Cameras

[formateriam]

The best camera is the one that's on you, meaning the one she's comfortable carrying around. This will ultimately be reflected by the size and weight of the camera/lens. The micro 4/3rds is a good suggestion as a compromise between a DSLR vs point and shoot, but might lack in areas depending on her requirements.

[lowrey]

I think the no-brainer choice for an entry level DSLR is either a Canon 550D or a Nikon D90, or maybe a D3100 (nikon users..?) The Sonys and other non-camera manufacturer cameras I would personally skip, and any sort of fall-between models (1000D for example), seem kind of pointless to me.

I'm a Canon user myself and much prefer their controls etc., but the manufacturer debate is endless and boils down to personal preference.

[Fenix]

Thanks for all the of input guys! I'll definitely check out the 550D.

[Fade to Black]

Contax G2 + the 45mm lens, thoughts? Read Ken Rockwell and it sounds like the best possible rangefinder one can get.

[syed]

Heck yes! Contax G2 is my dream rangefinder (well, aside from a Lecia M6). I got to use it once with a 35mm lens (f/1.8?), and loved it.

[kbi]

I just bought myself a leica m3 from 1958. waiting for it to arrive.

On another note referring to the posts above though, a friend of mine recently told me that he wanted to buy himself a new sony dslr. I told him the same as above but he was somewhat amazed by all the new gadgety functions that it has (new technology enables shooting-speed of 10 pictures per second etc.) has anybody here already tried one or got one himself?

[marsa]

Contax G2 + the 45mm lens, thoughts? Read Ken Rockwell and it sounds like the best possible rangefinder one can get.

great camera - just make sure the autofocus is correct - as they have a tendency to have faulty focuspoints.

is you are looking at rangefinders - try a secondhand Voigtlander Bessa with a 35mm or 40mm prime lens.

-FUCK Ken Rockwell, that guys doesnt know shit!

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-FUCK Ken Rockwell, that guys doesnt know shit!

LOL...I think he is not a good photographer at all, but somehow I enjoy/get a kick out of reading his writings. He seems to be channeling exactly what I want to hear at times, especially in his articles on the "art" of photography. Definitely a weird kind of guilty pleasure...

and I don't know about the Contax autofocus. Have a Contax TVS at home that I don't use very much, the autofocus is shit - 90% of the time if use AF the picture ends up all blurry. I tend to prefer manual focus anyway.

[endersgame]

I tend to prefer manual focus anyway.

you should not get this camera if you prefer manual focus.

[Fade to Black]

ok all i needed to hear, thanks.

[endersgame]

may i suggest an yashica mat 124g TLR instead of a rangefinder? reasons being..

1. introduces you to a new format: SQUARE
2. medium format film (big fat juicy negatives/chromes)
3. really fun camera to use, cheap, and has a built-in meter.
4. you know exactly what the composition is through the ground glass (except the image is reversed)

[Fade to Black]

enders is that your photo? it's beautiful.

i am looking for a film camera to use regularly so i don't have to keep going back and forth to school to borrow/return their Nikon FM2, which has served me well as an SLR, but was just genuinely curious to shooting with a rangefinder.

However the parallax problem may be a nuisance particularly to my style of shooting which if you follow my posts on the Bulletin Board I favor relatively tight close-ups a lot of the time, and similarly my preferred framing/composition around the peripheral edges of the frame is highly dependent on getting exactly what i see in the viewfinder not an mm left or right.

[marsa]

I would still recommed the Voigtlander Bessa as a nice entry level RF, ive had one for years and works as a clock.

Heck yes! Contax G2 is my dream rangefinder (well, aside from a Lecia M6). I got to use it once with a 35mm lens (f/1.8?), and loved it.

- however I ALWAYS wonder why people list the Leica M6 as their "dream camera" etc - "which im saving up to" etc .

I currently own 1 classic M6, 1 ttl M6 and 1 M3 - and none of these cost me more than 1200 $ give or take a few hundreds (gravel, considering the pricetag on most of the clothing in here....)

...the glass on the other hand is a whole other story....

good thing with RFs is that you see "more" than the filmplane,- this is something that I value as it in my opinion completely changed the way I shoot.

[syed]

Hah, I know it's not that expensive considering, it's just one of those cameras I always think I will buy "one day". Probably the lure of the red dot. In the meanwhile I am quite happy with my Electro GSN and XA2, even though they are close to toy cameras

On the 120 front, I just ran a roll through my Yashica D, but am trying to find somewhere cheap to develop.

[marsa]

the yashica electro gsn is such an underrated camera!!

love the the DOF on the 45mm 1.7!