Best Secondhand Buy?

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

"Steve Durbin" <stevedREMOVEUNDERSCOREANDW@v_a_l_e.dWeWmWoWn.co.uk>
wrote in message news:clrdan$ah0$1$8302bc10@news.demon.co.uk...
>
> Must haves are:
>
> SLR (duh!)
> A full manual mode for me
> A full auto mode for She Who Must Be Obeyed's snapshot use.
> At least a 35-70 equivalent lens (unlikely anything now on market can
take
> the existing lenses, so starting from scratch).
> Shutter speeds and processing speeds fast enough to manage a
reasonably
> quick moving subject (predictable motion - generally panned gymnastics
and
> the like).
> Price under 500UKP.
>
> Can anyone suggest a camera on the UK 2nd hand market that would fit
these
> criteria?

I did something similar at the beginning of the year and bought a Canon
30D on eBay for £470 (with 35-105mm zoom lens). It has both full manual
and full automatic modes as well as aperture priority, shutter priority
etc. I've been delighted by the results which included some panned
shots at the drag racing. However, my friend just offered me a 6-month
old Canon 300D at a very good price so I think my 30D will be appearing
on eBay this weekend!! :-)

Jj

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

peter@somewhere.ie (Peter Hirons) writes:
> Steve Durbin wrote:

>> I'm trying to get into serious digital photography having finally
>> given up on my aged stock of 35mm cameras (Canon A-1, Olympus
>> OM-1).
>>
>> Must haves are:
>>
>> SLR (duh!)
>> A full manual mode for me
>> A full auto mode for She Who Must Be Obeyed's snapshot use.
>> At least a 35-70 equivalent lens (unlikely anything now on market
>> can take the existing lenses, so starting from scratch).

> Nikon DSLRs certainly take existing lenses.

He is referring to his pre-EOS Canons and Olympus OM-1 lenses.
Those lenses doesn't fit on anything digital without an adapter.

>> Shutter speeds and processing speeds fast enough to manage a
>> reasonably quick moving subject (predictable motion - generally
>> panned gymnastics and the like).
>>
>> Price under 500UKP.

The cheapest digital SLR these days is the Canon 300D (known as the
"Digital Rebel" in the US of A). It comes in with a "kit" lens that's
18-55mm (~29-88mm AOV) - and you can use it both in manual and fully
automatic modes - so it fits your description. In the UK, brand new,
the kit costs 690 UK pounds (that's over your budget) - but in the
colonies, a brand new 300D/Digital Rebel kit costs US$ 770 after
rebates. That's 418 British pounds - so if you have a chance to buy
it stateside, and keep the VATman out of the deal, you can have it
brand new and still be within your budget.

As for second hand: You should be able to pick up the previous
generation Canon digital SLRs such as the D30 and D60 for a lot less
than 500 UKP (e.g. 250 UKP for a mint conditon D30). I just checked
eBay - and there is currently five EOS D30 for sale in the UK. The
only problem with these older models is that the autofocus could be a
bit erratic.

There is now a lot of used Canon 10D being put on the market, as their
owners are upgrading to the 20D. The Canon 10D is a very fine camera
- and mint condition used bodies go for around US$800 (433 UKP) in
stateside eBay auctions these days. In UK auctions, prices are higher,
so you'll probably to pay 600 UKP.

Another to look for in the second hand market is Nikon's entry level
dSLR D70. This is much more camera than the Canon 300D (more on level
with the Canon 10D), but it seems to keep it second-hand calue better
than Canon's models - so you might not be able to find it second hand
for less than 600 UKP. But if you do - buy it!

> At that sort of budget there are a number of fixed-lens SLR digis
> around - Nikon, Olympus and Fuji ones come to mind.

These are not SLRs (the "R" stands for "reflex", and all these uses a
continous video sensor instead of a mirror). Continous video sensors
cause shutter delays which that make them useless for action and quick
moving subjects - which the OP wanted to take.

> I have no personal experience of it, but the Sigma SD20 (I think)
> does 8Mp with a very clever sensor that gives an extended dynamic
> range.

There is no 8 Mpx Sigma SD20 (yet).

There is a Sigma SD10, which is 3.4 Mpx, has a severe moire problem,
and a very peculiar colour response. It is a complicated camera to
use (e.g. RAW only). I doubt Mrs. Durbin will like it.
--
- gisle hannemyr [ gisle{at}hannemyr.no - http://folk.uio.no/gisle/ ]
========================================================================
When you say you live in the real world, which one are you referring to?

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

In article <memo.20041114152536.2992A@softwell.compulink.co.uk>,
Peter Hirons <peter@somewhere.ie> wrote:
>In article <clrdan$ah0$1$8302bc10@news.demon.co.uk>,
>stevedREMOVEUNDERSCOREANDW@v_a_l_e.dWeWmWoWn.co.uk (Steve Durbin) wrote:
>
>> I'm trying to get into serious digital photography having finally given
>> up on my aged stock of 35mm cameras (Canon A-1, Olympus OM-1).
>>
>> I've already got a consumer-end (HP 2.1Mp) device but now want to move
>> up to something better - cash is a problem, so I'm looking at second
>> hand.
>
>I started with a Nikon E995 (3.3Mp).
>>
>> Must haves are:
>>
>> SLR (duh!)
>> A full manual mode for me
>> A full auto mode for She Who Must Be Obeyed's snapshot use.
>> At least a 35-70 equivalent lens (unlikely anything now on market can
>> take the existing lenses, so starting from scratch).
>
>Nikon DSLRs certainly take existing lenses.

Not his existing lenses, though (either for the A-1 or the OM-1)

For that matter, the Pentax DSLRs take all K-Mount lenses, and
the Canon DSLRs take EOS lenses. They're also somewhat more
available on the second-hand market; D-30s and D-60s are now
at least *two* models out-of-date.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

Petros <retepetiuqton@safenet.pl> writes:
> Gisle Hannemyr posted:

>> There is a Sigma SD10, which is 3.4 Mpx, has a severe moire problem,
>> and a very peculiar colour response. It is a complicated camera to
>> use (e.g. RAW only). I doubt Mrs. Durbin will like it.

> Hmm. First I've heard of a moire problem with the Foveon
> sensors. Could you be more explicit?

The Sigma SD10 does not have an anti-alias filter. This means that if
there is element in the subject with a spatial frquency close, but not
matching, the sensel pitch (e.g. a picket fence), you'll capture an
alias - known as moiré.
--
- gisle hannemyr [ gisle{at}hannemyr.no - http://folk.uio.no/gisle/ ]
========================================================================
When you say you live in the real world, which one are you referring to?

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

Gisle Hannemyr posted:
> Petros <retepetiuqton@safenet.pl> writes:
> > Gisle Hannemyr posted:
>
> >> There is a Sigma SD10, which is 3.4 Mpx, has a severe moire problem,
> >> and a very peculiar colour response. It is a complicated camera to
> >> use (e.g. RAW only). I doubt Mrs. Durbin will like it.
>
> > Hmm. First I've heard of a moire problem with the Foveon
> > sensors. Could you be more explicit?
>
> The Sigma SD10 does not have an anti-alias filter. This means that if
> there is element in the subject with a spatial frquency close, but not
> matching, the sensel pitch (e.g. a picket fence), you'll capture an
> alias - known as moiré.
>
Interesting. I've had staircasing in a (very) few of my shots where a
line crosses the pixels at a very shallow angle, but I've never had any
problems with moire. As I understand moire, it forms when a cross
pattern overlaps the sensors (or the raster in offset printing) and
most often is caused by thick warps/weaves in materials producing a
second "wave" pattern in the image that didn't exist in the original.
I'll have to find a bit of screen to experiment with.

--
Petros
Ap' ola prin ipirche o Logos

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

"John Francis" <johnf@panix.com> wrote in message
news:cn8mhl$49q$1@panix5.panix.com...
> the Canon DSLRs take EOS lenses.

EOS is a body, you probably mean "EF lenses".