The OFfiCiAl SNow PhOtOgrAphy ThrEAd!

[bushpig 0]

I'm gonna have to go and actually have a look. But is it much heavier Thursday? I'm also gonna have a look at the canons (don't shoot me!)

 

Kuma I never use anything other than the p/a/s/m mode. Not even when others are shooting for me. I just lock it into p.

[Kumapix 0]

the d300 viewfinder is pretty good - 100% coverage!

 

I personally don't like the p mode on the d200. I liked it on the d50 though...but I didn't know jack then

[thursday 1]

D80 is 585g, the D200 is 830g

 

Noticeable difference.

 

And looking at other cameras is a good move. You'd appreciate the Nikon even more.

[thursday 1]

yeah and viewfinder 100% for D300 and 95% D200.

 

Bet you don't use P anymore.

[Yuki's Passion 1]

 Originally Posted By: thursday

BP,

when I picked up the D80, it felt plasticky. Then I picked up the D200 and it felt solid and built for its purpose. That did it for me.

price difference is huge though yeah?
Sorry to be the 100th person to ask but what do the two go for?

[bushpig 0]

kitamura lists the d200 at around 16 man for the body only right now. I am guessing that will slide quite a bit when the d300 comes out. I dunno about the d80.

[thursday 1]

Kuma's the kit man. He'll be able to get the D200 for much less now.

[bushpig 0]

Yeah, as I said, that's the listed price.

[contender 0]

I think D300 is a huge improvement over D200. First of all the new autofocus system is the same as in the pro model. great for action photography. The bigger buffer is needed when shooting action with raw. And finally with a CMOS that probably better will match Canons noise levels.

[Kumapix 0]

i got a d200 body for 128000 before the summer holidays for a friend

[AK 77 0]

That's still a good price now!

 

BP - If you want to upgrade to a D200, I might be interested in your D70 body (due to it's cost-cutting design it has the quirk of being able to flash sync at any shutter speed).

 

Damn, I wish I bought the mint condition FM2 that I saw in spring.

 

Time to switch from Pentax to Nikon, I think. In the UK Ebay is flooded with so many dirt cheap Pentax prime lenses - like less than 20,000 for F2.8 smc lenses, which are good lenses, but in Japan there are so many amateur film photo buffs that Pentax lenses are actually hard to get hold of. Nikon lenses seem to be the cheapest as there are most of them.

 

I took a few shots at a gig last night, but you'll have to wait till I finish the roll of film... and buy a scanner, ha ha ha!

[soubriquet 0]

>roll of film

 

Man, what century are you living in?

[AK 77 0]

 Originally Posted By: soubriquet

>roll of film

Man, what century are you living in?

Only Canon's full frame, 20 megapixel DSLR can beat a roll of Velvia slide film for quality, although I use it more because:

1) It's what I have. Photography is about taking pictures, which is done mostly in your mind, not by shopping for the latest equipment. I don't have anything against digital, (if someone wants to buy it for me!) but I want to master what I have before spending money on cameras that are more like consumer electronics that will be outdated in 2 years time, or less.

2) I like the learning process - take less pictures, not more, to get better results - think about every shot carefully and think why are you using the settings you are using? Film is expensive, so it makes you think. No tweaking settings in photoshop afterwards - learn to take better pictures instead.

3) I like the lack of extra controls - I am using a dial for shutter speed, the aparture ring and the focus ring, all manually and immediately hands-on, and intuitive. Nothing else. No need for a histogram or whatever to tell you if you got the right balance of RGB, or how much to under-expose off the meter 'cos the background is all black - use your brain!

I am not anti-digital, it is just different... but film is has it's vitues too.

[bushpig 0]

dunno if I'm gonna get rid of the D70 yet AK.

 

Will the D300 really be that much better than the d200??

[thursday 1]

BP, get it and tell us.

 

I'm thinking about ditching my D200 when the D300 can be got hold of at list price. Not likely this year.

[bushpig 0]

ha! Yeah right! At that price, I would take a lot of convincing!

[soubriquet 0]

Good answer. My redundant Pentax was the last fully mechanical manual SLR manufactured. I love it for its simplicity and ease of control. My Nikon is nice too, and I love being able to shoot and download.

[Kumapix 0]

 Originally Posted By: AK 77

3) I like the lack of extra controls - I am using a dial for shutter speed, the aparture ring and the focus ring, all manually and immediately hands-on, and intuitive. Nothing else. No need for a histogram or whatever to tell you if you got the right balance of RGB, or how much to under-expose off the meter 'cos the background is all black - use your brain!

yeah, but you only find that out 2 weeks later when you get the film back from the lab! You've got to make sure you write down your settings for every single shot so you can check how it turned out later. With digital you can dial in the perfect exposure by taking a couple of pics and checking the histogram. then when you're looking at your files later on, all the exif data is already embedded in the photo.

[thursday 1]

I'm still not using the histogram. Can't see the advantage.

[Kumapix 0]

how do you expose your shots then? do you just use 'p' mode?

[thursday 1]

No, I stict it on A and use matrix.

 

I look at the histograms but can't work out what they mean.

[thursday 1]

For those wondering about shooting raw, jpeg or both, see this comparison experiment

 

Raw v Jpeg

 

For me, the jpeg format suits my purposes.

[bushpig 0]

Ken Rockwell's preview (he hasn't got his hands on it yet) of the d300 has convinced me that the d200 is more than enough. Seems like the changes are not enough to warrant buying a d300 especially if you already have a d200. Things might change after he actually gives it a going over. But for now I am not convinced that I need to fork out that extra money.

[AK 77 0]

 Originally Posted By: Kumapix

 Originally Posted By: AK 77

3) I like the lack of extra controls - I am using a dial for shutter speed, the aparture ring and the focus ring, all manually and immediately hands-on, and intuitive. Nothing else. No need for a histogram or whatever to tell you if you got the right balance of RGB, or how much to under-expose off the meter 'cos the background is all black - use your brain!

yeah, but you only find that out 2 weeks later when you get the film back from the lab! You've got to make sure you write down your settings for every single shot so you can check how it turned out later. With digital you can dial in the perfect exposure by taking a couple of pics and checking the histogram. then when you're looking at your files later on, all the exif data is already embedded in the photo.

Like I said, I am not against digital - I am planning to get a digital SLR - and being able see your successes, or more importantly, your mistakes, straight away is a great tool for learning, especially for using flash(es) which increases the variable enough to give you a head ache and want to try trial and error instead of working it out properly.

But I do have to question, why do you need any kind of data read out to dial in your exposure? Surely you just need your light meter (let's assume in camera for now), obviously your Aparture and Shutter Speed controls, and your mental plan of how you want the picture to look? If it works you can see the results anyway on digital, is it because you can't see really until you get it full size on a computer screen?

[thursday 1]

ah, you're on about the histogram read out.

 

Most, like me don't know how to use that. We use the TTL metering and then set the aperture and/or shutter speed accordingly.

 

I'm lazy,I use A and set the aperture and let the camera give me the shutter speed.