I'm thinking of getting an AF 35mm SLR, but I want one with as many features as possible?

Question

Among the basics, I want to be able to have long exposure (very long- T mode and especially B mode) a close-up or macro setting, high zoom, good for large prints, strobe mode and any other built-in features that seem impressive all at a relatively low price.

Answer 1

First, "T" and "B" are the same thing. Both allow you to hold the shutter open as long as you want with a mechanical cable release.

Some "all-auto" 35mm "point & shoot" cameras may have a so-called "macro" setting. This is not the type of camera you want.

After you buy your camera you can choose from innumerable fixed focal length and zoom lenses for it.

The size of the prints you can get from 35mm is largely dependent on the ISO of the film you used. I have several 16x20 prints from ISO 200 35mm film.

The term "strobe" is associated with electronic flash units and is a specialized unit. The only role the camera has is to have the aforementioned "B" or "T" setting.

As do all other photographers who have a certain brand loyalty so do I. My camera of choice is Minolta. Bought my first one in July of 1971. I now own several, with my favorites being the XE-7 and the X-700.

Minolta developed the XE-7 in a partnership with Leica. Seems in the early-'70's Leica was behind in the technology of "Auto" cameras (ones that set either the shutter or aperture or both) and came to Minolta for assistance. Leitz/Leica worked with Copal to design the shutter. Minolta designed the XE-7 and then, using Leica's lens mount and metering system built the Leica R-3.

The XE-7 has an extremely quiet shutter and the film advance is buttery smooth. The XE-7 can be operated in "A" or Aperture Preferred mode or in Manual Metered mode.
It also has a switch to allow in-camera multiple exposures - great for added creativity.

The X-700 was introduced in the early 1980's. Its major claims to fame were, again, operation in "A" mode as well as a "P" or Program mode. In "P", the camera selects shutter and aperture; all you do is compose, focus and press the shutter button. (I've never used this mode. I always shoot in "A" mode to control depth of field.) It also can be operated in non-metered Manual. Its second claim to fame was "TTL" which is Off-Film Flash Metering (look at all of today's DSLR cameras using this old Minolta technology) with the PX line of Minolta flash units. The camera actually controls the flash duration so you have more choices in choosing an f-stop. The two I have are the 360PX, which is an extremely powerful flash. The other is the Auto-Macro 80PX.

The X-700 also accepts the Minolta Motor Drive 1 (aka MD-1) which has 3 operating speeds: "S" for 1 frame per second, "LO" for 2 frames per second, and "HI" for 3.5 frames per second.

Your selection of lenses for the XE-7 or X-700 is almost unlimited. I have, over 36 yrs., collected several: 16mm f2.8, 21mm f2.8, 24mm f2.8, 28mm f2.8, 35mm f2.8, 50mm f1.4, 58mm f1.2, 135mm f2.8, 200mm f3.5, 300mm f4.5, 100mm f4 macro, 35-70mm f3.5 and 70-210 f4 constant aperture zooms. All lenses up to the 300mm are in the Minolta ROKKOR-X; all others are the MD series.

How good are Minolta lenses? Well Leica sold the 16mm and the 2 zoom lenses for their SLR line. A 16mm Minolta designed and built fisheye lens in Leica mount goes for close to $1000 in TODAY's market! The identical lens in Minolta mount goes for less than $300. talk about paying for a name...

In my opinion, you'd be fine with an X-700, a 50mm f1.4, the 2 zoom lenses, and the macro lens. The MD-1 is also worth having simply because it helps "balance" the camera, especially with longer lenses. The 360PX is reasonable in price on ebay; the 80PX is harder to find and can be expensive and you'd only need it if you got the 100mm f4 macro lens and planned on a lot of indoor macro photography. Its also nice to have out in the woods when you find those lovely flowers or fungus specimens in dark shade. But then you can always use a cable release and a tripod. Of course you can find flash units from other manufacturers - just make certain they are TTL dedicated with the X-700.

Hope this has been helpful.

Answer 2

when you mean 35mm, do you mean film camera or digital camera?

With film camera, I would recommend a secondhand Nikon F5 - I think it goes at 300-500 bucks on eBay nowadays. It's just the best film camera there is.

If you're asking about a DSLR, most of them would be able to shoot at 30 secs max and B mode.

If you want to get into macro photography, you can get a macro lenses for your SLR camera. If you want Canon, I think a 100mm macro lens would be one of the best bang for the bucks lenses.

For high zoom, people have been recommending the 70-200 mm f4-5.6L lenses. It's quite pricey, but many people swears by it.

Good large prints requirement would means you would want a 6 megapixel camera or more. The Nikon D40 or the Canon 350D can do that at a relatively low price. Add a little more and you'll get either the D40x or the Canon 400D.

I'm not sure what you mean by strobe mode. Continuous shooting with flash? I think most DSLR can do that. However cheaper one won't be able to shoot continuously as fast as a higher end/professional one.

Answer 3

If you wish to take images severely, you have to be ready to manually manage your shutter, aperture, and so on, and such a lot importantly, SEE precisely what you are photographing. Your present digital camera will undergo from parallax; the eyepiece you are watching by way of isn't what the lens (placed on an extra aspect of the digital camera) is watching at. With the SLR, you are watching by way of the lens via a reflect; as a consequence the time period unmarried-lens reflex (SLR). I located my images to upgrade greatly as soon as I had an SLR. It's now not the digital camera that makes you greater, however it is the manage that undoubtedly helped me. Be forewarned, it is plenty to manage to start with (like studying to force a auto), and the automated picks paintings simply as good. Also, SLRs aren't regularly high priced. Shop round; I bear in mind a small SLR having been invented that's almost a pocket digital camera with detachable lenses. Pretty low-cost, I'm definite.