Hey Jim! My 50mm is a Sigma and I do like mine too! I'll look at their 10-20mm. Thanks!

BTW, nice meeting you at AMVIV!

 

If there's not a statute of limitations then I'm in - F2 Photomic with Nikkor 50MM and 200MM lenses.

I've been looking at his site as I look at getting a D-SLR. He recommends the D40 and getting good lenses (eg 18-200 VR). I notice a few of you use the D40 - do you like it? Would you recommend it?

Other D-SLR users feel free to input too

 

I have a D200 which I love & just bought a D40 for a knock about camera that stays in my car. My D40 (body only) came from Cameta Camera via fleaBay fro $320. I like the D40, very light & easy to handle.

It all depends what you want. For me there are going to be times when I need more camera than the D40. That is when the D200 comes out to play.

 

I love my little D40 and it does what I need, but photography is just a hobby for me. There are some times where having more then 3 auto focus brackets would be beneficial and the ability of auto bracketing would be cool. Also if you your looking to get some inexpensive older lenses and want the ability to auto focus, then the D40 wont quite work for that.

I believe the lenses for the D40 will work with any other Nikon digital body and more of the AF-S style lenses are coming out from both Nikon and other companies, so if you decided to upgrade later on you wont have to buy some new lenses (which was a big thing when the D40 came out).

 

Did you go on the Mt. Charlston Run? If so, what was your car number?

Thanks!
Jim

 

I didn't go on that run. I had a surprise Saturday and needed to go buy new tires for the front of my car! Don't know if the damage happened on the Death Valley run or the drive up but I wouldn't make it home without them! Maybe next year I'll make that run!

 

My turn,
I have a D80 with an AF Nikkor 24-120 mm lens. I really like this camera and it's super easy to use, which i like.

 

Anyone handled this little puppy yet?
Nikon Coolpix P80

Looks cool for a point-n-shoot.

 

That does look pretty good. I've always thought there needs to be a separate name/class for cameras like that. They aren't DSLRs, but they don't have the crappy pinhole lenses that so many of the point-and-shoot cameras have.

And let's face it - with all their automation, modern pro/prosumer cameras can be as "point and shoot" as you want them to be, and even the cheapest "point and shoot" cameras have full- or partial-manual modes, so the distinctions are getting pretty arbitrary.

 

IMO that isn't going to be a great camera. A lens zoom lens that goes from 27mm all the way to 480mm in 35mm isn't going to be that great. The camera only costs $399 list. Although price isn't always an indication of quality.

If I wanted a nice portable camera that was more than the average point & shoot with near DSLR quality images I'd pop for a Nikon P5100 or a Canon G9. They're very good cameras, but they also have their drawbacks.

I think the term you are looking for Scott is bridge cameras. It seems like most camera makers are dropping them for fear they will cannibalize sales of their DSLR cameras. I'd class the P80 as a point n shoot.

 

I see your point, but when I think of a "point and shoot", I'm generally thinking about the ones that have 3X-5X lenses that aren't really good for either wide or telephoto shots, and with a maximum aperture in the f/3.5-3.6 range even wide open, so to gather enough light in anything other than full sunlight, they just bump up the ISO - noise be damned.

Of course I'd like to see some reviews and images from the P80, but at least 27-480mm equivalent is a nice range, and the extra 1/2 to 2/3 stops of aperture wide open is nice too.

 

Nikkormat FTN with NIKKOR 50mm 2.4 NIKKOR 28mm and a NIKKOR 200MM That my dad bought for me in Junior high school.

Yea, and I still use it.

 

If there was a fast lens on that P80 it would cost a whole bunch more. Point & shoot cameras have their place & many people are happy with them. I love my Canon SD1000. As far as auto ISO goes, turn it off. Especially on a small sensored camera like my SD1000. Man do the pictures get noisy quick if the ISO gets above 200.

 

Very nice camera & lenses. That camera is built like a tank.

 

Well, it's not super-fast, but f/2.8 at its widest setting and f/4.5 at full zoom is better than most of what I consider to be "point and shoot" cameras. I agree that if Nikon tried to put an f/1.8 or 1.4 lens on it, it would probably triple the price.

I'm really curious to see how the noise looks on the P80 at higher ISOs. Sure, it's nice *in theory* to be able to go up to ISO 6400, but with 10 million pixels on a *tiny* sensor (5.7x magnification factor), I bet it's going to be noise-sensitive as all hell.

Heck, my D50 only has 6 MP, spread across a much larger sensor, and I only use ISO 800 or higher when it's a "high ISO or I don't get the shot at all" type of situation.

 

Noise is a trade off like you've said, shoot high ISO to capture the picture the only way you can. It is nice to have that ability with a digital camera. In the old days you'd have to push your film & you ended up with a whole roll of pushed film even if you only needed a few frames pushed.

 

Yep - one of the many reasons I don't miss 35mm film. I firmly believe the only reason new photographers are using it at all is that the generation teaching the continuing-ed photography courses at the local community colleges grew up with it, and it's what they know.

 

^ + 1

 

I have to say, leaning photography using a film camera does teach you to be more selective. When all you had was 2 rolls of 36 exp you thought through your shot. You paid attention to lighting and composition.

Then it was hours in the dark. Working the negative. The smell of HYPO! Loading film reels in the dark! Who remembers "ferotype" tins!


I love this digital stuff.

Yea I know "When I was a kid I had to walk up hill 5 miles to school both ways in the snow, even in June"

 

I hear what you are saying Freddy & agree.

One of the things I love about digital is the ability to try things that I never would have attempted with film. I shot a lot of film, but always had a calculator running in my head figuring out how much all of this film & processing was going to cost me. Digital has set me free. Once the equipment is paid for it is basically free.

 

Well, if a new photographer wants to put the same kind of constraints on himself with a digital camera, all he has to do is buy a couple of 128 MB or 256 MB cards and shoot RAW - he'll be lucky to get 36 exposures on a card!

Seriously, even though a lot of people throw their DSLR on full-auto and shoot pictures like an A.D.D monkey with a machine gun, that's not an inherent drawback of the DSLR itself. If they want, they can put it on full-manual, break out the light meter and spend all the time they want with composition and lighting. The only thing you really miss with a DSLR is the actual chemical developing process, and I always thought of that as a necessary evil, rather than part of the artistic process.

 

Here's my first Nikon F. Purchased in 1973, still use it on occasion.



Oh! Almost forgot! I dropped this one in Lake Tahoe whilst shooting a model for a swimsuit calender! I filled a cooler with Lake Tahoe water, dropped the camera in, taped it up and delivered it to the repair shop. Since I had kept it wet, there was no chance for corrosion to set in.

Jim

 

I still have films in my fridge and the reels are somewhere in the garage collecting dust. If you think loading 35mm film reels is tough, you should try loading medium format films; somehow I always end up losing couple of shot because the film stuck together when I loaded it to the reel.

If it weren't for digital camera, I probably wouldn't have taken anymore pictures.

 

So did the film survive?

 

Never mind about my query regarding this point-n-shoot. After checking on Amazon I noticed it won't be available 'til the end of May. I was considering it only because my 32 year-old is going on vacation with her husband in a week and wanted to borrow one of my DSLRs. She's not the type to play around with lenses and such so I first thought of the G9 but noticed Nikon's announcement and was curious if anyone here had actually used the P80.

I might end up letting her borrow my D70 since I just ordered Sigma's 10-20mm for my 19 year-old who already has had her photography thrice exhibited.

(Not favoring one over the other since the older one is a social worker by profession and the teen is an art major with a minor in photo.)