Duffer film user needs advice for digital camera body (Nikon)

All,

I have a few Fs and a brace of lenses from twenty years ago and have
been looking into getting a digital body. At one time I was proud and
determined not to buy another Nikon until they had a full 24x36mm ccd
so that my short lenses stayed short. I also wanted Kodachome levels
of what I grew up calling resolution; something like 25 million pixels
in 24x36.

Well, I'm not that proud or rich now so I'm looking for information on
a good (better than decent, less than "well-heeled-amateur") Nikon
digital body that would work well with AiS lenses. Pixel count is not
that important to me as long as I can still buy film, so lets say
6-10MP, _real_ MP. So what's a good place to start?

And thanks for the pointers.

r.

> I have a few Fs and a brace of lenses from twenty years ago and have
> been looking into getting a digital body. At one time I was proud and
> determined not to buy another Nikon until they had a full 24x36mm ccd
> so that my short lenses stayed short. I also wanted Kodachome levels
> of what I grew up calling resolution; something like 25 million pixels
> in 24x36.
>
> Well, I'm not that proud or rich now so I'm looking for information on
> a good (better than decent, less than "well-heeled-amateur") Nikon
> digital body that would work well with AiS lenses. Pixel count is not
> that important to me as long as I can still buy film, so lets say
> 6-10MP, _real_ MP. So what's a good place to start?
>
> And thanks for the pointers.

I don't know about how well your old lenses will work, and it is only
five Mp, but my wife and I bought a D50 about a year ago, and we are
still delighted with it.

Hello. AIS lenses fit and work on any Nikon dslr. However, metering
only works on the D200 and the D2x/d2h. This is not as big a problem
as it sounds, as you can take a test exposure, look at the histogram
and adjust, but it's probably not very convenient. So you'll need a
D200 if you want to be able to meter with them, otherwise it doesn't
matter.

As for real resolution, I don't understand what you mean (ie what
would be not real resolution?). Anyway, if you don't mind not being
able to meter, the D80/70/50 are all fine (the D50 has only one
control wheel, this may or may not bother you).

> As far as the use of your lenses is concerned, I think the D40 may not
> be what you're looking for, as it doesn't work well with most older
> lenses, AIUI.

the limitation with the d40 is that it will not autofocus (but it will
meter) with autofocus lenses that lack an internal focusing motor.
this person has manual focus lenses, so that issue won't affect his
current selection of lenses.

the d40, d50, d70, d70s and d80 will not meter with manual focus lenses
and the d200 and up will. that's the bigger issue.

Get a D200, it will work well with AIS lenses, you do have to set them
in the menu. Pries have come down a little and it is enteringa "best
buy" catagory. If you have the bucks the D2Xs is a marvelous camera.
If you shoot sports and have a heavy trigger finger the D2Hs, only 4mp
but owners rave about the image quality.
10mp is putting you up in to mf quality, especially with good lenses.
Not a Hasselblad but will beat out the smaller Mamyias, etc. Have seen
a 6mp directly (same photo, set up) compared to a Mamiya 645, the DSLR
won out.

Tom

1) AIS lenses will fit on any Nikon DSLR

2) Manual focusing is easier on the D80 and better cameras as they have
brighter viewfinders. But even on the cheaper models, the camera's autofocus
rangefinder still works with a manual lens fitted, and will give you an "in
focus" indicator in the viewfinder.

3) To meter with AIS lenses you need a D200 or better. With the D80 or less
you would need to carry a separate exposure meter, or else guestimate on the
"sunny f16" basis and check the result afterwards.

Personally I would recommend the D200 to take the hassle factor out of
metering with your lenses.

--
Apteryx

> As for real resolution, I don't understand what you mean (ie what
> would be not real resolution?). Anyway, if you don't mind not being
> able to meter, the D80/70/50 are all fine (the D50 has only one
> control wheel, this may or may not bother you).

I have seen stickers on some cameras referring to something like
"effective pixels", as if there was software extrapolating data that
wasn't actually being delivered by the ccd, but as was stated by
another poster, this is an artifact of cheap point-and-shoot cameras.
Other than that my only confusion was between old resolution (line
pairs resolved at the filmplane) and "computer" resolution (number of
pixels in a displayed image, with little fixed correlation to the
measured size of the image but with some correlation to the quality if
the image. For example, a 640x480 desktop pumped to a 21" monitor
compared to the same desktop on a 14" monitor.

Lastly, thank you to everyone for the responses.

r

> Well, I'm not that proud or rich now so I'm looking for information on
> a good (better than decent, less than "well-heeled-amateur") Nikon
> digital body that would work well with AiS lenses. Pixel count is not
> that important to me as long as I can still buy film, so lets say
> 6-10MP, _real_ MP. So what's a good place to start?

I echo your sentiments exactly; in fact I just "broke down" and got a
D80. In your case, however, I strongly recommend the D200 as it will
allow metering with your AIS lenses. I went with the D80 as declining
eyesight had already moved me to auto focus and D series lenses.

The more expensive bodies are certainly nice, but why waste more money
than necessary on DX sensor hardware?

> The more expensive bodies are certainly nice, but why waste more money
> than necessary on DX sensor hardware?

That's really the crime in my view; as someone old enough to have
purchased and used fine cameras as an investment. The extra "features"
of even the best digital cameras are nice, and probably necessary for
many, but what you're really buying is the sensor, which is obsolete
the moment it's offered to the marketplace; almost by definition. I
could buy the best body Nikon has and I'd still end up with a 35mm f/
1.4 normal lens, alas...

D200 it is.

thanks,

r