Given a budget of £400-500, what would you choose for a camera?
Bear in mind, none of my existing lenses fit anything manufactured for the last 20 years, so a decent lens should be considered as well.
Film or digital, I don't mind.

I know you like prime lenses, but as a starter the Nikon D5000 + 18-55mm lens wouldn't be so bad.
There's also £50 cash-back at the moment too.

Mark

Yeah the D5000 has had some good reviews lately, and the flippy screen on the back looks useful.
I'm also looking at Nikon F5 bodies, as that would allow for slightly more in the glassware department that could migrate onto a digi body in the future. Hmm.

Mind you... Clicky

Ooooh! How come I didn't spot the LCE in Guildford? I'll have to hunt it down in a fortnight's time!

The D5000 or the F5.
Either one to be honest. (8+)Phwoar, that's also a bit sexy.

Mark

A nearly new Nikon D90...

EOS 500D with 18-55 £569 and £50 cashback clicky

I know theyre not as popular but the Olympus are good value....

E-520 with 14-42 and 40-150 £441 (on back order) clicky

or this is a little over budget but you get a free battery grip and a free extra battery

E-620 with 14-42 £581 clicky

All back in the box now for about 8 days.

Went out this evening - the planned stroll through the woods never materialised, as by the time we'd finished lunch it was gone 3.30pm. The sun doesn't last much longer round these parts.

Anyway - some of what I took tonight. These are all just from the camera .jpgs, I've not looked at the RAWs yet, because I have to be up for work in the morning!
I'm feeling comfortable with the camera, but it's a bit of a gear change from film. I've got to sort of abstract myself from mechanically altering a setting to telling some software what I want it to do... I'm not bowled over by what I got tonight, but these were all up at 1600 on some long exposures and it's not what I usually do. It's interesting to see what the camera does for long exposures at high ISOs. Also, the short end of the 18-55mm lens is awful for barrelling. Kiss good bye lovely straight uprights at that end of the lens!

I like that, very much!

Those piccies were not too shabby, Alex.

Don't forget, as you've already mentioned, you have to relearn some aspects of your craft with digital. It'll come, and there are some recommended books people mention. Some are in this forum, I think. Paul often mentions the Magic Lantern series, so that might be your best first option - it's like a Haynes manual for your camera.

And have fun. You'll soon be forgetting the technology and just making pictures.

The wife has been trying to talk me into going digital, but I have been resisting, as I like my Nikon F65.

Having seen the D5000, I must admit that I am sorely tempted, but I have been unable to get any definitive answer to the seemingly simple question - Will I be able to use my existing lenses... any ideas?

Also, (and this might sound like a silly question) what would I expect, quality wise, comparing the pictures taken with the D5000 with those taken on my F65?

You should be able to use all of your existing lenses. You can always take them to a camera shop to try them out, but I can't think of any reason why they wouldn't work.

Digital photos tend to be a lot sharper than film (depending on the lens of course) - if you scanned a 35mm frame to the same resolution as a digital image and viewed them side by side at 100% there will be more detail on the digital picture (in general, though it depends on the film you use), but none of the grain that film users tend to get dewy-eyed about :D

Tell me what lenses you have and I'll tell you if they'll work on the D5000.
Alternatively, check for your self here.
As for a cursory answer, I would say yes, whatever works on your F65 should work on the D5000.

Mark

The D5000 felt really well built, I have to say. If I'd previously used Nikon 35mm bodies, that's what I'd have ended up with, no doubt.



Again, depends on the film you've used. And you might get some digital noise instead...

One thing I'm going to have to sit down and tweak with is the user settings for the colour profile on the camera.
I know it's not a terribly great time of year for natural colours etc. but the output from the camera did seem incredibly flat compared to what I'm used to. (Hence all the B&W stuff I've been doing.)
I'd rather not spend ages in LR processing, so I'd imagine setting up a few profiles in the camera would be the way to go.
On film I'd think about where I was going and what I was likely to be shooting and then which stock is going to best suit that environment - if I can replicate that with the user profiles that would be cool.

This kit lens has to go, however.