Broke and switching to digital after 8... months.

[michaelsmoley]

I've been shooting 35mm for the last several months but it's time for a change as I can't afford to shoot as much as I'd like.

Looking for an entry/middle level dslr/lens set-up...

What I need:
Softness and color palette as close to film as possible.
Shallow depth of field.
Canon
Small price tag

What I don't need:
Bells & whistles.
The most mega pixels ever!
Zoom lens
Frames per second
This years model (doesn't even have to be new)

What I need it for:
Learning
Shooting in natural light
Daily shooting around town (architecture, nature, still life)
Fashion stories for web (not print)

Here is a link to my tumblr so you can get an idea of my style
No Fun Intended
I've been using a Canon AE1 with an 85mm lens, and I think I can get by with/get used to anything between 50mm and 125mm, if fixed is the best value.

-Any opinions on used/refurbished gear. (I'm not too concerned with longevity as I'll use this as a transition back to film or to higher end digital).
-Anywhere in nyc that can be trusted for used cameras?
-Anyone selling something here that fits my requirements?

Thanks in advance for all your help.

[RichardTaylor]

Anything from a Canon 350D (Rebel XT) should meet your needs providing it doesn't have a lot of clicks on it (they are supposed to be good for 50,000, however mine has gone past that without any problems).

Lenses I would be looking at would be the Canon 35mm F2 or the 50mm F1.8 or the 85mm F1.8 or 100mm F2.

With digital the final "look" is can be controlled, a lot, when post processing.

[inkista]

B&H and Adorama are both good for used equipment.

[Doug Pardee]

Originally Posted by michaelsmoley

I've been shooting 35mm for the last several months but it's time for a change as I can't afford to shoot as much as I'd like.

I'm not sure that switching to digital is going to save you money. The extras really pile up. I'm an extremely conservative buyer — I have only one lens, a circular polarizer, some memory cards, some spare batteries, and a small bag — but after you throw in the additional costs, especially the "digital darkroom", I've probably put about $3000 into my gear.

If you're not going to do "digital darkroom" work, and instead are going to just have Target or Walmart or someone print your photos "straight out of the camera", you'll be shooting JPEG rather than Raw. And here you run into a problem:

• JPEG — Softness and color palette as close to film — Canon

Pick two of the above. Canon's straight-from-the-camera JPEGs are not film-like. Not in the low-cost lines, at least.

I'm not sure why you are insistent on Canon. It's not like there's anything you can use from your current equipment. The EOS series is incompatible with the old FD/FL series. Not that I have anything against Canon; it's what I use and I like it. But there's no way I'm going to claim that the straight-out-of-the-camera JPEGs are anything close to film-like (for low-cost models). You'll probably end up looking at Fuji if that's really a big requirement for you.

But ya know, the film days are pretty much behind us. Most people don't see digital photos as being inferior to film photos. They're different, but that doesn't make them worse. How many people do you see turning away from the movie theaters when they find out that the movie they'd planned to see is digital?

Anyway, to address the other "needs", I'm going to say a Digital Rebel XTi (400D) with the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens is going to be the cheapest you'll find.

Bear in mind that for 25+ years, autofocus has ruled and manual focus is essentially dead. You need accurate autofocus. The earlier XT/350D (which I have) is a fine camera, but the autofocus system is designed for f/4 lenses and isn't guaranteed to focus within the shallow depth-of-field you can get out of the f/1.8 — it might, it might not, it's the luck of the draw.

Also, if you're shooting JPEG, the XTi/400D gives you Picture Styles to help control the "look" of the image. The XT/350D only has basic contrast, saturation, and sharpness controls. Information from Canon on Picture Styles: Canon : Picture Style

The XT/350D and XTi/400D were the last of Canon's entry-level DSLRs to use Compact Flash memory cards. If you want to use SD/SDHC cards, you're going to need to step up to the XSi/450D, and that's going to cost you.

If you're willing to look outside of NYC, another well-respected source of used photography equipment is KEH in Atlanta.

For your final question, there's a Gear for Sale forum here: Gear For Sale

[michaelsmoley]

Thanks for all the advice so far.

Doug, as far as saving money goes, I'd just be buying the camera/lens (battery & memory obviously). I have the software I'll need (will be shooting raw) I don't plan to print much for the time being.

So the main difference in cost (once I have the camera) is that I can afford to go out and shoot 100 photos on any given day and not have to pay $50 just to see if anything came out.

As for wanting Canon, that's just bias based on opinions of photographers that I know.

So far 350D/400D seem to be a good inexpensive choice. Thanks

[RichardTaylor]

The other hidden cost with digital is time. You can shoot a lot of photographs, depending on what you are shooting in a short space of time, however it can take days to go through them and select the best for further processing.

[keely]

As for wanting Canon, that's just bias based on opinions of photographers that I know.

[RichardTaylor]

@keely

He is a Canon shooter.