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Is the Basic SLR dead and gone?

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BJL said:
I can often go an entire day using my DSLR (Olympus E1) in very
basic fashion, making no adjustments other than aperture, shutter
speed, focus and focal length (zoom), and with ergonomics better
than on my old "basic SLR", a Pentax K1000.
Click to expand...
Yep. I remember the ergonomics of my "basic" Minolta SRT-100. You had to throw the lever for each shot. I doubt I could get 1 fps that way. It used match-needle TTL metering. That meant I had to look take my eye from the viewfinder to check my aperture and shutter speed settings. Ahh ... the good ol' days....

--
Jay Turberville
http://www.jayandwanda.com
 
Jay Turberville said:
Jay Turberville said:
I can often go an entire day using my DSLR (Olympus E1) in very
basic fashion, making no adjustments other than aperture, shutter
speed, focus and focal length (zoom), and with ergonomics better
than on my old "basic SLR", a Pentax K1000.
Click to expand...
Yep. I remember the ergonomics of my "basic" Minolta SRT-100. You
had to throw the lever for each shot. I doubt I could get 1 fps
that way. It used match-needle TTL metering. That meant I had to
look take my eye from the viewfinder to check my aperture and
shutter speed settings. Ahh ... the good ol' days....
Click to expand...
My OM1 had a click counter.

All one had to do is rotate the aperture or shutter speed control until it stopped and then count the clicks on the way back to a centered needle.

Now that's technology!!!

--
bob

Sleepers
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The Blind Pig Guild - A Photo/Travel Club
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There were some rumours that Nikon were going to produce an FM3D (digital FM3A) but they didn't come to anything. Pity. I'd love one, if I can't have a digital F2!

I don't think the manufacturers see enough demand for this type of niche market retro approach, and the lenses would need aperture rings, which are becoming a bit scarce these days.
 
martynk said:
I don't think the manufacturers see enough demand for this type of
niche market retro approach, and the lenses would need aperture
rings, which are becoming a bit scarce these days.
Click to expand...
Well, they could easily make the second scrollwheel on the left side of the lensmount, I guess. Could even be a much better place than below the shutter-button.The real challenge is to make a "good old" camera and make it modern at the same time.

I did get the new Motorola Motofone for the same reasons... I don't need video on my cellphone, or even a camera, and I don't want to browse the net on a miniscule screen; I have set the most basic ringtone on every cellphone I ever had. The Motofone does all I want, brilliantly. (and it's very small, cheap and stylish as well)
http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_motofone_f3-review-134.php

;-)
Lourens
 
Wouldn't it be nice to have a Pentax K1000 or MX or Olympus OM1 which had the back removed and a 24 mm by 36 mm CCD and some simple electronics to set the ISO and WB, read the CCD, empty it into a card and then just tell you how many shots left on the card?

It's taking the Canon to bits to get at the CCD that's stopping me: well I could take t to bits but puttting it back would be a struggle.

Regards, David

PS As for features etc: trouble is you have to negotiate a path through all the menus to sort things out and they reset themselves at times and I like to check up now and again and it isn't a simple job with all those menus. As I said earlier the Leica Digilux 2 pleases me as I can see the setting even when the camera is switched off and change them before switching on. A big advantage if grabbing a shot (although always putting it back into the case set as a P&S does the same thing for grabbing shots in a panic.
 
They call it progress but I think it's the marketing dept coming up with gimmicks to sell more cameras. I've stopped with the Olympus E-20P for some years now and (thanks to Epson) can get nice big pictures from it (even 12 sheet posters). So why would I want to buy a new camera?

Equally, my wife uses an Olympus µ 300 and it copes nicely.The metering seems pretty foolproof and we get (thanks Epson again) excellent A4 prints out of it. So why up grade it?

But they want to keep the sales and commission going so they come up with things like face recognition (for the blind is my guess) and so on and the sales go up and up.

But who really needs 10 or 12 mp? Could you print big enough to justify it? And do we really need more than 3 mp's for 90 to 95% of the pictures which are viewed on screen or (worse in view of the pixel waste) in a digital photo frame?

regards, David
 
Jay Turberville said:
Jay Turberville said:
I would think that if something sticks so hard that even the
Olympus system can't get rid of it, a blower would be a complete
waste of time.

Perhaps you should buy sensor swabs instead?
Click to expand...
Maybe. Or better yet, a spare E-330 body. Yeah - that's it! :)
Click to expand...
If your first one breaks down because of flower pollen can you send it to me?

--
R.I.P. my K.M. 5-D 16-4-2007

Ignore everything I post here from now on. All postings 100% pure hot air completely detached from reality

(well, except for those posts that aren't about taking pictures in the first place)
 
David Hughes said:
Wouldn't it be nice to have a Pentax K1000 or MX or Olympus OM1
which had the back removed and a 24 mm by 36 mm CCD and some simple
electronics to set the ISO and WB, read the CCD, empty it into a
card and then just tell you how many shots left on the card?
Click to expand...
I'd love a digital OM1.

As long as it also has burst mode, auto bracketing, auto ISO, image stabliization, fully auto mode (for when I'm in a hurry), adjustable white balance, ...... ;o)

I owned three OM1s. I ended up doing most of my shooting with my OM4 because it offered AE. What a difference AE made when shooting on the fly. AE left me free to focus and compose.

Then I bought an AF camera and learned that while I did a very good job focusing when shooting a stationary subject, AF produced a much higher rate of good shots when street shooting.

Then I bought an IS camera....

I don't want to go back. Sorry.
David Hughes124436 said:
PS As for features etc: trouble is you have to negotiate a path
through all the menus to sort things out and they reset themselves
at times and I like to check up now and again and it isn't a simple
job with all those menus.
Click to expand...
I do agree that cameras could get a bit easier to use. I wonder if we shouldn't have the ability to hook our cameras to the computer and customize buttons/menus.
David Hughes124436 said:
As I said earlier the Leica Digilux 2
pleases me as I can see the setting even when the camera is
switched off and change them before switching on. A big advantage
if grabbing a shot (although always putting it back into the case
set as a P&S does the same thing for grabbing shots in a panic.
Click to expand...
That's my technique. I'd like to customize Auto though.

I'd like Auto to shoot a burst as long as I hold down the shutter button.

I'd like Auto to maximize shutter speed. (Within reason.)

And I'd like every other shot to drop the EV a half stop.

What I'd like Auto to be is "Panic mode". Or give me a Panic button.

If I've got time I can set up the shot. But if the camera is in the bag or if I'm busy shooting a macro when a candy-striped camel comes around the corner walking on stilts I want to aim and fire.

--
bob

Sleepers
http://picasaweb.google.com/Bobfwall/Sleepers

The Blind Pig Guild - A Photo/Travel Club
http://www.jeber.com/Clubs/Blind-Pig/

Travel Galleries
http://www.pbase.com/bobtrips
 
Ok I've amended the list and I'd like a button to set the hyperfocal distance (which I've wanted for years and years) and which should be very easy. And the aspect ratio to suit A4 and A3 paper (or else borderless A3+).

We don't want much do we?

Regards, David

PS also meant to point out years ago that "blind pig" is spelled this way "blnd pg"
 
David Hughes said:
Ok I've amended the list and I'd like a button to set the
hyperfocal distance (which I've wanted for years and years) and
which should be very easy. And the aspect ratio to suit A4 and A3
paper (or else borderless A3+).
Click to expand...
Come on! Why do you want to junk up my nice clean AE, AF, Auto ISO, IS, Auto-bracket, Burst capable, toast-making digi with such unnecessary features? I don't need no stinkin' hyperfocal nuthin!

;o)

And there-in you illustrate the problem. Different folks want different strokes.

And since so many of the features are simple firmware routines cost isn't the issue. It's accessability. IMO.
David Hughes124436 said:
PS also meant to point out years ago that "blind pig" is spelled
this way "blnd pg"
Click to expand...
I like that.

Feel free to drop in and help us learn to be better photographers.

--
bob

Sleepers
http://picasaweb.google.com/Bobfwall/Sleepers

The Blind Pig Guild - A Photo/Travel Club
http://www.jeber.com/Clubs/Blind-Pig/

Travel Galleries
http://www.pbase.com/bobtrips
 
I am sure that in the early days, auto-metering and auto-focus were seen as useless gadget by serious photographers.

Even the single lens reflex must have appeared as a monstruosity (a bit like live-view); digital sensors were only gimmicks; etc.

In addition, often new features are not yet well implemented at first.

It takes time to judge new features. I think many of them become indispensable standards. This is evolution and we should not try to discourage it.

Frank
 
The list goes on and on. Once the market (not just serious photographers) got used to certain creatures of comfort then it will become a standard. There will always be people who resist and want the 'basic', but in fact those very basic features were considered extras when they first came out.

IMHO the only basic camera is a pin hole. But nowadays it is nothing but a toy.

Until there is a true customized camera built just the way you like, you will have to stick with something that comes with too many / too few features.
Frank43 said:
I am sure that in the early days, auto-metering and auto-focus were
seen as useless gadget by serious photographers.

Even the single lens reflex must have appeared as a monstruosity (a
bit like live-view); digital sensors were only gimmicks; etc.

In addition, often new features are not yet well implemented at first.

It takes time to judge new features. I think many of them become
indispensable standards. This is evolution and we should not try to
discourage it.

Frank
Click to expand...
--

 
ITs sort of like asking if any of todays current compact car as a basic transportation mean. But then they all got loads of electronic , bells and whistle that really had nothing to do with moving the car at all ( The car can run just as well without the airbag or the seatbelt right, but don't we all accept that these are std affair )

Basic as Basic goes, is a not exactly an absolute thing.

--
  • Franka -
 
Franka T.L. said:
ITs sort of like asking if any of todays current compact car as a
basic transportation mean. But then they all got loads of
electronic , bells and whistle that really had nothing to do with
moving the car at all - SNIP!
Click to expand...
Couldn't agree more: when the grandchildred get bored on long car journeys we get them to count all the little red lights you can see in the car at night. The best total is around 96...

Regards, David
 
David Hughes said:
Franka T.L. said:
ITs sort of like asking if any of todays current compact car as a
basic transportation mean. But then they all got loads of
electronic , bells and whistle that really had nothing to do with
moving the car at all - SNIP!
Click to expand...
Couldn't agree more: when the grandchildred get bored on long car
journeys we get them to count all the little red lights you can see
in the car at night. The best total is around 96...
Click to expand...
Let's see - you've got no use for the outside thermometer. Just as soon it wasn't there. I love having the thermometer.

You hate power locks. I used to think that I didn't want them, but...

;o)

--
bob

Sleepers
http://picasaweb.google.com/Bobfwall/Sleepers

The Blind Pig Guild - A Photo/Travel Club
http://www.jeber.com/Clubs/Blind-Pig/

Travel Galleries
http://www.pbase.com/bobtrips
 
BobTrips said:
Let's see - you've got no use for the outside thermometer. Just as
soon it wasn't there. I love having the thermometer.

You hate power locks. I used to think that I didn't want them, but...
Click to expand...
Well, um, when the little bulb that lit up the light switch failed and I found what a new one would cost and what it would cost to fit it, I decided that there were a lot of things I could do without...

Regards, David

PS But then I've years of experience of switching lights on when it's dark.
 
Parisis said:
Help me friends , In the future I want a cheap , well built basic
Camera body to use my old and new lenses on. Am I a dinosaur?
Click to expand...
Not at all a dinosaur - merely pragmatic. If you remember when DSLRs came out for the masses, camera companies told white lies by saying our "old lens" would work fine on a digital camera. They did fit but most of the features did not work correctly. I see a trend within digital companies... have a camera that thinks for the person and software that makes them think they know what they are doing and they will spend more money. Their goal is to appeal to many wither they are a photographers or not!
 
Not so concerned about the basic, but I'd love to see Pentax put out an DSLR with the same basic dimensions/form factor as the K1000. Stick the 40mm pancake lens on it and you have a nice "walking around" camera.

I mean, if you flattened the thing out and dropped the built-in flash you could have something like that, no?
--
http://www.downeffect.com/jim/gallery
 
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