Fireworks, camera

[armb]

Went to the Cambridge fireworks on Saturday. Forecast rain didn't happen, which was nice. We were well back where it's quieter and not so crowded - near a small cluster of photographers (with tripods etc.), but not (as far as I saw) including ewx. I didn't take a camera - maybe next year, by which time I plan to have a digital, allowing instant feedback of what worked (at least to some extent).
Ones I currently fancy include the Pentax Optio WP because it's compact enough to take everywhere and waterproof, and the larger Canon A610 because "compact enough to take everywhere" is possibly "annoyingly fiddly".
I also fancy a DSLR sometime, but that's another can of worms. (I have two film SLRs, a Pentax ME-F and my father-in-law's Minolta Dynax 7, neither with enough lenses to make switching systems out of the question but both things it might be nice to be compatible with (Pentax 28mm, 50mm, 75-150 zoom with graunchy movement, all manual focus aperture priority only; Minolta 35-80 (I think) AF zoom). Sell the Pentax stuff and get an old Canon AE-1 body instead if I get a Canon DSLR is one option.)

Comments

[fleetfootmike.livejournal.com]

Sell the Pentax stuff and get an old Canon AE-1 body instead if I get a Canon DSLR is one option.

Not if you want to share lenses between 'em. The AE-1 takes FD mount lenses, the DSLR's EF. Also, worth noting that the 300D, 350D, and 20D take EF-S lenses as well, and the kit lens for these, being an EF-S, won't fit on an EF-only body.

I'd go for an EOS series SLR (you can pick up a 300 film SLR cheap) if you want a film SLR as well as a DSLR, and also buy the body only DSLR and pick a pair of decent comsumer lenses (50mm f1.8, 24-105mm, say).

[armb.livejournal.com]

> The AE-1 takes FD mount lenses, the DSLR's EF

Bother. I knew about EF/EF-S, but had forgotten the earlier history (and not researched anything much yet).

My uncle (actually my father's first cousin) is very happy with his Pentax *istD, but Canon 350D or Nikon D50 seem to be the obvious choices for an entry level DSLR.
Still, I'm not planning on getting one in a hurry, there will be new models out by then.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Absolutely - that's why I was happy to get sixty for my AE1 with 1.4 and power winder.