WHY?!? Why am i thinking i need an SLR, and thinking of going 35mm? - rec.photo.help

Message from discussion WHY?!? Why am i thinking i need an SLR, and thinking of going 35mm?

Greg Campbell

More options Feb 14 2004, 7:42 am

Newsgroups: rec.photo, rec.photo.35mm, rec.photo.digital, rec.photo.equipment, rec.photo.equipment.35mm, rec.photo.help

From: Greg Campbell <nos...@null.net>

Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2004 13:42:33 -0700

Local: Sat, Feb 14 2004 7:42 am

Subject: Re: WHY?!? Why am i thinking i need an SLR, and thinking of going 35mm?

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camera critter wrote:
>>OK. This might sound stupid.

>>I have a sony dsc F717, and I use it quite a bit. I like the camera. I have
>>owned it since last April, and so I am going on a year with it.
>><snip>
>>WHAT ARE GOOD OPTIONS FOR SOMEONE LIKE ME?

In short: Stop obsessing over the camera's supposed shortcomings. The
specific equipment DOESN'T MATTER! Worry instead about composing and
taking good pictures.

> Let's see now...
> You write that during the past ten months you were able to pay only
> 20% of the US$708 (Sony Cybershot DSC-F717 camera) cost, and yet you
> now want to buy a US$899 camera (Canon EOS 300D Digital Rebel).

> You already have experienced the dramatic depreciation that comes
> hand-in-hand with digital photography.

> The charge card bank might profit from your purchases, but digital
> photography just might lead towards your financial ruination.

Heed his warning! ;)

> Of course, the others posting to this forum are nothing other than
> enablers of your addictive behavior. <grin>

Whatever you do, DO NOT visit
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CanonFD/messages
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NikonMF/messages
or any other groupd of 'enabling' nutcases.

> One of the first rules about being a gearhead addict is to be able to
> afford what it costs to play in the photography sandbox.

Heh...

If you MUST buy 35mm film equipment, start with a cheap, primitive,
manual everything camera. Who cares if the equipment is 'obsolete,' it
is dirt cheap and takes fantastic pictures. Besides saving a ton of
money, I think the 'primitive' mindset will do you some good. Play with
it for a few months, THEN decide if you still feel the need to drop a
sh*tload on the latest and greatest automagic offering. If you decide
you don't like the old camera, you can sell it for what you paid.

Canon, Nikon, Oly, etc. all produced a wide variety of sturdy,
functional equipment. Message boards like the two mentioned above are a
good source of info for older equipment. I recenty found an excellent
AE-1P with a nearly-new 28mm Canon FD lens for $120 at the local camera
shop. (Using the old clunker is strangely satisfying; I've actually
left my wizz-bang T90 at home a time or two.) If you're willing to
brave ebay, even better deals can be found.

Remember, it's not the camera that takes the picture.

-Greg

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