Hey, I was originally trained with it, and I credit it for making me as familiar as I am with exposure techniques and the ins and outs of photography.

I still prefer it, hands down. I make my shots count; it irks me when people go shoot concerts and brag that they shoot 800 shots, only for 10 to come out. I can shoot a 36 exposure roll and have 25-30 come out - simply because I am forced to THINK about what I'm doing and really compose.

I've played with the Sony Alpha A100 DSLR quite extensively, and thanks to its lackluster high ISO performance (and lack of 3200), I am throughly turned off. Unfortunate misuse and poor adaptation of the Minolta Maxxum mount. I also enjoy TTL-OTF (through the lens, off the film) flash metering; you don't get that on digital, I do believe a pre-flash method has to be used.

When most people are moving towards digital SLR technology, I'm actually going the other way around. I'm looking for a nice manual focus film body to compliment my existing AF setup. It isn't really that expensive either, for about $100 US I was able to get a NICE Minolta 700si with vertical grip - a camera released in 1993 whose function, I say, rivals that of the current day prosumer Canon 20D/30D and Nikon D80 range. I can put the rest of the cash into GOOD film. Digital, the investment is all up front and you're dealing with equipment that'll be relatively obsolete in 3-4 years.

ps: my sig = shot on film, quite a long time ago however on not so great film: Kodak Gold 200

[quote="Bonneville94V688"]Ahh darn. Well I noticed it doesn't do sound anyways, and that'* one of the features I need.

How about a HP?
HP Photosmart 5.0-Megapixel Digital Camera M425
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1134702943653[/quote

Almost everybody here seems to have missed the boat (or point) you want to spend 1 C note .............But that always happens here it seems when cameras are the subject. Everybody goes off on wish list or bragging tangents about ones way out of the range your thinking.. I have that HP camera and love it. The software that came with it is quirky but i dont use the software....big deal. Great camera for the price. And dont regret buying it. Do a search of my pics in Your ride section and you can see the great resoloution for the price. Auto setting and zoom work great.

Well, I chose the HP Photosmart M425 5.0 MP. Nice camera, and has just what i wanted.

I'm not sure where a digital camera compares to a 35 mm film camera in regards to picture qualitly. I must say though that I use my digital a lot more than the Nikon 35mm since I can delete all of my mistakes. Heck repinS can take better pictures with my Nikon than I can and when they do come out, it sure take a great picture.

Sure, If your interested in doing photography the old way, I'll sell one off to you. PM me and let me know. I have an AE-1 and a AE-1 Program. Both have been overhualed by Green'* Camera Tech in Daytona Beach. Take your pick.



[quote="Maymybonneliveforever"]What the heck is an AE-1, what you think I'm an Engineer or something. {/quote]

Oh dear. I guess I really am "old"... I learned on an Asahi Pentax from the late 1950'* (Dad was stationed in Japan with a photo-recon squadron, picked it up there and brought it home.)

The Canon AE-1 ("AE" stands for Auto Exposure) was one of the first crop of cameras with built-in exposure calculations. You dial in the film speed, set it to program, and it will take the light meter reading and set shutter and aperature. It also the ability to go manual on both the shutter and the aperature as well. While most camera shops will not rebuild older SLR'* anymore, Nikons F and Canon AE cameras are still worth rebuilding as they are quite common and durable.

In terms of digital quality, you get down to the grain. At about 6 million pixels per frame, you have the same resolution as a fast 35mm film (like ASA400). If your optics are good quality and well focused on the CCD, a 6mp digital SLR is a fair match to a good 35mm with fast color film. When the digitals get up over 10mp, they will be a match for an excellent 35mm with really slow color film or Tri-X Pan B&W film. Anything over that, and your digital picture starts matching the grain of the larger format film cameras.

There are a few things I don't like about the Canon Digital Rebel. It'* white balance is crazy (and I've tried calibrating it per the manual) and it'* auto-focus sometimes catches me off guard (it sometimes picks the wrong part of the frame to focus on.) Still, it takes good shots, accepts both long lenses and diopters, and can go manual on aperature, which are the features I use the most anyways.

I agree. You can get a Canon EOS-1 (film) with features that blow away the Canon EOS 1D(x). Film cameras still have the best stuff.


Agreed about the white balance. It has a mind of its own. That'* when Photoshop comes in handy.

When it'* in full auto-focus it can get difficult. That'* why I use center point focus. The auto-focus is dependent on the lens usually too. My 200mm L-series lens has insanely accurate focus, while my zoom lens may take a couple tries to get it where I want it. However, the digital image makes focus much more sensitive because you can blow up the picture on the comptuer rather than looking at film, so a small mistake is easily seen.

Quick sample pic. This one I just poked my head out and snapped a pic of the snow and Fiero. I like it. How many GMs do you see?

Is that a cranberry Olds 98 I see there?

Yes it is, and yes the ELC is leaking. It'* a '94 and I helped them fix it one time.