Another choosing DSLR ?

[TiffanyK]

I've been wanting a DSLR for a while. Last night I got to play with a Sony A200 (I think that's what it was) with an 18-70 lens. I was surprised to find that I didn't really like it and here's why:
1. There was such a delay between the time I snapped a picture until I could take another one. I want to be able to shoot and shoot again right away.
2. The zoom on that lens isn't very much. I know I'll want a different lens.
3. I couldn't figure out how to turn the flash off and still have it set for macro shots. there is probably a way to do that and I just didn't have time to figure it out.

A few questions:
1. With a Nikon D40 would I be able to take pictures rapidly without much delay until I can snap again?
2. What kind of lens would be best to have a better zoom?
3. What kind of lens is best for macro shots?

thanks for any info you have. I've learned a lot from reading here on the boards.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I've been wanting a DSLR for a while. Last night I got to play with a Sony A200 (I think that's what it was) with an 18-70 lens. I was surprised to find that I didn't really like it and here's why:
1. There was such a delay between the time I snapped a picture until I could take another one. I want to be able to shoot and shoot again right away.
2. The zoom on that lens isn't very much. I know I'll want a different lens.
3. I couldn't figure out how to turn the flash off and still have it set for macro shots. there is probably a way to do that and I just didn't have time to figure it out.

A few questions:
1. With a Nikon D40 would I be able to take pictures rapidly without much delay until I can snap again?
2. What kind of lens would be best to have a better zoom?
3. What kind of lens is best for macro shots?

thanks for any info you have. I've learned a lot from reading here on the boards.

Just a couple of things on the Sony A200 that will be fairly applicable to all the cameras that you are looking at. The Sony is capable of shooting at 3 fsp in the continuous drive mode. Were you waiting for the picture to process on the screen before taking another shot? All DSLR's will take some processing time in order to display images on the screen, but that does not mean that you cannot take another shot. That will depend on the fps that the camera is capable of and the format you are shooting in for how many pictures the camera can process before the buffer fills up. The Nikon D40 shoots at 2.5 fps so just a touch slower but you probably wouldn't notice much of a difference.

There will be a place in the menu's on the cameras where you can turn off the flash.

Most kit lenses are short range zooms. I own an 18-250mm that is a great all around lens. With the crop sensors that most DSLR's have that is comparable to 27-375mm. I know that recently Sony has had a 75-300mm or a 55-200mm that you can add on to their kits for approx $50 for a very inexpensive long zoom option.

Good luck in your search!

 

[zackiedawg]

1. There was such a delay between the time I snapped a picture until I could take another one. I want to be able to shoot and shoot again right away.

As Kat mentioned, but I just wanted to verify, there is actually no discernable delay with the A200 to take another shot. In single frame mode, you can press the shutter button again immediately after pressing it the first time, and snap off another photo. You can do this in succession dozens of times, with the shutter firing immediately as you press the button. You also have burst mode option, which allows you to press the shutter button down once, and fire off shots at 3 frames-per-second for as long as you hold down the button. I've got the A300, and often shoot bursts of 20-40 shots at a time, in just a matter of seconds.

Two possible explanations - you may have inadvertently been full-pressing the shutter button in a low light area (like inside a store) and with the ISO set to 100 instead of auto...which would have forced the camera to try to achieve focus in poor light at the wrong ISO setting and thereby delaying the shutter actuation (this would occur exactly the same way with a camera from any manufacturer)...or the camera you were testing had a very slow CF card loaded in it which might have slowed down the write times, which would keep the little loading light on, and might have made you think you couldn't fire another shot yet (you actually can - the camera's buffer can hold more than one shot while the card loads). Really, most DSLRs should be used with a decent speed card - I use an Extreme III with mine which isn't even the fastest available...but lets me shoot burst wildlife and birding shots with no delay and no limitations.

2. The zoom on that lens isn't very much. I know I'll want a different lens.

Absolutely - I'd buy just the camera body if I were you, and pair the camera with the 18-250 lens Kat mentioned. I've got that lens as well, and it is a wonderful lens with excellent range and flexibility, and alot of zoom (approximately 14x). It can shoot from 18mm wide (which is equivalent to a 27mm lens on a 35mm film camera) to 250 tele (equivalent to 375mm on a 35mm film camera!).

3. I couldn't figure out how to turn the flash off and still have it set for macro shots. there is probably a way to do that and I just didn't have time to figure it out.

Actually, if it works anything like the A300, which I think it does, you simply close the flash and it is automatically disabled. You can shoot macro style shots to whatever minimum focus your lens provides (remember with a DSLR, you technically need to purchase a 'macro' lens for true macro work) without involving the fash.

1. With a Nikon D40 would I be able to take pictures rapidly without much delay until I can snap again?

Sure...all of the entry level cams are very good in this regard - all are far faster than P&S cameras and can fire with no delay between shots in single mode. The Sony Alpha, Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, etc DSLRs will all be just about equals here - differences measure in milliseconds. Don't worry about brands in this regard. As mentioned, in burst shooting, the A200 will actually fire more shots per second than the Nikon - though both are adequate for 80% of photographers unless you shoot for Sports Illustrated or National Geographic!

2. What kind of lens would be best to have a better zoom?

If you decided to go with Nikon, they have a lens similar to Sony's 18-250 lens - it's an 18-200 lens and seems to get quite good reviews as an all-around lens. It doesn't quite zoom as far out as the Sony, but has the same wide angle. Both would be much farther zoom than the basic lens you tried.

3. What kind of lens is best for macro shots?

A dedicated Macro lens. Whether it is a fixed prime lens, a zoom lens, etc, you'll want a lens that specifically includes 'macro' in the title or description. These lenses will have a 'macro' focusing range right on the focus ring, and allows them to focus in closer than most non-macro-specific lenses.

Best of luck!

 

[rutgers1]

Regarding the time lag in taking photos, I would guarantee that you were in an auto mode with the flash up. At least with my Nikon cameras (D70 and D90), there is a lag between photos if you are expecting a flash. If you go into program mode (Does Sony have that) or any other manual setting and then turn off the flash, BAM - you will get your desired result.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Actually, if it works anything like the A300, which I think it does, you simply close the flash and it is automatically disabled.

Ah yes - now I remember discovering that when I was playing around with either the A200 or A300. On the A700 you have to pull the flash up if you want to use it. At first I thought that was odd but now really like it. Closing the flash is a pretty easy solution also.

 

[MICKEY88]

Regarding the time lag in taking photos, I would guarantee that you were in an auto mode with the flash up. At least with my Nikon cameras (D70 and D90), there is a lag between photos if you are expecting a flash. If you go into program mode (Does Sony have that) or any other manual setting and then turn off the flash, BAM - you will get your desired result.

its quite possible that it was something as simple as shooting in low lite no flash and the shutter speed was long, which would also give what appears to be a long delay between pictures since you must wait for one to finish..

 

[TiffanyK]

Thanks for all the answers so far. They've been helpful.

Even when I was shooting with the flash there was a few second lag time before I could take another picture - or at least until the screen cleared and I could set up another picture. Maybe there is a way to set it up so that it didn't show you the pic you just took before you take another one?

 

[rutgers1]

Tiffany,

You said, "Even when I was shooting with the flash ..."

We are saying that shooting with the flash was the problem.

If you had the flash off, there are still other problems that could occur with any camera. If there was low light, or if you were focusing on something that was too close to the camera, the camera might have needed more time to think, especially if it wasn't on the right auto or manual setting. You'll only get the advertised frames-per-second speed if you are working in perfect conditions with the camera set the proper way.

I guess we are all saying that this issue isn't the camera's fault. Not to sound rude, but odds are it was your fault. It is nothing that you couldn't fix by getting to the know the camera a bit.

 

[TiffanyK]

Tiffany,

You said, "Even when I was shooting with the flash ..."

Sorry, I was pretty distracted with kids running in and out while I was reading the responses. That makes sense that the flash was the problem, but it was a low-light situation so using no flash was also pretty slow.

We are saying that shooting with the flash was the problem.

If you had the flash off, there are still other problems that could occur with any camera. If there was low light, or if you were focusing on something that was too close to the camera, the camera might have needed more time to think, especially if it wasn't on the right auto or manual setting. You'll only get the advertised frames-per-second speed if you are working in perfect conditions with the camera set the proper way.

I guess we are all saying that this issue isn't the camera's fault. Not to sound rude, but odds are it was your fault. It is nothing that you couldn't fix by getting to the know the camera a bit.

that doesn't sound rude at all. I've never used a DSLR before. It's actually good to know that it was a "user problem" rather than with the camara - that means there's the possibility of me learning how to use it properly and really be able to get the pictures I want.

 

[michellem1118]

Thanks for all the answers so far. They've been helpful.

Even when I was shooting with the flash there was a few second lag time before I could take another picture - or at least until the screen cleared and I could set up another picture. Maybe there is a way to set it up so that it didn't show you the pic you just took before you take another one?

Were you trying to shoot using the "live view" preview on the lcd screen? That will also slow things down while the camera thinks about how to display it. If you were looking through the viewfinder, you wouldn't notice this problem. And yes, you should be able to set it so it doesn't display the shot just taken, or any info at all for that matter.

 

[handicap18]

Thanks for all the answers so far. They've been helpful.

Even when I was shooting with the flash there was a few second lag time before I could take another picture - or at least until the screen cleared and I could set up another picture. Maybe there is a way to set it up so that it didn't show you the pic you just took before you take another one?

Sounds like you were using it in Live View maybe... with a dSLR the shutter lag between shots is less than 1/2 a second, for the current dSLR's on the market there really is no measurable amount of time as far as a human's brain is concerned. The shutter lag for the A200 is .088 seconds. If your saying it took a few seconds before you could take another picture, then the settings were way off or as someone mentioned the shutter was set for a long exposure or something else.

Also with the entry level and mid level dSLR's the flash AUTOMATICALLY pops up when you are in AUTO mode or most of the Pre-programed Icon modes. If you don't want that to happen then you need to shoot in Program, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority or Manual.

As for lenses, the 18-70mm is pretty standard for a kit lens, in fact its actually a little longer than most kid lenses. With SLR camera's the longer the focal length on the lens, the less image quality you get. The "best" lenses are usually only a 3x zoom, ie: 18-50mm f/2.8, 70-200mm f/2.8. True MACRO lenses are prime lenses, meaning no zoom. Typically MACRO lenses are in the 90 to 150mm range and are usually an f/2.8 lens. Thus making them on the expensive side. Zoom lenses that have MACRO capabilities are not full macro, the have anywhere from a 1:2.5 to 1:4 macro ratio whereas a prime macro lens will have a 1:1 ratio. Some example of 3rd Party Macro's (I don't know Sony/Minolta's lineup) are Tamron 90mm f/2.8, Sigma 105mm f/2.8, Sigma 150mm f/2.8, Tamron 180mm f/3.5.