I'm looking into buying a SLR film camera, and have narrowed down my choices to the following:

Nikon F65
Nikon F75
Canon EOS 300V

Does anyone know enough to comment on these cameras? I've been into the local Jessops camera shop, and have done some research on the internet. I'm a beginner, so don't really know much about the subject.

At Jessops the F65 'kit' (includes 2 lenses) is £280, the F75 kit is £370, and the Canon is £320. Could I get a better price elsewhere? Is the F75 £90 better than the F65?

I couldn't find any camera forums, hence I'm asking on here!

Thanks

 

iv got a conon eos 500 about a year ago as a second camera and its been really good,id try dixons there pretty good,but that price doesent sound to bad.
id go for the conon

 

Andy_772 I think is a bit handy with a picture taking device!

 

So is Brian the Snail on Scoobycity


Of course there is Mr Mod Josh L

 

1) Cardboard box from packet of Oxo cubes,
2) Pinhole

Bit busy tonight - will try to be more helpful later

 

jessops are a rip off mate

go to cosco and see what u can find

 

Butkus, try kelkoo.co.uk for a competitive quote or unbeatable.co.uk

 

I know you are looking at SLR's but Iwould strongly recommend a digital.

Once you've had on it's hard to go back.

 

Do the Nikon 35mm SLR lenses fit the new Nikon digital cameras??

 

Try http://www.amateurphotographer.com/

Alternatively...

I have a canon EOS 5 with VG10 vertical grip and extra batteries for sale as I have just upgraded to a 10d. The EOS 5 is a 'semi' pro camera but without the cost of the EOS 3 or 1. It is in excellent condition and serviced by Canon UK approx 8 months ago. If you are interested I can supply pics and lots more detail.

 

not much help....but my Mum is a member of a Camera club and has a Nikon.

she says they are fantastic and enters her piccies into competitions...so i guess they MUST be pretty good.

 

Butkus,

Most of the photographers on here are Canon uses (me included). All Canon autofocus lenses can be used on all Canon cameras EXCEPT the lens that comes with the 300D.

This is a slightly differnt mount. Canon's normal autofocus mount is EF where as the lens (Canon 18-55mm) that comes with the 300D (Canon's budget Digital SLR which costs about £750) is an EF-S mount and will NOT work with any Canon camera.

It really depends on what you want to shoot. I remember that BOB.T bought a Canon EOS 300V a few months back.

I can't really comment on the Nikon's but I'd really suggest going into a Jessops store and trying out each one. You don't have to buy it from there but it wil lgive you the ability to play with each one.

Here are some photography forums
www.photo.net - This is a cracking site
www.ephotozine.com/forum

here are places where you can buy camera stuff
www.warehouseexpress.co.uk
www.jacobsdigital.co.uk/content.php
www.parkcameras.com

Any more questions I'm sure the others will help (Andy, Ian, to name just a few )

Happy hunting
Darren

 

BTW, you're not missing much with the Canon 18-55mm EF-S lens.

 

The lens is more important than the camera BTW, provided your camera is of a good enough quality to begin with. The Canon 300v is meant to be pretty good

 

It's actually quite a good lens, no worse than many other non-L series Canon lenses.

IMHO, a lot of the criticism directed at the 300D and it's 'kit' lens has more to do with price/looks than capability/build etc.

 

I don't have much to add - go into a decent camera store and have a play with whichever cameras you're interested in, it's the only way to know which feels right to you. Like most of SN's shutterbugs I'm a Canon man myself, but more by accident than by choice. My film SLR is an EOS 33 - although the 300V is newer and just as capable, I found it felt plasticky and too light to give me much confidence in its longevity. The '33 (which is the same as the rather more expensive EOS 30 but without eye controlled focus) felt much more solid, serious and comfortable.

Lenses are usually regarded as being more important than the choice of camera body, and this is certainly true if you're planning to buy a selection of them and really get into a system. Canon's lens range includes some excellent models including the 28-135IS, which is an excellent first lens and includes optical image stabilisation. (It also costs about £350, though!). Even if you don't want to stretch to this straight away, it's worth considering what your upgrade options are in the future.

 

Just over a year ago now I like it, it does every thing I want and I'm happy with my results. It's been faultless too even with the abuse it gets being lugged around various rallies, including Sweden where it was perfect in sub zero temps!

I know folk that have Nikons et al and mine is by far easier to use.

I got mine from www.warehouseexpress.co.uk or similar if that doesn't work, can't actually remember! I got the 28-90 and the 75-300 lenses, a bag and some film for 350 quid.

Cheers!

 

Hmm, it's OK when you stop it down to f/8 but very soft and flat colours otherwise.

I picked one up in Thailand for £185

 

sorry to thread hijack but :

quick question for Andy c772

I am currently chewing over buying a 300d and as a canon digital owner i would like to know your thoughts on the ibm microdrive versus compact flash ??????

you can send a private message if need be thanks

Matt

 

Matt,

I know the question is not amied at me but when I was in Jessops the other day a Canon EOS10D user was told that the Microdrives have movable parts so are more prone to failure that say a CF card as CF cards have none.

Thats the only thing I know about digital as I shoot on film

Darren

 

good point darlodge hadnt thought of that.

I used to have an eos 600 built like a brick outhouse and could fire off 4.5 frames per second.
If i upgrade i dont want to have to wait for cards to store each image and i heard that the microdrive is faster than any cards on the market

 

I use both Microdrive and solid state cards interchangeably. The MD is nice and fast, although its price advantage over solid state cards has been somewhat reduced of late and there are plenty of good, fast ss cards around too.

The MD does have moving parts and doesn't like shock and vibration - I did lose some data when riding a horse with my D30 round my neck! No actual damage was done, but the disc did get corrupted. I've had the drive a couple of years now and have never had any other trouble with it.

Other issues? Not all cameras support the MD (it's thicker and requires that an additional high-power mode be supported by the camera), so if you ever plan to get a compact digi that uses CF cards, it may not work.

Today I'd probably buy solid state. I normally use a Sandisk Extreme 512MB card which is much faster and, of course, virtually indestructible. It fills up quick with the 1D, though!

If your camera supports cards above 2GB (which only the newest ones do - check), you could buy a Creative MuVo 2 MP3 player and rip it apart to extract the 4GB microdrive from within. It's cheaper than buying the 4GB card on its own...

 

Cheers Andy i think dual formats maybe the best option as well.
I dont think there are any compatability issues with the 300D just wondered about the practicalities.

7dayshsop.com are currently doing 300D for £595 body only seriously tempting

Like the Muvo tip is that really possible ????? LOL

 

I've got a 1GB Microdrive to go along with my 300d and it's a great package

 

£595 for body only is a good price!!

Darren

 

Yes!

 

That's brilliant! I wouldn't want to lose 4gb of images in one go though. Would prefer 2x2gb cards but that's just splitting hairs - what a bargain!

 

how about this Microdrive then
http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/prod...ducts_id=87896

 

I heard some very bad things about the reliability of that 2.2G drive when it first came out. Do have a search on the net to see if you can find some more recent reports, but I wouldn't buy one myself. I believe the newer 4G ones are better.

 

DO NOT BUY MAGISTOR MD drives for use with Canon DSLRs. I know plenty of people who have and every single one has had problems with them.

Also, many Magistor MDs also fail to work properly with USB card readers.

I've used IBM MD's with my 10D and have had no problems with them. The only things to note is the are very slightly slower to use than solid state CF cards (but you would be unlikely to notice), they are a bigger power drain on the camera batteries and they don't like much shock/vibration when writing data.

In the past they were a no brainer for most dSLR users. But with the price difference these days, I now go for solid state only.

To get back to the original question, I would recommend (if you want to go Canon) to take a look at the EOS 33. It is a much nicer camera than the (what is excellent value) 300V. But there again, it is nearly twice the price.

Can I also recommend you don't go for kits with lenses, unless those lenses are the ones you *actually* want. Something I always suggest to people is the EOS33 and the 28-135 IS as a starting point. I honestly believe you cannot go wrong with that setup whether you are a complete novice right up to pro level.

Cheers

Ian