spec me a DSLR

right ok, I really want to take some light trails etc, are the shots with the water going over the rocks taken in the same way, so the water looks like fog?
 
usually you can get a cable release with a locking switch so that you don't have to physically hold the release down for all of the time.
Not being a Canon user though I'm not certain that the 350D has that option although I would expect it to.

The shots of water that looks like fog are usually taken with ND filters to allow for longer exposure in good light (they cut down the amount of light to the sensor/film).
 
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right ok, I was looking at my dad's old me super that I've got lieing around and I Think thats got one on the bottom its this little spring loaded pin that goes into the camera body
 
Ive been playing with my physics teacher's d40 and it seems really good, he said the only drawback is something to do with not having an internal motor or something for the lens, if anyone can expand on that??
I played with the normal kit lens which was ok then I had a go with this other lens because I asked him about different apertures, and he put on this other one which spinned round when you pressed the shutter button half way for focusing, it was really short and had no zoom what kind of lens is this?
he also offered it to me for 250 with the kit lens, I dunno whether to go for it as I dunno about how long it takes for a shutter to wear out as he uses this camera a lot.

thanks
collisster
 
collisster said:
Ive been playing with my physics teacher's d40 and it seems really good, he said the only drawback is something to do with not having an internal motor or something for the lens, if anyone can expand on that??
I played with the normal kit lens which was ok then I had a go with this other lens because I asked him about different apertures, and he put on this other one which spinned round when you pressed the shutter button half way for focusing, it was really short and had no zoom what kind of lens is this?
he also offered it to me for 250 with the kit lens, I dunno whether to go for it as I dunno about how long it takes for a shutter to wear out as he uses this camera a lot.

thanks
collisster
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The D40 doesn't have an internal focus motor, so relies on the lens having a motor for autofocus. This limits you to Nikon AF-S and AF-I or Sigma HSM lenses. Other lenses will work, but won't autofocus. I don't see this as a huge problem at all, but other people do. Something to keep in mind though.

As for the lens. No zoom = Prime lens. Prime lenses tend to be sharper and faster (wider maximum aperture) so have the best image quality at the cost of not having zoom. Most of my lenses are prime lenses and I don't think the lack of zoom is a huge deal at all.

One think you might want to check is how many shutter actuations the camera has gone through. You can use a progam called Previewextractor to check this on one of the image files from the camera. I think you are looking at 50,000 actuations on a camera like the D40 as the average mtbf.
 
Messiah Khan said:
Other lenses will work, but won't autofocus. I don't see this as a huge problem at all, but other people do. Something to keep in mind though.
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These are the people that see the inability to auto-focus on three or four semi - popular lenses out of a range of dozens and dozens some kind of huge hindrance.

The only lens you would really miss out on is the 50mm f1.8 and maybe the Sigma 70-300 APO

collisster said:
thanks messiah, whats mtbf? how much would a prime lens like the one I used today be ?

thanks
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Mean time between failures.

Primes will cost anywhere from £70 for that 50mm I just mentioned (which wouldn't autofocus) to several thousands for the big 500mm primes. Price will vary with lengths and apertures, generally.
 
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There is quite a high chance by your description that the lens you used is the Sigma 30mm f1.4 Was it short and fat? If so then you are looking at about £280ish.
 
collisster said:
yeh it was very short, it had gold/yellow writing on it marking out the apertures
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Hmm, not sure which it as then.

collisster said:
can you adjust apertures using the kit lens? because I couldn't see how to it only had one turning bit to zoom
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Not on the lens you can't. To do that you need lenses with aperture rings (Which are increasingly being left off new lenses) But you would normally do it on the camera.
 
I am in the same position as the OP and was advised to get a second hand D50 as it is a better camera than the D40/Whatever-Canons-Option-Is.
 
yh I'm also considering the canon 350d, if anyone has a bit more info I can understand about this I'd appreciate it, does it have the internal motor?, an equal or better range of lenses than the nikon? does the kit lens come with adjustable apertures?
edit : I found an old pentax me super with a lens that has aperture rings on it can I put that on?

thanks
 
dont worry about having an aperture ring on the lenses, you dont need them for anything anymore, hence the lack of them on anything designed recently. ALL lenses have adjustable apertures, you adjust them via the camera controls.

When you put them on DSLRs you generally have to lock them to one end of the scale and leave them there for the camera to function anyway.

pentax lenses wont fit canon or nikon without an adaptor and often with those you lose autofocus.

350D will autofocus with any canon mount lens that is autofocus enabled (ie. not 46 years old)

the D40(x) is the only nikon that has the autofocus 'issue' and it'll only preclude you from a couple of lenses, as i said earlier...
 
ah right thanks very much this is kinda urgent but a guy off ebay is willing to let me take his D50 for 250 with kit lens? is this a good deal? is the 50 d made of metal or plastic?

thanks
 
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