Senn20
500+ Head-Fier
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- Sep 5, 2005
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Today I stopped by Circuit City to check out some digital cameras. As I've always been a film shooter with operating a full manual camera with spot metering up until now, this was an interesting experience. These are just a few initial impressions.
First came the Nikon D80 with 18-135mm kit lens. The batteries in the SB-600 speedlight were dead and it couldn't be removed due to a theft deterrent device. I had to shoot at ISO 1600 with a shutter speed of 1/80 because the on board flash doesn't work with the speedlight mounted. So really, I didn't get to see what this camera was capable of.
The viewfinder was big and bright despite the poor lighting and relatively small apertures of the lens. At first I was confused because I couldn't get the lens to focus, when I realized that the diopter was way off. That fixed it.
I didn't have a card for the camera so it was stuck in demo mode which cut off some of the settings and features.
Very comfortable to hold. MUCH MUCH quieter in operation than my old Pentax which made a "CHICKRRRRAAAANNNNNGGGG!!!!!!" sound every time I depressed the shutter button. Faster too. The Pentax had a continuous rate of about 1.2 frames per second, no kidding. Although not as fast as the D200 at 3fps instead of 5, it still seemed lightning quick in comparison.
I liked the 18-135 quite a bit. The zoom range was very nice and having the focus ring right next to the body is a godsend. On my Pentax lenses I always had to grab a tiny ring at the end of the lens to focus. Autofocus was pretty fast for a kit lens, though maybe a little slow for sports.
That's about all to report on without getting a good audition in.
Next was the Canon Digital Rebel XTi. Couldn't power up. In fact, more than half of the cameras on display there couldn't. Good ergonomics, almost on par with the Nikon D80. Very slightly smaller viewfinder. Kit lens sucked. Nice rubber grip, but felt cheap and had a tiny focus ring at the front element of the lens. Zoom felt sloppy. The control layout looked pretty good. With a better lens this could be a very capable camera.
The original Digital Rebel XT feels plasticy. It has a tiny grip. Don't think this one powered up either but I didn't bother because the grip was too small. Save up your coins and buy the XTi instead if you're going Canon.
The Sony A100 has crap ergonomics. Feels boxy and has a really weird shutter button location. The front scroll wheel is where the shutter should be. Anti-dust and IS wouldn't be enough for me to choose it over the Nikon or Canon offerings. If I recall correctly this camera also lacks the full color histogram of the Nikon D80 in lieu of a simple luminance histogram, which is next to useless in many situations.
I wish I could have compared the Nikon D80 and the Canon XTi more thoroughly but of course one both were crippled in one way or another.
I also checked out the Canon PowerShot SD630. Much more comfortable to hold than it's teeny tiny sibling the SD600, although my thumb tends to rest on the far right of the lcd instead of the rear control area. Fairly quick zoom, but shutter lag was pretty bad, which you'd expect coming from an SLR user. I'd consider purchasing this one if I were in the market for a pocket camera.
First came the Nikon D80 with 18-135mm kit lens. The batteries in the SB-600 speedlight were dead and it couldn't be removed due to a theft deterrent device. I had to shoot at ISO 1600 with a shutter speed of 1/80 because the on board flash doesn't work with the speedlight mounted. So really, I didn't get to see what this camera was capable of.
The viewfinder was big and bright despite the poor lighting and relatively small apertures of the lens. At first I was confused because I couldn't get the lens to focus, when I realized that the diopter was way off. That fixed it.
I didn't have a card for the camera so it was stuck in demo mode which cut off some of the settings and features.
Very comfortable to hold. MUCH MUCH quieter in operation than my old Pentax which made a "CHICKRRRRAAAANNNNNGGGG!!!!!!" sound every time I depressed the shutter button. Faster too. The Pentax had a continuous rate of about 1.2 frames per second, no kidding. Although not as fast as the D200 at 3fps instead of 5, it still seemed lightning quick in comparison.
I liked the 18-135 quite a bit. The zoom range was very nice and having the focus ring right next to the body is a godsend. On my Pentax lenses I always had to grab a tiny ring at the end of the lens to focus. Autofocus was pretty fast for a kit lens, though maybe a little slow for sports.
That's about all to report on without getting a good audition in.
Next was the Canon Digital Rebel XTi. Couldn't power up. In fact, more than half of the cameras on display there couldn't. Good ergonomics, almost on par with the Nikon D80. Very slightly smaller viewfinder. Kit lens sucked. Nice rubber grip, but felt cheap and had a tiny focus ring at the front element of the lens. Zoom felt sloppy. The control layout looked pretty good. With a better lens this could be a very capable camera.
The original Digital Rebel XT feels plasticy. It has a tiny grip. Don't think this one powered up either but I didn't bother because the grip was too small. Save up your coins and buy the XTi instead if you're going Canon.
The Sony A100 has crap ergonomics. Feels boxy and has a really weird shutter button location. The front scroll wheel is where the shutter should be. Anti-dust and IS wouldn't be enough for me to choose it over the Nikon or Canon offerings. If I recall correctly this camera also lacks the full color histogram of the Nikon D80 in lieu of a simple luminance histogram, which is next to useless in many situations.
I wish I could have compared the Nikon D80 and the Canon XTi more thoroughly but of course one both were crippled in one way or another.
I also checked out the Canon PowerShot SD630. Much more comfortable to hold than it's teeny tiny sibling the SD600, although my thumb tends to rest on the far right of the lcd instead of the rear control area. Fairly quick zoom, but shutter lag was pretty bad, which you'd expect coming from an SLR user. I'd consider purchasing this one if I were in the market for a pocket camera.