Ernie

My SLR 35mm finally stopped working and I am on the brink of buying my first digital camera. Would like one with a viewfinder as I find the monitor hard to see in certain kinds of light. Would appreciate comments and experiences from novice and experienced digital users.

snowbear

Welcome aboard, Ernie.
How about a Hassleblad H4D-60? I hear it's a steal at $41,000. (sorry - I could't resist!)

What film SLR do you have? How much do you have invested in lenses? What is your budget? Are you interested in shooting video as well as stills?

The range of features available is rather broad and the prices can be as low as a few hundred dollars for a body and kit lens to several thousand for just the body.

silver Loc: Santa Monica Ca.

All digital SLR cameras have a viewfinder. As far as looking at the LCD screen, theres something called the Hoodman. This is a focusable viewer that fits over the LCD so you can see it, you just put it over the LCD screen and look into it. . There are two sizes, one for full frame cameras with a larger LCD and smaller one for smaller LCD cameras. Digital is not that complicated, the problem is that the camera manufacturers put so much junk in the cameras that nobody uses. Basically you do the same thing, focus, set F stop and Choose shutter speed. These settings can either manual (recommended) or Auto. All the other stuff is extraneous.

OnTheFly Loc: Tennessee

Hello Ernie. I'm also from the old school as a lot of folks on this forum are. I finally bit the bullet and got my first DSLR. I don't like the instant view screen. I use the view finder but I do enjoy looking at what I just took on the screen. Lets me know if I need to do it again.
Welcome aboard. You will find a lot of people eager to help here.