Am I being a total c*ck (Camera question)?

Hi All

Complete novice when it comes to good cameras, I have a Fuji point and click camera and an old Olympus C-750 UZ with lots of filters and attachments, I am tinkering with the idea of buying a bridge camera but had a thought today, I have an old OM10 with a couple of manual focus OM lenses my thought is can I get a digital body that I can use these on will the fact they are manual focus mean they can't be used at all :?: Any help or suggestions welcome, just calling me a cock is not classed as help I am not after anything with a gazillion megapixels and I only have a tiny budget Okay so I am a cock but help appreciated

Cheers

Mark

I knew nothing about cameras, we got a digital slr camera which was used as pretty much a point and shoot to start (although with 2 lenses, one longer one as going on safari for our honeymoon). I just did a bit of research on the internet and ended up with a Nikon D50. This was back in 2005 but still ok as far as I'm concerned. Cameras are like bikes, you don't need a yeti as the first bike but a lot of techie speak out there. Sure most of the major brands still have their base digital slr model. I've since done a lot of playing with settings but would say the auto feature re settings as well as auto focus are well worth while and not having them I think would have made it very frustrating. 2nd hand ? cameras are like hifi, once out of date price comes down ?

You can use the manual-focus OM-mount lenses with some DSLRs - you will need an adaptor though and auto-iris might not work.

Canon DSLRs have good compatibility with other make lenses via adaptors, this is mainly down to the shorter distance between the focal plane (where the CCD is) and the front of the lens mount - means there's room for an adaptor between lens and body.

Some DSLRs don't work too well with off-brand lenses & adaptors (Nikon bodies are a good example here) because the adaptor will move the lens forward somewhat which will result in an inability to focus to "infinity".

Also, if you go down the adaptor route, it's worth paying a little more for the adaptor as cheaper ones tend to be less accurately made than more expensive ones (leading to issues with even focus across the image).

Upshot is that there's no reason you can't use a manual focus lens with a digital SLR camera (I use one with my Canon EOS 500D but that's a Canon lens and they've kept the same lens mount for as long as I can remember!).

**Note: I'm not a Canon fan-boy, Just happened the Curry's had a good offer on the 500D when I was looking to upgrade from my old 35mm Minolta - at the time I was deciding between that, a Nikon and a Sony alpha (the latter would have worked with my Minolta's lenses without any adaptors)

I would advise against going for a real entry-level (bottom of the range) camera as they tend to be more "plasticky" and easier to break - you can get a Canon or Nikon for less that £300 (with lens) but I'd look at the next level up (the Canon 600D is currently around £400 with "standard" zoom lens, a Nikon D3200 can be had for a similar price if not a little less).

I'd also advise that you go somewhere that'll let you handle the hardware before you make a decision (Curry's is great for that) - even if you don't intend to buy it there you can at least see how it feels and work out if you get along with the control layout.

Thank you for the replies glad I am not as much of a numpty as I thought I was

Just one question what is Auto-iris :?: :facepalm:

auto iris is pretty common these days, means the camera will automatically change the apeturev(f-stop) setting with the shutter speed (both in full auto and program auto exposure modes), if this function doesn't operate for a particular lens you'll only be able to use aperture priority mode where the camera adjusts the shutter speed only.

It certainly works with Nikons, not sure about Olympus.

I swapped all my old Nikon lenses onto a tidy 7 year old digital body (D70) which cost £70 last year secondhand. Its 6MP sensor and the big quality lenses work much better than a 12+MP point and shoot for all the usual reasons.

Yeah, same brand usually works perfectly (I have an older Canon 70-210mm zoom lens from a 35mm film camera that I use with my EOS DSLR), it's when you mix brands that some features may not work (AF, aperture, powered zoom).

OP has Olympus lenses so these may lose some features if used with a different manufacturer's DSLR.

Sell the OM and put the money into a DSLR.

If buying new go for a Canon or Nikon, if buying used go for a Sony. Sony prices depreciate quicker and are therefore a better buy.

Hi CTK

any advise on which Sony models I should be looking for please :?:

Cheers

Mark

kermitgreenkona88":g71z8udo said:

Hi CTK

any advise on which Sony models I should be looking for please :?:

Cheers

Mark

Click to expand...

Depends on budget... dpreview.com is a great comparison website. I am not a massive camera expert but I am sure that £300 will buy you a better used Sony than a Canon or Nikon.

http://www.dpreview.com/camerareviews?c ... sort=brand