New DSLR

[Ric]

Hi all, I am finally going to buy my first DSLR sometime in the new year to replace my Minolta film SLR but through my research I have discovered the Minolta camera division has been sold to Sony.
I have been looking at the Sony A100 which is compatible with my Minolta lenses, I don't want to have a bunch of zoom and macro lenses that I cant use. The main usage will be astrophotography and general photography.
I am also looking at the Canon and Nikon range as well but would prefer to have a camera where I can still utilise my lenses.

I would be grateful of any opinions from our more DSLR savvy members in relation to this camera, or indeed if anyone owns one their thoughts on this camera will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers :)

[rogerg]

Are there adaptors allowing you to put minolta lenses on canon cameras? If so that might be a good option to have the compatability desired with astronomy software. Just a thought, I'm sure you've already considered it.

Roger.

[acropolite]

I had a minolta film SLR, but still went with Canon, at the end of the day Canons have the lowest noise of the bunch and are readily modified if you want better sensitivity at the red (infra red) end of the spectrum. If you like shooting wide angle shots your minolta lenses probably won't cut the mustard as there is a 1.6 multiplication factor with most DSLR's (Full frame e.g. Eos 5D excepted) so for example a 24mm lens is equivalent to 38mm.

[Dennis]

Hi Ric

An important consideration is software for focusing, operating and controlling your camera from a notebook computer. The software can be supplied by either the camera manufacturer, or 3rd party providers (additional costs).

Typically, this software should provide you with the following functions:

Software assisted quick and reliable focusing.
Taking multiple exposures at intervals from the PC. For example, 10 exposures of 3 mins duration.
Working with the raw (native) image files produced by your DSLR.


The following 3rd party applications seem to dominate the market:

ImagesPlus (http://www.mlunsold.com/menu.html)
DSLRFocus (http://www.dslrfocus.com/home.html)
MaximDSLR (http://www.cyanogen.com/products/maxdslr_main.htm)

The stand out cameras are certain Canon and Nikon models that are supported by these applications.

I have a Pentax *ist DSLR and software assisted focusing is not supported by the above applications (other than by exposing an image, downloading it to the PC and checking to see if it’s in focus).
The maximum exposure for interval shooting is 30 secs with the Pentax software.
I find these limitations quite restrictive when using the Pentax for prime focus astrophotography.

Also, certain Canon models can be operated via the Canon TC-80N3 remote timer which allows you to capture say, 20 exposures of 3 mins without the use of a PC, the images being saved to the camera’s internal memory card. This is excellent if you do not want to set up your pc for an imaging session.

So, be careful in your choice – don’t forget to consider how you might use the camera in the field, would you like to operate it from a PC (the answer is yes!) and how much ease of use and automation you require in focusing, capturing, processing, etc.

If you will predominantly take images at prime focus through your ‘scope, then this may be a more important requirement than maintaining compatibility with your current lenses?

Cheers

Dennis

[h0ughy]

umm a caveat on Dennis's advice, it is hoped that Imagesplus will have full pentax control and processing of raws soon. (yes dennis I supplied him with heaps of raw images for Mike to work with:-

From: Mike Unsold [mailto:mlu02@raex.com]
Sent: Wednesday, 20 December 2006 12:47 AM
To: David Hough
Subject: RE: Raw Format Images Form Pentax, Fuji, and Olympus DSLRs Needed - I uploaded some files

Got it and thanks.

Mike


>
>
> Name: testpentax1.zip
> Size: 24MB
> Description: mike the files as
> requested for pentax istDS

[Ric]

Hi all and thanks for all the advice, I think I have to do a bit more research into this field as there are a few things that have now come to light that I had not considered.
Roger, I had not thought about any lens adaptors so that is definitely something to look into.
Phil, Dennis & Houghy, your advice regarding software and camera sensitivity is something that I had not considered either.

It is clear that I still have some homework to do in this area, but this is the type of feedback I was looking for being a newbie with these types of cameras.

It is greatly appreciated guys :thumbsup: