What SLR do I need

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What DSLR do I need

So much to chose from regarding digital DSLR camera's .
basically what DSLR camera do you think! is the same resolution as 35MM slide film (transparencies).
This was the only format commercial libraries would except when I
submitted wild life pictures to libraries many years ago.
 
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The three cheapest digital full frame (35mm) cameras are the Canon 5D, Canon 5D MKII, and the Nikon D700.

All 3 of these will run you from 1800 to about 3000 depending on if you buy new or used and where you buy from.

I personally shoot with the Nikon D700, but both brands are great. It just depends on what feels right in your hands.
 
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The three cheapest digital full frame (35mm) cameras are the Canon 5D, Canon 5D MKII, and the Nikon D700.

All 3 of these will run you from 1800 to about 3000 depending on if you buy new or used and where you buy from.

I personally shoot with the Nikon D700, but both brands are great. It just depends on what feels right in your hands.

5D Mark II is gangsta.... when i get 2k i can blow it will be mine.. 21 mega pixels and 1080p Video ... i love Canon... but my dad is a pro photographer and he uses Nikon

but like that the great phototini said, when you are looking at the these two brands you have to see what feels good in your hands and what menus you like.
 
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he wants a full frame camera though the D40 crops the image 1.5x
 
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5D Mark II is gangsta.... when i get 2k i can blow it will be mine.. 21 mega pixels and 1080p Video ... i love Canon... but my dad is a pro photographer and he uses Nikon

but like that the great phototini said, when you are looking at the these two brands you have to see what feels good in your hands and what menus you like.

Haha, yeah that MK II is a sweet camera, the 21 mega pixels is way more than I or most photographers need though. But it's always nice to have more room for enlargement than not enough. The video is another SWEET feature it has, I have seen some video's done with it and I must say I was amazed it came from a still camera.

The downside, well for me personally is the layout of the function buttons and dials. I am just not comfortable with the way canon lays their camera's out. I also am not a big fan of the menu system, although they did do a much better job on the MK II's menu system than on the old 5D.

I started out a canon shooter, mainly because I needed the full frame sensor of the old 5D, and Nikon did not have a full frame in my price range at the time. But once the D700 came out I went and looked at it, and after about 10 test shots in the camera shop. I traded all my canon gear in on the D700 and two lens'. And I have never looked back.

The camera is nothing but a tool to help you recreate your creative vision. No camera or brand of camera is going make you creative or take good pictures. A good fundamental knowledge base of photography is necessary to take your vision and turn it into what you want others to see.

From the OP's post it sounds like he has the basic knowledge at least from back in the film days. But this post was made in general terms for anyone looking at SLR cameras.
 
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no doubt.. i wasnt saying to pick the Canon.. but i really like the 5D.. and i like canons layout as well.. these are all just personal opinions anyways though.. he just needs to go out and look for himself.

like i said my dad uses Nikon.. we have long convo's on this topic.
 
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I like Nikons but either the D700 or the new 5DmkII/5D will do for an intro full frame digital. The the OP's question isn't what Full Frame Digi to get though.

He wanted a camera that
is the same resolution as 35MM slide film (transparencies).
Cropped cameras like the D300 and 50D both in High JPEG output at over 4000 dpi wide which is close to what a good scanner can get you from a slide but depending on the scanner. Both are solid Magnesium body cameras and are relatively cheaper on ebay (where he got his mac) than the D700 and 5D/5DMkII.

I want the D700 myself cuz I like the Nikon system and how their cameras feel and want a full frame. I would get a 5DMkII for this reason+++ and this +++ maybe. =0)
 
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thanks guys for input, just to let you know my old film camera SLR was a Canon EOS 1N which was pretty much top of the range back then , out in the field if I got every thing right using slide film, the resolution was good enough for a magazine cover ,
so I'm kind of used to my way around the canon and like the size,
I would like to get back into the hobby and have recently been looking at various camera mags firstly at canon systems but the camera that seems to have caught my interest is the nikon D300 always good reviews and I think it's about 2 years old now ,so I could possible pick one up within my budget,

I think CameraMike may have just sealed it for me.
 
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what is new to me is the difference regarding full frame and cropped frame
something i'll have to learn a little more about .
 
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what is new to me is the difference regarding full frame and cropped frame
something i'll have to learn a little more about .

The difference is pretty simple once you take a closer look at the two. A crop frame sensor like that of the D300 or 50D ect.. put a 1.5x crop factor on the image. So lets say you have a 50mm lens on the D300, when you look through the view finder you are seeing the same thing that a full frame (35mm sensor) would see using a 75mm lens.

So in short the camera body is building in a 1.5x zoom over a standard 35mm size sensor.
 
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Photoini;. sinking in to the grey matter, if we used a tripod your D700 & my imaginary D300' both using the same 50mm lens, all same setting's etc.
then took a pic of the same image then put both pictures into photoshop 'side buy side what difference will I see would it just be a slightly cropped image to your's.
 
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Photoini;. sinking in to the grey matter, if we used a tripod your D700 & my imaginary D300' both using the same 50mm lens, all same setting's etc.
then took a pic of the same image then put both pictures into photoshop 'side buy side what difference will I see would it just be a slightly cropped image to your's.


Exactly, as long as the settings are neutral to both camera's. Same low IS0 IE:200 same aperterture of F/8 and same shutter speed of 1/125 your image would be a tighter crop. (much tighter actually)
 
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thanks Phototini that's helped me out a lot ,
 
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thanks Phototini that's helped me out a lot ,

No problem Chavie, if you are just looking for a camera that will give you good resolution specs most all high end point and shoot and lower end prosumer DSLRs will give you that.

But if you are serious about photography and plan to make it more than just a hobby I would recommend having at least one full frame body in your arsenal. I have the D300 as a back up body and it is a GREAT camera, and I use it a lot for nature stuff because the crop factor gives me a little more focal length to my lens'.

But for my portrait work I always use the D700 because I really like shooting with prime lens'.
 
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Get a Nikon EM or FG! :)
 
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Do you still have any lenses? The Canon digital cameras are use the EOS system of lenses and will natively fit EF and EF-S lenses depending on the camera.

Full frame cameras generally will provide you with better noise handling (You can select the ISO on the fly, kind of like having the ability to change film each time you take a photo), with some cameras going as high as 25,600 with actual usable ISOs of 6400.

They also have a shallower DOF when compared to a crop camera at the same field of view.

They're generally considered to have better image quality over all, the down side is the price. For something like a used Canon 5D for about $1400, you're only getting about 3 frames per second shooting, and a very bare bones camera. For $600, you could get something like a used 40D that shoots at 6.5 fps, you'd just have a crop sensor to deal with.
 
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the 50D does 6.3 fps and has a few little better options than the 40D but it is $1400 as well as 1/8000 shutter speed
 
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the 50D does 6.3 fps and has a few little better options than the 40D but it is $1400 as well as 1/8000 shutter speed


The XXD series and up all have at least 1/8000 shutter speed.
 
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do you have any Canon lenses still re:Quote Village Idiot,

no I sold the lot with the Camera going though lean times back then, had some cracking lenses, prime 300mm ; my favorite a prime 100mm it took really sharp pics , and various others, if I still had the lenses would not hesitate to buy a canon body thanks for your interest,

although I do have a couple of Nikon F mount lenses never used them would these fit the new nikon DSLR D300 OR D700.
 
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the camera that seems to have caught my interest is the nikon D300

I think CameraMike may have just sealed it for me.

Your welcome.

The D300 rocks, Chavie. I'd like to get one of those too but the D700 will be the next DSLR camera I get.

If your Nikon F lenses are manual lenses they will work BUT!! They have to be "AI" (auto indexing) type lenses, here is what I mean.
This may shed some light as well (With pictures even).

00KE2A-35337084.jpg
AI lens. A non-AI lens would be completely flat.

Non-AI lenses will break the metering tab on any new nikon camera body with a metering tab. There are some cameras like the F3 where it doesn't matter but that's a old school film camera/tank.

Here is a flickr pool dedicated to the idea of manual leneses on Nikon DSLRs. The pool is full of fanatics ;0) I am there.

ALL Nikon AF lenses with an aperture ring have an auto indexing type aperture ring. The newer AF-S lenses don't seem to have aperture rings but I haven't bought any new lenses in a while.

So, if your nikon lenses don't work at first on a D300 or a D700, that can be fixed.
 

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