Digital Camera

LOL, what are you talking about....

I would not respond to such a post normally, but I don't want other people to think that film lens are poor choice for digital camera. In fact, there are several white papers and technical papers from lens makers, including Nikkor, regarding how the sweetspot of full frame (read non DX, or non-digital) film lens far out performs any new digital only lenses.

To put it simplistically, most sensors on DSLRs, with exceptions of few full frame sensors, have typical 1.5~1.6 crop factor. Which means, there are less lens effects on the captured image by CCD/CMOS than on film. DX and digital lens are optimized for the sensor size and is cheaper for the manufactures to make than full frame lens with similar performance. Also, what will you do when full frame (35mm equivalent) sensors become more readily available. All of your so call tech evolution (more like tech convenience) of DX sensor lenses will be very poor in zoom (only usable for part of the range) and be completely useless for primes.

Clearly, one's opinion should be respected. That said, it should be noted as an opinion and not a stated like a fact. While it is true that Nikkors are excellent lenses by-in-large, but if you are shooting Fuji, Sigma, Pentax, or older Kodak DSLR, the only "right" lens for each is by its manufacture only??

You might not like this but today, the world is an analog environment. Optics are also analog. It transmits light in various ways. It used to be that film captured the light and stayed in the analog world. Today, the only thing that converts analog light to digital reading is the capturing sensor. Each sensor has its own characteristics but many camera makers do not develop their own. Between Sony and Sanyo, they make the vast majority of DSLR sensors (most Nikon sensors are Sony's) so by your argument, we should be buying Sony lenses only....

MBP Mac OS X (10.4.8) Boot Camp/XP Pro

I wouldn't necessarily believe everything Ken says. Do a google for his name and you'll find a good number of individuals who would use some very colorful language in describing the quality of his reviews.

Are you saying that if Nikon adds feature X to their
cameras next year, Nikon lenses bought 4 years ago
will support feature X because Nikon knew they were
going to do it 4 years ago and designed it into all
their lenses way way in advance? (how did they test
it?)

I can buy that for perhaps a year window, but I have
a hard time believing ANY company can see that far
into the future on a fast changing field like digital
photography.

That is exactly what I am saying. Just look at the evolution of Nikon lenses, camera electronics and flash unit capabilities and the fine points of what works with what. It is easy enough to do the homework.

-Allen Wicks

LOL, what are you talking about...

That response has nothing to do with my post. I said nothing about optics quality, etc. I discussed electronics, not optics. What I said was:

"Modern Nikon/Canon DSLR photography electronically involves all (camera/lens/flash) parts of the camera system and each brand is very proprietary. Third party vendors can not predict what future changes will be, so that allegedly well-reviewed third party lens one buys today may not facilitate all capabilities of your next Nikon camera body or of your next Nikon camera flash unit."


That is fact, not an opinion. In fact modern capabilities of Nikon DSLRs are limited even on Nikon lenses predating the "D" series of the 1980s.

Many pros do choose to use various lenses that do not facilitate all DSLR/flash capabilities. That's fine. However this post is about someone's first DSLR and how they proceed with gearing up. As such, buying third party hardware will very likely limit DSLR options at some point and confound the learning process.

-Allen Wicks

Actually. I have made a decision. thank you for all
that have helped.
Here is the link
http://www.expresscameras.com/prodetails.asp?prodid=34
0720&start=1

thats the camera I will be getting with those 2
lenses. Anyone have any other idea of what lenses

I'd be very interested in how that turns out. Mostly because that site has EXTREMELY cheap prices for new cameras. Much lower than anywhere else (reputable) that I've seen. So naturally my scam radar is going off.

BEWARE
express cameras is a scam "grey market" bait and switch store

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Express_Cameras

http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/index.htm

check out number 20 http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/h0020.htm
you will most likely get burned

if you want real prices check out http://www.bhphotovideo.com

DAVE

"All else being equal (size, speed, ease of use in processing), RAW would always be preferable to JPEG.
Perhaps I misunderstand, but this sounds like religion more than good advice. Isn't this like saying, "All else being equal... manual exposure would always be preferable to automatic?"

I only use RAW in difficult lighting situations, like back lighting or white on black, etc. I've done magazine covers from high-quality JPEGs.

To me, at least, it is "preferable" to have more space on my card and less time in manipulation than if I clog it up with RAW files that then require post-processing that the camera was smart enough to do without my help.

Panasonic's DMC-LX2

Gives options for fully manual operation, takes excellent pics in Auto setting (has a Leica lens), and records in RAW if you need it.

To me, at least, it is "preferable" to have more
space on my card and less time in manipulation than
if I clog it up with RAW files that then require
post-processing that the camera was smart enough to
do without my help.

I concur with that statement when constrained by limiting hardware. As we upgrade workflow hardware, limitations of RAW reduce to totally acceptable levels. Then the benefits of RAW become well worth the effort.

E.g. my D2x shoots 400 12+ megapixel RAW+JPEG images on 8 GB CF cards, up to 20 images in 4 seconds, and uploads at 40 MB/s. After uploading, Aperture on properly equipped MacIntels handles large RAW image files just fine.

If I shoot with the D100 I often do switch back to JPEG Fine due to limitations of the camera buffer.

One never knows when all the benefits of RAW processing may be nice to have. A world class pic that you may want to make large art prints out of can happen at any time. E.g. I have a great pic I took with about 1 second prep time using the D100 of Paul McCartney sitting in with a local band in our small Lake Tahoe mountain town. I really wish I had the image information of RAW in that pic.

-Allen Wicks

Panasonic's DMC-LX2... has a Leica lens
But the best part of that is that it's a 4/3rds System lens. There is a growing collection of world-class lenses in this system that N/C can't compare with, such as a 7-14 (14-28 equiv) zoom, a series of f2 zooms, and several outstanding macros. 4/3rds lenses are smaller, lighter, and brighter than 35mm lenses. Sigma is now making them, as well.

Because the register distance (mount to focal plane) is so small, you can also get third-party adaptors for almost any other lens (manual operation only). So your legacy N/C (or other) glass can still be used on your 4/3rds body.

And because several camera manufacturers have signed on (with Olympus and Panasonic currently shipping), you'll have a variety of body choices in the future, instead of being "locked in" to a system, like N/C.

http://www.four-thirds.org/en/products/lense.html

The Panasonic DMC-LX2 is the 16:9 aspect ratio camera with complete manual control and RAW capability. It sells for around $420.00.

The DMC-L1 is the 4/3rds model.

Power Mac G5 2Ghz dual-core & 12" PowerBook G4 867 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

THANK YOU TAHNK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

Last night i was all the way to the checkout and then decided to put my MBP to sleep and order this morning. I have narrowed my cameras down to Canon Rebel XTi, Nikon D40, or even D80 so I decided to go to Best Buy to handle and make my final decisioon. I came home and decided to go to some forums to look one last time. And WA LA I found your post.

You are a life saver and I will go to a reputable company to buy.

...I have narrowed my cameras down to Canon
Rebel XTi, Nikon D40, or even D80

Individual ergonomics are essential, so do handle each camera before you make your choice.

You will never regret having gone to a reputable company to buy.

-Allen Wicks

Thank You!! I did and I really liked the D80. It felt good in my hands and since I am a extreme novice, it will give me the room to grow.

Any suggestions on lens combinations and filters?

thanks