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04/18/2003 02:44:47 PM · #1 |
According to my dad buying a 35mm SLR is a "waste of money". I was wanting your opinion on this. I'm 18 high school senior with a growing interest in photography. I was looking at the Minolta Maxxum 5. Whats your opinion on this camera and which SLR do you like?
Thanks,
Tony |
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04/18/2003 02:49:16 PM · #2 |
You mean a film SLR, right ?
It certainly depends on what you want to do with it. If all you want to do is take pictures and don't care at all about developing the final result or having much creative input other than working out what to point
the camera at, a 35mm point and shoot would be excellent.
If you actually want to learn about photography and do things like changing shutter speed, aperture or if you wanted to take photography classes/ darkroom type things, then a film SLR with manual controls is the best option.
Digital SLR costs a fortune (starts about $2000 for an entry level set-up) although you don't pay development costs. Film SLR is a lot cheaper (about $300 or less if you get second hand) and costs maybe $10 per 36 shots to buy the film and develop it. A lot less if you cut your own film and do your own developing.
This article gives a really good round-up of what your basic options are, and this one explains the options Based on what you want to do.
Message edited by author 2003-04-18 14:50:13. |
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04/18/2003 02:55:51 PM · #3 |
I don't think it is a waste of money but I do think you would be much better off going digital. Even if you could scrape enough money together for a used EOS D30 and say a 35mm f/2 lens I think you would benefit over the 35mm. The reason I say this is that you won̢۪t be so worried that each time you push the shutter release that you are spending $0.20 or whatever the cost is for film and developing. I think this leads to taking more pictures, which I think helps a lot with the learning process. Also you have the wonderful benefit of instant feedback which I find to be the biggest benefit of digital in the learning process. I have seen used D30̢۪s selling in the $700 to $900 range and a lens like the 35mm f/2 or 28mm f/2.8 can be had for $125 to $200 used. That̢۪s not a bad start at all in my opinion.
Greg
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04/18/2003 07:51:35 PM · #4 |
Originally posted by dadas115:
I don't think it is a waste of money but I do think you would be much better off going digital. Even if you could scrape enough money together for a used EOS D30 and say a 35mm f/2 lens I think you would benefit over the 35mm. The reason I say this is that you won̢۪t be so worried that each time you push the shutter release that you are spending $0.20 or whatever the cost is for film and developing. I think this leads to taking more pictures, which I think helps a lot with the learning process. Also you have the wonderful benefit of instant feedback which I find to be the biggest benefit of digital in the learning process. I have seen used D30̢۪s selling in the $700 to $900 range and a lens like the 35mm f/2 or 28mm f/2.8 can be had for $125 to $200 used. That̢۪s not a bad start at all in my opinion.
Greg |
This is very true, if you take enough pictures - as those linked articles say, if you only plan on taking 50 pictures a year, digital is really expensive. I worked out if I'd used film for the last 2 years I'd have spent over $5000 so digital is a whole lot cheaper and I managed to learn a bit in the process. |
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