I am buying my first SLR and planning to begin my amateur career in 
photography. The candidates are:


1. Vivitar 3800N SLR Camera with Vivitar 28-70mm Lens 
   Vivitar 70-210mm f/4-5.6 Lens 

2. Pentax ZX-M 

3. Nikon FM10 SLR Camera with Nikkor MF 35-70mm Lens 
   Vivitar 70-210mm f/4-5.6 Lens 

4. Canon EOS 300 SLR Camera (known as Rebel 2000 in American markets)

16 responses total.

Also, some suggestions on picking up appropriate lenses. For eg. the 
Canon is offerend alongwith Canon EF 28-90mm Lens. Is that ok for a 
beginner or should i pick some other lens?

A 28-90mm lens isn't a bad choice for general shooting.  Zoom lenses are
very handy in situations where you can't take more than one lens with you,
and you aren't sure what you'll need.  Personally, I have a 28-55mm for that
purpose, but that particular choice is because that's what was with the
camera when I bought it used.

What you'll want beyond that depends a lot on what kind of shooting you'll
be doing.  I find that other than the 28-55mm zoom, the lens I use most is
an 80-200mm zoom telephoto, but most of my photography is outdoors.  If
you'll be doing a lot of photography under low-light conditions you may want
to get at least one fixed focal-length lens, since they require less light
than zoom lenses.  A lot of people get a 50 or 55mm lens for that purpose.

There's no need to buy a lot of stuff to start with.  You may want to begin
with just the 28-90mm lens, then add others if you find yourself wishing you
had them.

i use to find 80mm to be a good focal length for
portraiture, my 28-85 is still my all around lens
i love a slightly wide angle for the little bit of
distortion which leads your eye into the composition

problems with zoomers is that the focus is sometimes
not so *hard & crisp*

if you have the money, go with the nikon equip and try to find
a good fast 50mm lens to practise with as well.

Are primes available for Nikon bodies? Can Nikon digital and
film SLRs use the same lenses?

Doh!  I just found primes on Nikon's Web site.

Over the last couple of days I have taken some pictures with
a Pentax MV manual focus SLR that is on indefinite loan from
a friend.  I really like this camera: it's metal and feels
robust without being very bulky.  The shutter action is very
smooth.  I expect I would have trouble finding a comparable
new camera if I went shopping today.

There's nothing quite like the feel of a fully-mechanical SLR.  I 
sometimes miss that about my old Canon F1.  I don't miss carrying the 
weight around, though; that thing felt like it was a solid block of 
brass. ;)

I have an even older Kodak Pony.  Fully mechanical, but no annoying mirror
to clang up and down.  It weighs very little, since it doesn't have all those
mechanical bits to lug around.

That reminds me of an interesting feature of the F1 -- you could lock 
the mirror in the up position.  Obviously this blacked out the 
viewfinder.  It was intended for precision work where it was desirable 
to avoid the vibration of the mirror slapping upwards.

Woohoo!  Mrs. Ball bought me a Pentax ZX-M manual-focus 35mm SLR.  Now
to start saving for that 28mm prime! :-)

Lucky guy!!

Yes Indeedy :-)

I used to use a a Pentax K1000 all the time [and have a couple different
lenses for it].  It's broken now, though. :-(   I liked this one so much more
than the digital that I have now...

I posted my test roll from the Pentax MV on flickr.  These
images were scanned from prints, which is not ideal...

         http://www.flickr.com/photos/77593963@N00/

I'll have to check it out sometime, Andy, if I can! I can't cut and paste the
link from here, though; it doesn't work when I telnet in here to Grex.

You're not missing much.  It was just a roll to verify that
the camera worked and that I had an idea how to drive it.

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