Super Bright Lens?

[Olaf]

OK, it's that time again. Time to get a new camera. I have two digitals, an Olympus c-3030 and an Canon SD-300 Elph. The Canon is great because it's so small and I can just pull it out in a jiffy, but the picture quality isn't as good as with the Olympus. The Olympus is old, but it's been a good camera and I love the "super bright lens" on it. This has enabled us to take some decent pictures without a flash. Check out my post in this thread to see what I mean.

Thread

DH wants to go the Digital SLR route, because of our regular SLR lenses fitting, but I really liked my Olympus and I'm leaning torwards the C7070 wide. But, that Olympus is an older model and maybe there's something better out there that will give me that great lighting.

Input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

Olaf, I've personally used the C7000, C7070WZ and C8080WZ. They were all disappointing, not in picture quality (they are great, actually) but the AF in low-light condition is abysmal with C8080WZ being the worst. I used it extensively for a week and returned the camera. I gave the C7000 to to my SIL and eBay the C7070WZ within 1 month.

I am, admittedly, a Canon nut. So I strongly recommend Rebel XT or if you don't want Canon, get Nikon D50. Of course you'll need to buy the appropriate lens for them.

 

[Muushka]

We also do not use a flash for picture taking at the resorts. I had a Kodak DC4800 that took great non-flash pictures. I now have a Nikon D70s that takes even better non-flash pictures.

I guess what I am trying to say is that if you already know how to take a great picture, chances are the next camera you buy will also take great pictures.

If it were me, (which it was a few months ago!), I would go the D-SLR route. My DC4800 was a good camera (we bought it 6 years ago, when D-SLRs would require an additional mortgage), but I wanted to return to the SLR camera (my SLR film is 34 years old!!). I am so glad we spent the extra money on the D-SLR. Trust me, once you feel that first 'click' with NO LAG, you will be hooked.

 

[Olaf]

Goodie. This is just the kind of input I was seeking. I'm not a "digital" whiz, all I like to do is take pretty pictures. When we bought our Olympus five years ago, it was a bit pricey and top of the line. I've gotten used to it and I don't know what it is about that particular lens, but it really does do better than other cameras we've tried. It's much better than our Canon Elph, and we tried it out against friends and family member's cameras and it did much better too. Now it has some serious lag time, and I do get frustrated with the lack of a good zoom, not to mention it's only 3 meg pixels.

From what you've guys have said, it sounds as if the newer cameras would do just as well in the low-light conditions. DH is all for the Canon Rebel XT. We've read that our lenses for our Canon SLR camera will fit on the Rebel--I hope that's right.

Thanks so much guys.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

If your current Canon SLR lenses are EF mounts (1992 -- maybe even 1990 and newer) then they will definitely fit. I have some lens bought in 1992 and they all fit perfectly with my Canon dReb, RebXT, 20D and 5D.

 

[handicap18]

I was an SLR user from '89 to '02. Then I got a p&s digital (Canon S30) that I used almost exclusively for 3 1/2 years (only occassionally would use my Nikon N70). When Nikon came out with the D70 I started to have visions of a new camera, but it was just out of my price range. Then the D70s followed before the more affordable D50 was released. Right in my price range and it fit my 2 Nikon lenses. I'm now the proud owner of a Nikon D50. (for less than $700, though I did end up upgrading the lens to the one that comes with the D70 & D70s). Canon also has a relatively inexpensive dSLR. I went the Nikon route because that what I've using for 15+ years.

The ISO range on the D50 is 200-1600, shutter speed up to 1/4000th. If you get a fixed lens rather than a zoom you can find one with an f-stop up to 1.4. Nikon makes a 28mm, 50mm and an 85mm that fit this bill. The best zooms only go to 2.8 at the widest zoom. Just an FYI to think about.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

The ISO range on the D50 is 200-1600, shutter speed up to 1/4000th. If you get a fixed lens rather than a zoom you can find one with an f-stop up to 1.4. Nikon makes a 28mm, 50mm and an 85mm that fit this bill. The best zooms only go to 2.8 at the widest zoom. Just an FYI to think about.

Canon (and other lens manufacturers with Canon EF mount) also have many fixed lenses that goes down to f/1.4 and also zoom lens with a fixed f/2.8 all across the range (70-200).

I personally use the following lenses as my walkaround

Sigma 18-125 f/3.5-5.6
Canon 50 f/1.8
Canon 70-200L-IS f/2.8
Canon 24-105L-IS f/4

 

[Kelly Grannell]

Forgot to mention. Canon also have:

85 f/1.2
24 f/1.4
35 f/1.4

But the "problem" with these bright lenses you'll have very shallow DoF. For my personal taste, I strongly recommend f/4 for 90% of my shots

 

[Olaf]

Thanks for the info on the lenses, Kelly. I think I'll take them with me when I head to the camera store. I'm not sure when we bought them.