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fredrogers
Aug 29, 2003, 4:40 PM
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Registered: Aug 20, 2003
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I want to get a digital camera sometime but am not willing to get a sub-par piece of equipment that will be outdated in a few years. How many years will it take for digital cameras to be the same quality as a good SLR camera using top-notch slide film? Or should I say when will that camera cost under $500? Are we already there or will I still be using my current SLR for 5 more years?
Is 5 or 6 Mp with a good lens enough or should I wait till cameras are up to 15-20 Mp?
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biff
Aug 29, 2003, 4:50 PM
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Registered: Nov 5, 2001
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If you are used to shooting with a modern automatic SLR, you may not be happy with any of the "Digicams" avaiable .. the depth of feild, lack of lens options, High noise at higher ISO's, speed of autofocus, and other things will always be a factor in those types of cameras, If you are interested in replacing your SLR with a Digital SLR, you will probably be spending alot more than $500.
A digital SLR at 4-6Mp should be about equivilent to slide film in an analouge camera if it is printed up to 11x17, above that you will probably tell the difference between digital and the slide.
As far as price .. The canon Digial Rebel is going to be about US$900 and will be avaialbe in a few monts, but it is plastic, and probably isn't exactly what you want. A digital SLR made for Professional type use will always be atleast $2000 .. look at the Nikon f5, or Canon 1V film cameras .. they are about $1400, and then you always have to add your film costs ontop of that, so a Digital SLR based on those bodies at $2500 is reasonable.
So in short .. you can wait for ever if you want a professional Digial SLR for $500 .. (or buy a broken Used one) .. or you can buy a decent digital SLR for $900 in a few monts (canon Digial Rebel), and any Digital SLR will be able to produce Slide quality Prints up to 11x17 inches.
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alpiner
Aug 29, 2003, 4:59 PM
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Registered: Feb 23, 2003
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5 years is probably optimistic for getting that level of quality at that price. The Canon body that costs more than a car is there now but has major issues. The new Olympus DSLR system looks promising but will still be way above that price. Lots of technical problems with digital are waiting to be resolved: dust, lens design, battery life, storage....
But the current crop of better 5 MP cameras are good enough for many applications and not too far from that price. If you aren't selling to mags or doing slide shows, there's probably little reason to wait.
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renobdarb
Aug 29, 2003, 5:12 PM
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Registered: Feb 14, 2003
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Digital technology is moving very fast, and there are digital cameras out there that are, yes, better than film...
the problem therein is the price...
Canon EOS-1Ds: $6300
Nikon D1x: $3900
Nikon will soon release the ultra-sweet D2H, and I imagine that will run around $5000...
fortunately I'm a photograher for a newspaper, and it buys all these toys for me to use and play with...
but for someone without this luxury, i'd agree with the above statements that it'll be at least 5 years or so when there's a super high-quality digital SLR camera on the market for under $1500...
there are some hybrid point and shoots that have aperature/shutter speed controls, and they are really cool... that's probably your best bet in the meantime...
-brad
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