Staying with my film SLR?

[chirurgeon]

Opinions please. I have a Canon AE Programable. 20 years old, in good shape. I have a 50mm lens, a 70-200 zoom and a 28-50 wide angle. I got a Fuji point and shoot digital 3 years ago, only 2.1 megapixels, but 6x optical zoom. I love using digital, but I miss the joys of SLR photography. I am thinking of getting the Canon Rebel XT, but it is a substantial investment, since my present lenses won't work on the new camera.

Help


Thanks,
Kim

 

[Muushka]

You are singing my song chirurgeon. I have a 32 year old SLR (Spotmatic) and about 4 years ago we bought a Kodak DC4800. A pretty nice digital, but no SLR. My wish would have been to get a digital SLR to begin with, but the cost made this out of the question. We always knew we would get the digital SLR, but just waited till the prices came down. Well, when they started going under $1000 last year, we started paying attention and got our first D-SLR last month. Yes, it is a big investment and we had no lenses that would fit this new one. We figure another $110 for another lens and another $300 for the flash and the camera will be complete (for now ).

I am not one to say if you want it, buy it . But with the prices so reasonable on D-SLR and if you love photography, it is a no brainer.

And what a combo. Playing with the D-SLR, trying new things and being able to see immediately if you did it right! Yup, love that new camera.

 

[ndelaware]

EDIT: please see important info below!!

 

[Charade]

I would not recommend film to anyone these days. The digitals are getting better and better all the time. It's true that the initial upfront cost is high but when you take into consideration the film/processing/printing costs associated with film plus the instant reviewing of shots (and deleting the dogs), digital wins hands down for a very large portion of picture takers.

I would double check the compatibility of your old lenses. I know that you can put any "F" mount Nikon on any Nikon D-SLR (there might be one or two acceptions) but you will lose some to a lot of automation with older lenses. I was under the impression that only EOS lenses were compatible with Canon D-SLRs and that older Canon lenses won't even fit on the digital bodies.

 

[ndelaware]

I would double check the compatibility of your old lenses. I know that you can put any "F" mount Nikon on any Nikon D-SLR (there might be one or two acceptions) but you will lose some to a lot of automation with older lenses. I was under the impression that only EOS lenses were compatible with Canon D-SLRs and that older Canon lenses won't even fit on the digital bodies.

Charade, you are absolutly right. I have an EOS camera from 1987 which I considered 20 years old and it takes the EF line of lenses. So I was thinking 20 year old lense had to be an EF. I forgot the AE cameras took an FD mount lense. I was still using a Minolta at the time of the AE cameras.

 

[Geoff_M]

"Film", what's this "film" thing that you speak of??? Film is dead. Oh, there will always be some that claim that nothing can top the visual purity of film (just like a few still claim that LPs are better than CDs), but it's only going to be a matter of a few more years until a roll of 35mm film will be like shopping for a reel-to-reel audio tape or vaccuum tubes. AGFA will cease to exist by the end of this year, Kodak saw the light very early (though they had made several stumbles along the way) and is moving full-tilt-boogie in the digital world. Fuji's doing the same.

 

[WillCAD]

I have only been into photography since 1999, when I bought a Canon EOS Rebel G.

I resisted making the move to digital for quite a while, specifically because I could not find a digital camera that was in the same league with even a low-cost SLR. What changed my mind were several factors:

1) I had been scanning all my prints and then putting them away forever for several years, only dealing with the digital images.

2) I found a digicam that, although it is not an SLR, it has similar operating characteristics, modes, and controls - and takes wonderful pics.

3) I found said digicam on a clearance and got a great price.

My digicam lacked many of the toys and accessories of my 35mm SLR, but took pics that were far superior to the scans I had been making from my 35mm prints. Still, I missed the greater range of features in my SLR and I really missed the ability to buy a new lens, since the digicam had a fixed lens (eq to 35-200mm).

Last week I bought a Canon Digital Rebel (the older 6mp version, not the new 8mp XT). I have only shot a few hundred pics with it so far, but I am astounded at the quality of the images, the ease of use, and the range of features in my new camera. Yes, it was a large investment, and I am trying to sell my old digicam and my 35mm to pay for it, but I am sure that this camera will be with me for many years to come.

Chirurgeon, if you are really an SLR fan, and you are becoming a digital fan, bite the bullet, make a plan, and begin putting together a digital SLR outfit for yourself. Start with just the camera (I got mine from an eBay merchant for $600 with the basic lens) and a few memory cards, and pick up extra lenses and other accessories later, one at a time.

Any time you hae an old piece of equipment that still works great (camera, computer, car, TV, whatever), buying something new to get the newer features often seems like a terrible waste. But in the end, the upgrades are usually worth the price, and sometimes even save you a bit of money (no more film processing, better gas milage, etc).

 

[Magix]

Regarding the cost of going digital, just think of how much money you spend on 35mm film and processing now. You'll be saving all of that by shooting digital and, typically, printing shots from your computer. You'll have to buy ink and photo paper, but it will still pay for itself in the end. Because of the amount of slides I shot on a typical pro-racing weekend (with pro processing and duplicates), I realized my digital camera would pay for itself within 4 races! That made the decision very easy!

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Over in the UK, the big boys are closing their factories and even the photo developers are going bust.
With digital camers being so cheap now and the fact that every chemist (Pharmacy) seems to have a Kodak "print your pictures here", and the fact that all newspaper cameramen have gone to digital, killing the B & W film dead, it will only be a very short time until 35mm is very expensive and only available in specialised shops. The Dixons Group (a large Circuit city type shopping group) have announced that they have stopped selling 35 MM cameras in their stores.

 

[chirurgeon]

For all the replies. I see a Canon Rebel XT in the near future. Now I just have to decide where to buy it.

Kim