Camera choice: Digital or SLR 35mm?

[lifewithoutanet 0]

Hey, all. I'm about to go shopping for a new camera. I'm not looking for one to fly, just looking for a good, overall camera. I had a 1971 Nikkormat 35mm SLR that I absolutely loved, but a few years back, the airlines took care of that for me.
Can't beat the quality/convenience of digital these days, except for one thing... I'd like to be able to snap rapidly in order to get quick, sequential action shots. I don't know of a single digital camera out there that doesn't take too long between snaps. Seems everyone of them has too long of a delay for what I'm looking for. That being the case, I'm leaning towards an SLR.
Are there any digital cameras that will give you the quality of 35mm and will also be able to take pictures as rapidly? Recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
-C.

[jose 0]

Canon 10D

6.0 megapix
SLR
Fast action shots (9 shot burst to start)
fast buffer


Everyone will tell you the same.

[lifewithoutanet 0]

Damn, yeah... I'd looked at some of the pro combo digital/SLR cameras. Hot damn, can you say 'expensive'? I was prepared to spend that kind of dinero on the new Sony PC350 MiniDV, but not on a still image camera.
Might end up reconsidering...we'll see.
-C.

[flypunk 0]

digital rebel is the next best thing a little cheapear

...

[AndyMan 7]

Your old Nikormat didn't have a motor drive, so I'm a bit curious if you're looking for the digital equivalent of a "fast motor drive", or a quick response when you hit the shutter release just once.

I have a perfectly good entirely manual Nikon FM4 I'd be willing to sell you cheap if you want to keep with manual 35mm. You'd be able to use most of your old NIKKOR lenses. The body is in mint condition. If you want auto focus, my wife has a Nikon N6006 body I think she'd be willing to sell, it's in good condition. Neither are appropriate for skydiving. The FM4 because it's fully manual, the N6006 because even though it's got a motor drive, the remote shutter release is the old mechanical "plunger" style, which won't work with electronic tongue switches.

Alternately, since you're used to SLR's and all their complexity, there's a laundry list of perfectly good digital SLR's on the market for less than a grand that have really good reaction times to the shutter.

If you stick with Nikon, you might still be able to reuse some of your lenses, although I presume they're all manual focus. The D-70 is a really good digital camera, and is currently on the street for $999. THe downside to this camera is that there isn't a wired remote switch available (only wireless), so it may not be appropriate for skydiving.

A bit cheaper is the Canon digital Rebel. It can be found on the street in the low $700. Of course the downside is that you couldn't use any of your Nikkor lenses, but since you probably have manual focus lenses, this may not be such a big deal anyways.

Both the D-70 and the Digital Rebel (aka 300D) have excellent response times to the shutter, and a good frame rate (aka "motor drive") for knocking off a fast series of shots.

If you want a faster frame rate (motor drive analogy), then you can spend a whole lot more money.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[ltdiver 3]

If you want some expert opinions on digital SLR's, take a look at what Mike McGowan says on these two cameras.

Nikon d2h

Kodak 14n

Mike bought the Kodak.

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[lifewithoutanet 0]

And the winner is...

Canon Digital Rebel 6.3MegaPixel

Just picked it up w/ a 512MB Compact Flash card, 18-55mm lens (standard). 75-300mm Canon lens is on order.

Bravo to "The Little Guy". Shopped around online and then went out to see what I could find for instant gratification. Got a great deal on the camera itself (less than anything I found online or in the larger chain stores), plus the guy I dealt with threw in a 25% discount on memory, camera bag, wireless remote, a few miscellaneous accessories and then topped it off w/ a UV filter and PCMCIA CompactFlash adapter, both FREE.

Oh, and for any SoCal people in the Orange County area, "The Little Guy" is Tustin Camera:
516 E. First Street
Tustin, CA
714.544.0523

Thanks to everybody else for their recommendations, as well, but this seemed to be the best bang for my buck for now.
-C.

[cwhitchurch 0]

There are some solid 35mm choices out there for ~$300. Between 4-6 frames/sec, and no buffer to worry about. Get a fair neg scanner for another $300 and you'll get upwards of 11 Megapixels, and you still have the option of getting professional prints enlarged off your favorites. You can shoot Velvia for projects, or push-process cheap 400 on cloudy days. 35mm's require a little more user input and patience, as they aren't as dumbed-down as many of the digitals, but I'm still hanging on. And the used market is well established.

We had humidity problems this weekend. All the digitals were shutting down. Some of our digital shooters are now having warenty problems.

Neither is perfect. Either way, you're gonna spend some money. Plan your choice.

-c

[psw097 0]

Humidity problems - That's for sure. Bobby and I went through 3 PC100s and I was getting ready to mount a TRV on my still plate if the last one shut down.

I just went back to film after the shutter on my digital rebel self destructed. Canon wanted $300 to fix it. That money went to an EOS 30 instead - 4 fps, no buffer, eye control, bright viewfinder and wide angle is really wide. I'll probably go back to digital but not until another generation or two.

[cwhitchurch 0]

Before the flames start...

I didn't mean to imply that all digitals are dumbed-down. Between white balance, response curves and the like, getting perfect exposure with digitals can be challenging sometimes, just like film.