Nikon and Canon

[Cleophas]

Hi guys. I'm new here and am very glad to have found this forum. Very solid pictures and people

I see that both Nikon and Canon is VERY popular here.
I have started to learn about photography early in my teen years on a SUPER cheapo yashica fx3 SUPER 2000. Yup, that's what the SUPER stands for

Anyway I had been thinking of getting into the AF world for quite awhile. It's quite fustrating to stick to a MF system esp when shooting sports events and animals. I had been recommended to get the F55/F65 by my friend who runs a shop. These two models fit my budget well, but I am very ignorant about all their capabilities. Ofcourse, I'm open to other makes as well so if there are other models that is also in this range, please do recommend also.

My basic needs are simple. I'm hoping to find one that has er... manual overwrite? I mean like I can swith off the auto-stuff and use it like my old faithful when I feel like it. I love to fiddle with everything cause I feel more 'in control' when I do that, I dunno.
And hopefully the mount will be able to accept a wide range of lenses. So just the basic stuff.

Sorry if this post is too long. I'm really quite lost. I played around with my friend's F65 and F100 during our Ubin trip recently and have absolutly NO IDEA what all the 'extra' buttons and gizmos are for!! But then again, the F100 DOEs feel very SOLID

Recommendations please? Thanx in advance!! :gbounce:

 

[Richard]

Consider either the Nikon F80 or the Canon EOS 30 to start out. Since you're probably an advanced amateur, I'll recommend getting something that you'll grow into rather than getting something minimal and have to upgrade later...

 

[Cleophas]

Thanks Richard. I will look into this model. The erm.... 'grid' in the viewfinder is very tempting. Any idea is it the same grid we use when learning about the law of the thirds? :gbounce:

 

[ziploc]

Hi Cleophas,

If you don't mind used equipment, I happen to have a Nikon F90 + some lenses for sale

 

[Richard]

Originally posted by Cleophas
Thanks Richard. I will look into this model. The erm.... 'grid' in the viewfinder is very tempting. Any idea is it the same grid we use when learning about the law of the thirds? :gbounce:

Now that you've mentioned it, I've only use the grids on the F80 for one thing, setting parallel horizons. If not, I normally don't even notice if it's there.

 

[YSLee]

The F80's grid isn't exactly for the rule of thirds, I think.

 

[ckiang]

Originally posted by YSLee
The F80's grid isn't exactly for the rule of thirds, I think.

If I didn't remember wrongly, it isn't even in thirds.

Regards
CK

 

[ckiang]

Originally posted by Cleophas
Hi guys. I'm new here and am very glad to have found this forum. Very solid pictures and people

I see that both Nikon and Canon is VERY popular here.
I have started to learn about photography early in my teen years on a SUPER cheapo yashica fx3 SUPER 2000. Yup, that's what the SUPER stands for

Anyway I had been thinking of getting into the AF world for quite awhile. It's quite fustrating to stick to a MF system esp when shooting sports events and animals. I had been recommended to get the F55/F65 by my friend who runs a shop. These two models fit my budget well, but I am very ignorant about all their capabilities. Ofcourse, I'm open to other makes as well so if there are other models that is also in this range, please do recommend also.

My basic needs are simple. I'm hoping to find one that has er... manual overwrite? I mean like I can swith off the auto-stuff and use it like my old faithful when I feel like it. I love to fiddle with everything cause I feel more 'in control' when I do that, I dunno.
And hopefully the mount will be able to accept a wide range of lenses. So just the basic stuff.

Sorry if this post is too long. I'm really quite lost. I played around with my friend's F65 and F100 during our Ubin trip recently and have absolutly NO IDEA what all the 'extra' buttons and gizmos are for!! But then again, the F100 DOEs feel very SOLID

Recommendations please? Thanx in advance!!

The F55/65 might be a little basic for you, so if your budget allows, do consider the F80 instead. You will take a longer time to outgrow it compared to the F55/65, which are targetted at low end users/beginners. Of course, you can bite the bullet like me and go all the way to a F100.

Coming from a fully manual SLR like the FX2000 Super, it's not unusual for you to be overwhelmed by the buttons and dials of the more advanced SLRs today. The fully manual cameras only has a few basic controls for you to play around with - Aperture (via aperture ring), Shutter Speed (via the shutter speed knob), focus, zoom, and the ISO setting.

In the AF SLR, you probably have a dial to control the aperture, another one to control the shutter, zoom/focus is in the same place. There are also other buttons for exposure compensation, drive mode, metering mode, etc etc. And you activate some functions by combinations of a button press and dial rotation. Takes some getting used to of coz. When I first upgraded from a old Nikon FE to a F100, I actually set the camera so that I can adjust aperture from the len's aperture ring instead of a dial on the camera!

Regards
CK