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DPChallenge Forums >> Hardware and Software >> Did some shooting with my film SLR today.
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08/21/2002 10:14:20 PM · #1
On vacation on the Outer Banks, and took the kids down to the beach towards sunset for a few photos. Shot a roll of Portra 160NC on the Elan Eos IIE.

MAN! I had forgotten how sweet a nice camera and a real lens feel. I felt like I had total control over everything, as opposed to always trying to fit my subject/surroundings to my S40's capabilities.

On the other hand, some amount of NEW frustration was introduced into the equation, as I couldn't see what I was getting. Particularly towards the end of the session, with the available light diminishing, and shutter speeds slowing to about 1/30. I would have LOVED to make sure I wasn't getting any motion blur in there.

Anyone ever worked with like a Canon D60? Aside from the obvious things like shutter lag, is working with a high end DSLR comparable to working with a nice film SLR?
08/21/2002 10:19:31 PM · #2
You know, even with my Oly E-20, I was warned about shutter lag. Even though it is not a true interchangeable lens camera, it has excellent capabilities, and I love working with it! I haven't been effected by "shutter lag" or "slow write time". I'm not a sports photographer, so it has worked just as well, if not better, than my Canon film SLR. I do not miss film at all! I used to miss it a bit when I had my first digital camera because of the reasons you state above. However, this Oly d-SLR is beginning to feel like a part of me now!

08/22/2002 01:03:51 AM · #3
I'm finding the transition from our EOS Elan II fairly seamless, with the D60 superior in many ways. You won't find shutter lag a problem with the D60 (it doesn't exist), but I do get a little frustrated with the AF. Despite reports that it has been improved since the D30, it's still particularly bad under some conditions; I think it relies heavily on contrast changes for the AF to work well. We tend to shoot more aggressively with the D60, than the Elan, which is probably not all that unusual when moving from film to digital. Shooting aggressively normally wouldn't be a problem with the D60 unless you use the built-in flash. I've found that, at best, you can get about 8 shots off in 6.5 seconds after which the unit is busy for about 15 seconds (can't take more shots and can't access the menu). Even if you pop the flash down after the 8 shots, there's still a 5-8 second lag before you can continue shooting. All this is assuming you're starting cold, if the camera is hot (recently used with flash shooting in the past few minutes) then you'll get a flash shot every 4 seconds (for 8 shots), then the 15 second delay kicks in again. I suppose I should talk to Canon about it before I conclude it's a problem with the line itself, as opposed to just this particular one. If you do shooting without a flash, you'll get about 8 shots (the buffer size) in under 3 seconds and just under 1 second per shot after that (depending on your card type) while it moves shots from the buffer to the card. I'll probably be looking at picking up a 550ex this week, so I'll be checking if the problem persists with it.

* This message has been edited by the author on 8/22/2002 1:03:57 AM.
08/22/2002 05:59:48 AM · #4
I have a Canon Pro90 which I absolutely love, but... I have never got the same control of the autofocus as in my older film camera. Since there is no focus spot in the viewfinder I find it difficult to be sure on where the focus range is. And of course, there isn't much help in the LCD display - you can't really estimate from that if you have got the right focus or not. Are the high-end D-SLRs any better with this?

* This message has been edited by the author on 8/22/2002 6:01:21 AM.
08/22/2002 07:46:52 AM · #5
Well, ss, the D60, if you take it as an example of a high-end DSLR, is quite capable when it comes to AF: it has the standard 3 focus points (selectable depending on the mode).

Some people don't like that with some of these DSLRs, like the D60, you can't shoot using the LCD screen as a viewfinder.
08/24/2002 09:24:50 PM · #6
I just picked up the 550ex and found that problems with the built-in flash don't exist with the 550ex. Not only that, but with the flash in use, the AF mechanism is improved in those areas the D60 is usually lacking.
08/25/2002 06:08:25 PM · #7
The Minolta Dimage, (yeah I know it's only a prosumer camera)
has almost no shutter lag, if any... though I think the fastest you
will shoot is about 2 shots per sec unless to fire up the Ultra High Speed fuction.. which is 7fps @ 1024x768 any faster and you may as well shot a movie..

Anyway the AF is pretty good, though it gets it wrong sometimes.. esp in dark conditions... though the array of AF controls is excelent!
As for manual focus the 4x fucus zoom mode helps...
Also the point between macro and normal mode is half a meter, that can be confusing if you forget.. sometimes it almost focus's then goes out to infinty and gives up, flick the Macro button or move back 100mm and it gets it.

One thing I notice with it though is it's wieght... it's so light some reviewers have mistakenly thought it was all plastic when it has a Alloy frame. I could forgive them for it too.... I picked up my friends E-10 the other day after just handling my minolta, it makes E-10 feel like a tank! Probably a good thing since my friend has bounced it of the floor a few times.

As for the E-10 it feels a lot more like a standard SLR.. heavy ..
though I will note it's alot easier to change apature settings on the E-10 in Manual Exposure mode than the Minolta, which requires you to push a button with one hand and rotate a knob with the other... as opposed to the two dials "at your fingertips" on the E-10

As for output I'll take the Minolta any day of the week... shhh!!! don't tell my friend I said that.. he will have a fit! ;-)
09/18/2002 02:52:11 PM · #8
I would say that a nice DSLR is even better than working with a film camera.

I just moved from a Nikon F-80 (N-80 in the States) to a Nikon D-100
I feel like the proverbial kid in a candy store... I have shot around 400 pictures over the past two weeks. (300 or so were just test shots)
Basically it is all the good things from a film camera with the speed and convenience of a digital.

I the D-100 is almost exactly the same as the D-60 for features.
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