciao, Marco.

[Ed_Ingold]

Which features in a digital camera are important to you? Are there any you don't understand or need to know where they apply? Whether Pentax is better than Nikon is NOT a legitimate question.

 

Or perhaps you just want everyone to list their favorite cameras and lenses (YAWN).

 

Come back when you have a question.

[marco_landini]

IMHO, I think my question is quite clear.

[marco_landini]

So, I'm looking for the smallest as possible dslr for street photography, which can mount a good moderate wide prime (35-40 mm focal in 35mm), and can use my other nikon primes too for other works, like potraiture ecc

----

[marco_landini]

Just read

[michaeljlawson]

Asking for help then bashing the first legitimate follow up question isn't likely to get you that help. If the

question were as basic as you make it seem you wouldn't need the opinions of others. You want to use wide prime

lenses, but want a small body. Most small bodies are crop sensors which change the way your wide lenses work.

Assuming you want your wise lenses to behave like wide lenses means a full frame sensor. That meas more $ and a

body that is probably bigger than you want. Asking about features, sensor\lens behavior, and my question...your

budget....will likely change what people suggest.

[seismiccwave]

If you want to stay with Nikon, get a D90. The D40X will be too limiting as far as compatibility with older Nikon lenses. I

found the Pentax K200D very appealing. Lots of lens available and very compact for a take along camera. The best part

about the Pentax is that it uses AA cells so you don't have to worry about charging battery. Just pick up the camera and

go. If your battery is low just put in a new batch.

[bill_tuthill]

Panasonic G1 meets the small requirement.

[eric_arnold]

marco, your best bet is a d80: (http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-10-2MP-Digital-Camera-Body/dp/B000HGMX5M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1228074359&sr=1-2)

 

since you have all those great older nikkor primes, the d40X is NOT a great option for you. the d80 has the same exact sensor but is compatible with a much wider array of lenses, plus it has better AF and ergonomics. IMO the d80 isn't a bulky camera (i have a d300 also) depending on what lens you mount it with. i use the d80 with a 50/1.8 and 30/1.4 and the form factor isn't overwhelming with either. the d80+50 is very compact, although 75mm equivalent is a bit wide. the 30 is a bit bigger but still quite manageable.

 

any other possible solution is either simply not as viable or more expensive. switching entirely to pentax is foolish. you already know the issues with a rebel. and the dp1 is only f/4 max aperture. you could get a panasonic g1, but why would you, when you have nikkor glass in the focal lengths you want already? i suppose you could also look at an lx3, which will give you a 24mm-60mm lens at f/2-2.8 in a very compact package, but again, IQ will be much better with a d80 and the lenses you already have.

 

if you want to ignore the obvious and insist on getting the wrong camera for your set-up, go right ahead.

[marco_landini]

Thanks for the nice suggestions, everyone. I always had wonderful help from you, expert and professional photographers. I am just a poor beginner, sometimes conceited, actually about me and my possibilities, not about you and your kind help...I'm really conscious that I receive far more kindness and patience from you then I shoud have, and I thank you very much, indeed. My only sorrow is when someone become touchy for some misunderstanding. And I' m sorry, but wisdom and intelligence leed...Thank you and have a nice time.

[marco_landini]

Ok Eric, but I guess D80 and D40x have the same performance, quality wise. I' m I wrong ? And D80 don' t meter with manual focus lenses, just like D40-D40x do. So why choose a d80 instead a d40-d40x for using with the mentioned lenses ?

[marco_landini]

Sorry for my English...I mean : both d80 and d40 ( or d40x ) don' t meter with manual focus lenses.

[r.t. dowling]

Eric and Hansen, he's talking about manual focus lenses, so I'm not sure how a D80 or D90 would be any better with those lenses than a D40... the lenses won't meter unless he goes to a D200 or higher.

[duane_mills]

They're all great cameras but hey these are the good days of digital where all the major brands will offer excellent IQ. A Pentax K100D Super with DA 40mm pancake is small, light, well built with a steel chassis and yet still a fully functioning dslr (including DOF preview and 11 AF points). The top LCD comes in handy as this is a feature you traditionally find on higher end cameras. The ability to take AA batteries is a bonus to if you're ever stuck or off the grid. The K100D Super will work with all legacy lenses and the new SDM DA* ones too. The standard stack of cakes 21mm, 40mm and 70mm pancakes will serve you well, and then there's the FA 50 mm 1.4 which predates digital yet is still a stellar portrait lens. If you like superb primes - that's the area Pentax excels in. Nikon is no slouch either - in fact I had a very difficult time choosing between the two platforms. Good luck - only you can decide what's best for you.

[eric_arnold]

my bad marco, R.T. is right... but hey, how about a d200 then? : (http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-D200-10-2MP-Digital-Camera/dp/B000BY52NK/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1228090498&sr=8-1) .

 

at that price, it's a pretty awesome deal. for you i think it makes sense; being able to use older lenses makes for a more versatile system than anything else even remotely in this price range. maybe the d200 isnt the most compact camera ever, but being able to meter is surely worth a few extra ounces.

as for a pentax k110d or lumix g1, why would you want to start all over from scratch when you've already got those nice nikkors?

[r.t. dowling]

Another advantage of the D200 over the D40 et al is that the D200 has a larger viewfinder, and I assume it's a pentaprism and therefore probably brighter as well -- makes it a lot easier to focus manually.

[marco_landini]

D200 was my first idea. But I' m looking at other alternatives because of it' s relative large size and weight, and it' s

not low priced. Anyway, I' m not convinced about performance of wide primes on nikon dslr' s. I mean, I read a lot of

posts about the low performance of 20, 24, 28, af or ais, on digital bodies. Those lens are very good on film bodies

but not good on digital ones. So, my crazy idea ( why not ?) : I could buy a Pentax k100d or ( better ? ) a *ist ds,

very compact and nice features. Sell my nikon 28 2.8 ais and the 50 1.8 afd. Keep the 105 2.5 ais ( unique ! ) adding

an adapter ring to k mount. And then buy the 21 3.8 DA limited (great and ultra compact) and the 50 1.4 FA ( very

nice and good priced). The 21 DA is not very cheap, but the ist body and the 50 1.4 fa are very good priced, so the

whole system seems interesting, and let me use my loved 105 ais too...

[r.t. dowling]

As someone who has a few nice Nikkor primes collecting dust, I feel your pain! I'd love to be able to use them on digital, but the D200 and higher models are too big, heavy, and expensive for my needs.

 

A couple of years ago I ended up getting a Pentax K100D and I like it a lot. It's small but not too small, very well built, heavier than the Rebels and low-end Nikons but not nearly as heavy as the high-end Nikons and Canons, has a bigger/brighter viewfinder than the Rebels and low-end Nikons, has built in shake reduction... I could go on but you get the idea. The 18-55 kit lens is actually very nice, arguably the best of the breed. Right now I've got my eye on the FA 35/2.0, which is very compact (not a pancake but almost!), incredibly sharp, and has a nice "normal" field of view on a DSLR.

 

The 21 Limited is awesome and I definitely wouldn't mind having one! They're also going to be introducing a compact 15mm Limited in the near future. I don't think it will be a pancake but it will allegedly be quite small.

[r.t. dowling]

Oh by the way, you probably already knew this but old manual focus Pentax primes will meter just fine on Pentax DSLRs, especially the "A" series lenses which fully support program, aperture priority, etc. I have a Pentax "A" 50/1.7 on my K100D and it is superb. I find Pentax's manual focus lenses to be every bit as good as my old manual focus Nikkors. I would dare say the Pentax 50/1.7 is sharper and has more contrast than my Nikkor 50/1.8.

[Landrum Kelly]

"I own 35mm film nikon cameras and some very good primes : 28 2.8 ais, 50 1.8 afd, 105 2.5 ais."

 

If I already had some Nikon lenses, I would personally stay with Nikon. Find out which Nikon can handle your AI lenses, and go from there.

 

If, on the other hand, size is indeed the most important criterion, consider the Olympus or other micro-four-thirds system.

 

You can probably research your various options best by looking at the camera databases by brand at dpreview.com .

 

--Lannie

[shuo_zhao]

Obviously if you want to use those prime lenses you got, you'll need stick w/ Nikon. In order for those AI lenses to have full function, you'll need to get at least a D200.

 

>> "So, I'm looking for the smallest as possible dslr for street photography, which can mount a good moderate wide prime (35-40 mm focal in 35mm)"

 

A 28mm prime on a DX format body should work in this case. If it's a AF-D lens, you'll need to get at something else other than the D40/D40x/D60 to AF.

 

>> "I find Nikon d40x a nice choice. It' s small and good priced."

 

If you don't need 10 MP, the original D40 should be a better choice. The lighter Nikon DSLRs are good choices if you like to work w/ modern AF-S zooms, but otherwise their capabilities could be somewhat limiting; as there's no AF w/ non AF-S or AF-I lenses, and no metering w/ AI lenses.

[mike_hitchen]

If you want the 'smallest possible' then what about the Olympus series of 4/3 format?

Personally if you really like the lenses you have and are happy staying with manual focus primes then I would follow the D80 suggestion. Or even the D90 which would enable you to buy some zoom lenses when you have a better idea of which one you would use most.

 

Mike

[marco_landini]

The idea of a pentax k100d ( or *ist ds) or even better a k200d with a 21 da limited and a 50 ( fa 1.4 or a 1.7) is' going to be inceasing interesting in my mind more and more...and the nikon 105 2.5 ais will be full functional on pentax camera, much more then on entri level nikon dslr ( shame on you, nikon ).

I just made calculation about prices. One k100d + one 21 da + one 50 1.4 fa will be less costly then a d40 + one 20 2.8 af + one 50 1.4 af....much more quality in this pentax system, and much more compactness with the 21 da. And finally at a lower price...105 2.5 ais and 28 2.8 ais full usable with adaptor rings...wow.

[albertdarmali]

The thing is, I am not sure if I would use Nikon's smallest DSLR like D40 or D60 for manual focusing though

(using you Ais lenses collections) since the viewfinder is not as good as mid/high end Nikons. But if you want to

get a better optical viewfinder, then the camera won't be small anymore... (at least you have to get D90's

equivalent).

 

I am not saying that it is not possible to MF with D40, but it's easier with bigger cameras, or at least a D90.

Especially if you are also doing wide open 1.4 stuff, a good optical viewfinder helps a lot.

 

Other suggestion I can think of is getting a Panasonic LX3 for your street photography purpose.

[marco_landini]

pentax k100d + 21 DA. Please, can you find a more capable High IQ camera and lens, compactness and good price ? Seems wonderful.