Present and former D30 owners - help me :)

I have a G2 and a D30. I value them both for different reasons.

I like the G2 for it's small size, swivel LCD, and it's wonderful picture quality. I have always struggled with the focusing but after reading many posts here I have gotten the mis-focused pictures down to a small number.

The D30 is a wonderful camera. I am selling art prints of flowers taken with it... sure is nice to offset those hobby costs. To be able to buy it now for 800$ is a steal. I do not own the 28 to 135IS but I have seen enough great pictures with it online to think that it will work well unless your interests include taking pictures of newspaper print If you can spring for the D60 it might be worth it since then you will not be limited in any way when you want to crop AND print big.

Any of these three camera will give you excellent results. Just see what your budget will support. Which ever one you choose will still be giving you great pictures in a year even when folks are obsessing about the new Canon D1000-BFD. These are all cameras that you can grow in to.

This is a great time to be buying a camera. Enjoy!

Best,

Paul

How do you D30 owners find the ISO performance. Are the ISO1600 images usable? Is the D30 as noise-free as the 10D?

dave nitsche said:

Extention tubes are just what they are called. They are hollow
tubes that are placed between the camera and the body.

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Nice pbase gallery Dave!

Mats, one other macro solution would be a 500D close up filter. A bit easier to deal with than the extension tubes, IMO, and it works well with your existing 28-135 IS lens. Here's a recent sample with that exact combination:



BTW, I'm an existing D30 owner with a 10D on order.

--
Alan
http://www.pbase.com/abh
http://www.shutterfreaks.com/gallery/abh

...and love it. I normally don't print anything larger than 8x10 but I think most of my photos would be okay at 11x14. I normally shoot flowers, scenics, etc. and don't need fast AF focusing in dim light. I use 50mm,100mm macro and the 70-200 zoom. I need but haven't gotten a wide angle yet.

I think you are more flexible now with the G2 than you would be with a D30 and the one lens you have. If I were starting from today, I'd get the 10D and at least four lenses. Still a bit pricey for most of us. I think the 10D addresses most of the short comings of the D30. I hope this helps?

Murry Grigsby,
http://www.mcgphotocards.com

MurryG said:

...and love it. I normally don't print anything larger than 8x10
but I think most of my photos would be okay at 11x14. I normally
shoot flowers, scenics, etc. and don't need fast AF focusing in dim
light. I use 50mm,100mm macro and the 70-200 zoom. I need but
haven't gotten a wide angle yet.

I think you are more flexible now with the G2 than you would be
with a D30 and the one lens you have. If I were starting from
today, I'd get the 10D and at least four lenses. Still a bit
pricey for most of us. I think the 10D addresses most of the short
comings of the D30. I hope this helps?

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Not really... But thanks anyway. I think I like to take roughly the same type of pictures as you describe, and thinks that I really can do without fast AF. That brings me to the conclusion that D60 is for me if I want to print 11x14 and larger and know I'll be happy with it. What, in your opinion would grant the differance from D60-> 10D? (Given that AF is known and "ok")?

Thanks for the comment anyway.

Mats

matsf said:

Hi,

I currently have a G2 and think I'm ready to step up a little. I
won't say that the G2 autofocus is my main reason to change, cause
I know that the D30 is not the best either. I would like more
control (wider range of apperature and shutter speed), as well as
somewhat faster handling and better low light sensitivity
(ISO/noise, not focus...). I own a Canon 28-135IS USM lens (rarely
used on my old film SLR).

My question to you is if any of the following statements were the
reason that you got a D60/10D or other digital SLR (upgrade from
D30), or if you own a D30 now, are you happy with these?

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I'm big time happy with my D30. Here's a pano I did today. It's a stitch of four handheld shots in the verticle position.

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=1444938

I want the 10D for the larger image files for printing purposes but the 11"X17" prints made with the D30 digital positives are pretty darn good when compared to 35mm negative prints enlargements to the same size.

In fact the D30 is soooooo good, that I'm willing to wait out one more product cycle although I am chomping at the bit to get the 10D.

Hope this helps.

What 28-200 lens do you use?

Radu

jeanette... said:

I am a former D30 user. Even with the limitations I was able to
get wonderful prints from it. The first all-purpose lens I used
was the 28-105, not much range. So I got a 28-200 and rarely came
off the camera.

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