Author Topic: upgrading cam, what to go for?  (Read 2777 times)

  • Offline Alien8

  • Posts: 467
  • Sr. Member
upgrading cam, what to go for?
on: June 30, 2006, 12:57:41 PM
the other half keeps stealing my cam (pana lumix fz30) when ever we go any where, so Im using it as a excuse to get another ;)

but I cant decide which Im leaning to either a Cannon 350D or a pentax *st/K100 with my wallet or a Cannon 30D or the Sony Alpha ?100 with my hart

looked at the Nikons but they apparently dont like old manual M42 glassware and I dont fancy the 2x crop on the 4/3 mounts (but the panay D SLR still looks nice ;) )

any thoughts or recommendations on what to look at.

the types of pics I take can be seen by clicking the www button below

  • Offline Serious

  • Posts: 14,467
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
Re:upgrading cam, what to go for?
Reply #1 on: June 30, 2006, 17:06:07 PM
Dont blame her, the Panasonics are nifty cameras with plenty of capability ;)

Later Canon 350Ds can flip their mirror up so you can clean the sensor surface with a blower, not as nifty as sonic shake but start up is only .2 sec to compensate.

TBH my brothers 350D and my FZ20 complement each other very well, each filling in areas where the other has problems.

Also remember that unless you fancy paying something like £1750 for a 5D you arent going to get a full 35mm size sensor. the 350Ds means a 55mm lens is the equivalent of a 90mm

Hes now got an 18-55mm + 55-200mm Canon zoom kit with a 100-400mm Cosina for longer range stuff

Re:upgrading cam, what to go for?
Reply #2 on: June 30, 2006, 18:43:04 PM
I maybe biased, but to me its one of those duh  obvious choices ;) - gotta be a Canon really.

as for 350D or 30D Id be inclined to wait if you didnt want to fork out, as the 350D is ~18 months old and well... a better model cant be that far away, surely.

but the 30D hasnt been out long, and is indeed.. a lovely bit of kit (I imagine...  :lol: cant say Ive played with one but you can be 99.9% sure its awsome.)

  • Offline Serious

  • Posts: 14,467
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
Re:upgrading cam, what to go for?
Reply #3 on: June 30, 2006, 18:58:02 PM
The reviews I have read say the 30D isnt really worth the price difference

Re:upgrading cam, what to go for?
Reply #4 on: June 30, 2006, 19:08:13 PM
the sony looks good. :thumbup:

I use the Oly 500 and loving it tbh
At first i thought id made a bad chioce but knowing someone with the 350D im more than happy :D

  • Offline Alien8

  • Posts: 467
  • Sr. Member
Re:upgrading cam, what to go for?
Reply #5 on: June 30, 2006, 19:40:23 PM
Quote from: snellgrove
I maybe biased, but to me its one of those duh  obvious choices ;) - gotta be a Canon really.

as for 350D or 30D Id be inclined to wait if you didnt want to fork out, as the 350D is ~18 months old and well... a better model cant be that far away, surely.

but the 30D hasnt been out long, and is indeed.. a lovely bit of kit (I imagine...  :lol: cant say Ive played with one but you can be 99.9% sure its awsome.)


was kinda hoping that you and mongoose would be battleing to say why theres is best.

the 18 month thing is on My mind as cannon have tended to use an 18 product life cycle, but after the slight diff between the 20D and 30D I dont expect as big an update as the 300D to 350D, and unlss Nikon revamp there bottom 3 I cant see Connon adding to much at once


  • Offline Mark

  • Posts: 3,748
  • Hero Member
Re:upgrading cam, what to go for?
Reply #6 on: July 01, 2006, 02:11:25 AM
Im really coming round to this D2X, but it is a little pricey still.

It still doesnt have the edge (For me) over a proper SLR - but thats because Im set in my ways.

Re:upgrading cam, what to go for?
Reply #7 on: July 01, 2006, 15:32:20 PM
Quote from: Alien8

the 18 month thing is on My mind as cannon have tended to use an 18 product life cycle, but after the slight diff between the 20D and 30D I dont expect as big an update as the 300D to 350D, and unlss Nikon revamp there bottom 3 I cant see Connon adding to much at once


True enough,

when the sucessor to the 350D comes out, you can always get a 350D -cheap :D if there isnt a huge excuse to pay for the new one.

I am probably going to wait until the sucessor to the 30D comes out and fork out for that, as the 350D will be a tad old by then and Ill probably want something a bit better :P

Ill be posting a fair few pics up tomorrow, Im going to see the DTM at brands hatch :D

  • Offline Alien8

  • Posts: 467
  • Sr. Member
Re:upgrading cam, what to go for?
Reply #8 on: August 13, 2006, 00:36:42 AM
well I finaly got round to geting an upgrade, I went for the Sony Alpha100 DSLR, still geting used to it and RTFMing but from first impresions the B&W mode in cam combibed with the WB options give a good B&W+red filter effect & th e colours from it sem more vibrant,

Body feels well made but compared to the M42 lenses the plastic feels cheap, the Panny Fz30 feels more solid at thr  lens & the filter thread on the Panny being metal feels way better that the front of the 18-70(1.5 crop=28-105) lens, but so far im happy, going to get a M42 mount adapter then start collecting more glasware, but limiting my self to this lens to get used to the cam first

Re:upgrading cam, what to go for?
Reply #9 on: August 13, 2006, 10:28:53 AM
Argh nooo... Take photos in raw and colour! :)

Then you can develop a black and white from the original photo without the possibility of a cameras software causing a loss in detail, or an imperfect b+w.

Re:upgrading cam, what to go for?
Reply #10 on: August 13, 2006, 10:34:51 AM
Quote from: Alien8
well I finaly got round to geting an upgrade, I went for the Sony Alpha100 DSLR, still geting used to it and RTFMing but from first impresions the B&W mode in cam combibed with the WB options give a good B&W+red filter effect & th e colours from it sem more vibrant,

Body feels well made but compared to the M42 lenses the plastic feels cheap, the Panny Fz30 feels more solid at thr  lens & the filter thread on the Panny being metal feels way better that the front of the 18-70(1.5 crop=28-105) lens, but so far im happy, going to get a M42 mount adapter then start collecting more glasware, but limiting my self to this lens to get used to the cam first


good choice mate. get some piccies up  :D

  • Offline Alien8

  • Posts: 467
  • Sr. Member
Re:upgrading cam, what to go for?
Reply #11 on: August 13, 2006, 13:17:15 PM
Quote from: M3ta7h3ad
Argh nooo... Take photos in raw and colour! :)

Then you can develop a black and white from the original photo without the possibility of a cameras software causing a loss in detail, or an imperfect b+w.


the pic below was taken with a blue ish sky(and CP) and the only PP is to lighten(dodge)  the forground the sky is in untouched, to do that in PS tends to leave a glow around object hat while can be removed, its a pain. 2nd has a little angle correcton in PP but other wise untouched




Re:upgrading cam, what to go for?
Reply #12 on: August 13, 2006, 19:30:06 PM
ooo Sony Alpha, interesting choice. I believe that means we now have a more or less full set of the big DSLR brands on here!

cant wait to see more results, the Alphas look nice on paper.

Re:upgrading cam, what to go for?
Reply #13 on: August 14, 2006, 16:24:44 PM
Not familiar with anything by sony other than their normal home stuff, but going on that experience id say AVOID.

  • Offline Alien8

  • Posts: 467
  • Sr. Member
Re:upgrading cam, what to go for?
Reply #14 on: August 14, 2006, 19:30:02 PM
the only thing realy sony about it is the badge and ccd, and the CCD is used in the Nikon D200 the rest is built on Minoltas tech, can use all the old Minolta/Konicaauto focus lenses on the front  

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.