greg_mason

i have the 50mm f1.7 and it is an excellent lens. i would get that and save your money for a nice portrait lens. the 100 f2 would fit in well.

minolta maxxum 9 with the 85f1.4 for adults and the 100f2 for children. other loves include my olympus om2n (my first)the contax IIIa with the 50 f1.5 (surprisly sharp lens) and my fuji g690 bl with the 150mm lens (a recent addition).

the drop in prices is partially digital, partially the economy and partially due to robert white in england. he can sell new mamiya gear at much lower prices than we can get from mamiya dealers in the U.S.

your choices all seem reasonable. keh.com is a good place for used camera gear. i would make the following suggestions. for the 70-200 zoom go for the slower zoom . it is a fraction of the price and becauuse it is much lighter it can be hand held at a slower shutter speed ofsetting the advantage of the 2.8 the 70-200 f2.8 is a beast to pack and may end up getting left behind. i would devote some money to a good fast prime. this will help you in low light shots there are always good prices on 50mm.

 

i shoot cycling also and i have found that i vary between my 80-200 f2.8 with a monopod and my 24mm. with the 80-200 frequently i am panning and i do not need the full speed of the lens. the 24mm i stop down as far as i can and use it when i am tight against the pack and want to maximize depth of field for a pack of riders. these compose 80% of my cycling shots with the remaining shots split between after race shots of riders cooling down (50mm) or a long zoom to isolate a single rider in a breakaway. i would tend to reccomend the eos3 as cycling photography can be pretty demanding.

i have owned an olympus om2n for over 20 years and it still gets regular use. i wont bother repeating the om2n praises and i agree with them all. i would be careful about the om2s though. according to my camera repair person, the om2n has point to point wiring and is still servicable while the om2s has a circuit board that is no longer available and can no longer be serviced. i would not get overly concerned about the meter. most caameras will do fine until you are subzero. all of the major camera manufacturers have similar cameras that can be found used within you $200 budget. check out keh.com they are good people to deal with.

there are cameras which i shoot when i know i have to get the picture right. thier use is almost second nature and often requires little thought. then there are cameras which i use for the sheer joy at how they feel in my hand. the nikon f2 with the md2 is an example of the latter.

justin:

 

it is very easy to spend a lot of money very fast on camera equipment only to be disapointed when you find out that it is not what you want or need. many of us have made that mistake so please dont take the comments personally. obviously only you know what you really want or need. take the 800-200 f2.8 zoom for example. by all acounts it is an excellent lens, but you need to shoot it at least 1/250 and maybe even 1/500 for your pictures to remain sharp. the 85 f1.8 can easily be shot at 1/125 and with practice 1/60 is not unreasonable, so the diference in lens speed is far more than the diference between f2.8 and f1.8. much portrait work is performed in the focal lengths between 85mm (head and shoulders) to 100mm (facial shots) with 35mm and 50mm used for full body shots. you might want to set some money aside and find which focal lengths you consistently shoot at and dedicate a prime to that lens.

 

if you plan on shooting much of your shots at f8 for example there is very little difference between the f4 zoom and the f2.8 zoom. with the difference in price you can pick up a nice prime lens such as the 85 f1.8.

 

one last thing to consider. is your wife planning on using the camera? this is a very large combination and most women will not feel very comfortable with it. if you check the postings you will notice that most of them are from men. two last things to note. check out keh.com they have an excellent selection of used equipment and they are good people to deal with. second, this is more of a problem with zoom lenses than prime lenses, but check out the close focusing distance. this is important if you want to get in close to your son. give us a post back and let us know how your decisions turned out.

i have the gw690III. from the owners manual which covers both cameras the 90mm is the equivalent to 38mm and the 65mm is equivalent to 28mm. the 90 is faster at f3.5 while the 65 is f5.6. please remember that a lot of labs will not print 6x9. i have mine developed annd have proof sheets done. i chose the 90mm since it is faster and it is a more versital focal length. the negative size gives a lot of options for cropping. while reasonably light due to the use of plastics, this is a very LARGE camera.

 

good luck

some people have luck with external diopters and rangefinders. i have seen some comments one the leica forum here.

another option to consider is the fuji gw690 or gsw690. they are non interchangeable lens rangefinders with a 35mm equivalent of 38mm or 28mm. shopping carefully they will probably be your least expensive option. the 6x9 format work even better for panoramics than the 6x7 and will easily crop and enlarge to 12" x 36". the mamiya 7II is an excellent camera and would also be a good choice.

with all the talk of film versus digital, i wonder why no one has

thought to resurrect the old rollei 2000, which was a 35mm slr with

an interchangeable film back similar to medium format. an updated

model could have both film and digital backs available and would cut

down the cost of digital upgrading.

i will second the previous response. minolta's 85 f1.4 is truly a wonderful lens. i shoot a lot of portrait work with my maxxum 9 and have the 85 f1.4, the 100 f2 and the 135 f2.8. the 135 f2.8 can be found at under $200 at keh.com. they are good people to deal with. i use the 135 when i want some extra reach. the 100 f2 is probably the sharpest of the three aaand maybe too sharp sometimes. i use it with children. the 85 f1.4 is used for adults. shot wide open it produces extremely beautiful out of focus renditions.

yosemite in may and just back from carmel and monterey.

a nikon f2 with md2 and a 105 f2.5 for pure mechanical perfection, and since many of us also support other lines for night shooting a leica m3 and a 50mm f1 noctilux. for street shooting a leica m and a 35mmf1.4 asph.

if all you are going to use is a normal 100mm lens or a wide angle 65mm lens you are better of getting a new gw or gsw series camera. i picked up a gw with a 150mm to be used soley for portrait work and to supplement my gw series with the 90mm. out my way apex cameras in walnut creek california will still service them.

the above answers are all fine. i would also add the 180 f4 elmar. it is small, light, and inexpensive by leica standards. it makes a great portrait lens and i find that i carry it with my R6.2 at times when i would have otherwise left my long glass home.

keep track of the focal lengths that you are using when you shoot, then get a quality used prime from some place like keh.com. in addition to getting a sharper lens you will also get one that is noticably sharper. the 100f2 is an excellent value and the 50mm is always sharp and inexpensive.

i shoot fairly regularly at the monterey bay aquairium in monterey california it is one of the largest aquairiums around and has several large salt water tanks and a kelp forest. my suggestions are as follows.

 

1. forget the tripod. it will probably be too crowded to set up comfortably and if you need that slow of shutter speed you will not be freezing the action of the fish any way.

 

2. bring the fastest film you are comfortable with. at a minimum i shoot at 800 asa. bring your fastest lens and shoot wide open.

 

3. bring the polarizing filter for outdoor shots but you will not need it indoors. i typically shoot with 50mm f1.8 and 28mm f2.

 

get there early and plan on spending some time. midweek works wll since children are in school. you do not want to wreck the experience for others. if the aquarium you are refering to is monterey bay i have some specific suggestions.

greg mason serious amateur from lafayette california

again to offer a another perspective i would buy a used leica m6ttl and a used 35mm f1.4 asph. it is an obscene amount of money for just one body and one lens, but it feels like heaven and i would lack for nothing.

hurray for the MP. first it means that leica will remain commitited to an all mechanical camera and that they are not run by a bunch of idiots. second hopefully it will push used M6ttl prices down. shopping carefully you can get a used m6ttl for $1300 which is half the price of the MP. as nice as the MP is i would rather have the extra money and spend it on a lens or traveling.

to all: thank you for your responses. to clarify large cameras seem to fit better in my hands and the extra weight of the motor drive helps to balance out the weight of longer glass. when combining this with my m3 i will probably be using it for lenses 85mm and longer.

i have been into photography for 20 years and i own a pro level AF

SLR and a slew of lenses. lately i have been getting bored and it

has affected my photography. i recently picked up an old beat up

leica m3 and a couple of lenses and rediscovered why i got into

photography in the first place. i am looking into a manual focus slr

to complement my m3. i am looking at either a f2 or f3 both with a

motor drive. i have searched the photo.net and understand the basics

but am torn over which is the better way to go.

 

thank you in advance

i would derfinately put the money toward a new or newer used R8. if you are a lifer and plan on keeping your camera for the next 20 years then the investment is worth it. you do not state what is still functional and what is not. for example can you still rewind your film? are there light leaks? many leica users myself included shoot leica M series cameras with out meters if your camera can stil be used in this manner then it might be a fun way to learn more about photography and still be used while you save up for an R8.

in medium format i shoot with both a fuji 645i and the g690III. for landscapes the g690III is hard to beat. although large, it is very lightweight and the 6x9 negative easilly prints to 24x36 and can be cropped to 12x36. used they are under $1000 and they come with a built in level. please remember that with 645 format cameras the long direction of the negative is oriented vertically which is not convenient for landscape photography.