Robert1 Loc: Davie, FL

Hi all, and thanks in advance!! I am in need of some input. After shooting film since I got my first camera (1980), I have decided that next year, after Pentax releases their first FF, I will decide if I want to go with the Pentax or the Nikon 750 for my first digital ever camera, now that FFs are affordable. I have no experience at all with digital cameras, all I know is that the APC cameras never did it for me, because of their viewfinders. they cannot match the brightness of my film cameras; at least the ones that over the years I tried at the stores.

What is it, in terms of being able to process the captured images, that I would need in order to print correctly a picture that let's say it was perfectly exposed.

My computer is about 10 years old with windows XP on it, and using the integrated video from the motherboard, and a so,so AMD CPU, and 1 gig of hard drive memory, and 2 gig of RAM. I have an Epson Perfection 2450 Photo scanner and an Epson Stylus Photo R320 printer. My monitor is a $180.00 Acer. Is this enough? I know the cameras come with their own suite for processing images. Is it better with, let's say Adobe Photoshop? or it does not matter.
Or should I just bring the memory card to my photofinisher here in South Florida (Dale Laboratories, they are great), and have them process the images if it is too much of a hassle and/or too much time for doing it oneself; since I am planning on making prints. I have not experience at all processing digital images coming directly from a camera. Should I get a new computer? Thanks.

jethro779 Loc: Tucson, AZ

First off welcome to the hog. My guess is that if you initially plan to use the post processing program of either the New Pentax or the Nikon you will find that your computer is out of date and neither Pentax or Nikon's programs will run on your computer. I know that the current offerings for almost all the post processing programs 2gb of ram will make your computer feel like it is an old 286 computer running window 3.1.

I use Apple(iMac & MacBook Pro) and find that they do good with 16gb of ram. Others will chime in on the PC side.

Dick Z. Loc: Downers Grove IL

Whew!!! you got a lot of Questions there. There's a lot of smart people here, so you should get a lot of good answers. I'm mostly a Canon user and do use their Raw processing software they supply when purchasing their DSLRs. I also use an outdated version of Photoshop when working on Jpegs And it does most of what I want. My computer uses 8 gig of ram and I have no problem with that. Good luck, you should get many good reply's.

Robert1 Loc: Davie, FL

At Jethro and Dick Z. Thanks for your input. I think that my greatest concern is to get the right computer set up for pprocessing and printing.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

I'm a little confused here. You first say you have no experience with digital cameras and then you go on to say that APC-S never did it for me because of their viewfinders . You can't have it both ways. Either you are familiar with digital or you're not. I have a crop Canon 7D Mark II with a very bright 100% viewfinder. The crop sensor Nikon D7200 also has a bright 100% viewfinder. What are you basing your opinion on?

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

Welcome to the hog. When it comes out I won't be able to buy the new Pentax FF for a couple years so I envy you.

The one thing that sticks out in my mind is your comment about the brightness in the view finder. Some manufacturers don't have it but Pentax prides itself for having a 100% viewfinder.

If you use equal lenses, the brightness should be pretty close. For example when looking through my older Pentax P3 film camera and a modern kit lens, (f:4.5), I totally understand. Using my older Pentax 50mm f:1.2 on my newer Pentax k5 and the difference is next to nothing. Once when digitally photographing on a frozen snow covered lake on a sunfilled day, I had to wait a few minutes for the snow blindness to go away.

When you do switch over to digital, expect to be VERY confused! I remember it taking me about six months to become semi-comfortable with my first digital menu.

In reality, I doubt anyone remembers all the features all the time. They just use a bunch of commonly used features. (Don't loose that manual!!!) Gone will be the analog "simple" adjustments. There are so many things on the menus, good luck. Practice alot and don't try fancy things until a later time.

Don't let others tell you to hurry up. Some of the simplest things can be pretty tough to figure out where they are and then you'll find several newer functions that do about the same thing making it double or triple hard to remember! Just don't give up!!! Digital is wonderful.

You should upgrade the computer or you'll be waiting for things to happen. That and you should have at least a 8 gig of ram computer because half of that will be needed to operate "things" correctly leaving 4 gig for your post program. Many post processing requirements need 4 gig to run properly more is better.

For any newer computer make sure it has 3.0 usb ports and that you get a matching 3.0 memory card reader.

My daughter just got a simple laptop for work and even it came with a digital drive to speed thing up.

You won't need the scanner for newer photos only to digitize your older stuff. The printer will work if you can find a driver upgrade but it will likely be better to have things printer out at your local print service.

I probably forgot some things but good luck. Merry Christmas BTW!

jethro779 Loc: Tucson, AZ

In his post he said that "the Apc Cameras he tried in stores", so I am guessing he went to a Store to try them and did not really know that with some cameras that you can preview the shot as the camera will take it if you push the right button on the camera.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

Well, maybe OP had handled them in a store and wasn't impressed by the viewfinders seen.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

Welcome to the Hog!

First you'll need to upgrade your OS (Due to standards changes you may soon not be able to even connect to the internet with Windows XP - can't remember where I saw this item) or better get a newer computer that has the processing power to handle RAW files.

Monitor should be able to be calibrated. There is a huge number of monitors in this category of all sizes and prices.

I am partial to iMacs and the newest iMacs with the 27" 5k monitors are reported to be great!

HTH

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Two comments. Many low end DSLRs such as the Canon Rebel family have a pentamirror instead of a pentaprism to save cost and weight. Higher end DSLRs have a true pentaprism which should be as bright as a stand film SLR viewfinder.

Secondly, you really should get a new computer. Windows XP is a security risk now that it is no longer supported, and if you wish to view / edit your own photographs it will be a much more enjoyable and worthwhile activity with a new system.

Enjoy!

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

I believe the Nikon 5xxx and the 3xxx series cameras also use the pentamirror. But the Sony and Olympus do not have either. All including the Rebel seem to work relatively well though. Actually just now looked through a pentamirror and a FF pentaprism and could not see much if any difference with a 50mm f 1.8. Oh well.

wattsimages

welcome to the world of digital. I sold all my film gear in 1999. A Canon A-1, and 2 T90, and more lenses that I care to remember. At this time film gear actually had some value. So after I sold everything and then add a little extra cash, I was able to purchase a 2.6 megapixel camera. Yes that's right 2.6 megapixels for the bargain basement price of $5000. At that time I didn't have a lot of choice. But now you do.

I would recommend two things.
1. Hold the camera in your hand. Go to your local camera store and trying to determine which one feels the best in your hand, which one has the menus that make the most sense.

2. What do your peers use? Having the same camera brand as your friends, neighbors, and coworkers, has great advantages. It gives you the ability to go out and shoot someone using the same gear. Share lenses, and benefit from their experience.

if you still have old manual focus lenses, there are ways to use them. But be cautious, some of these cameras can be complicated. I own the a7rII, and Nikon D800e. my coworker owns Canons 5D III, and 5Dsr. having shot with all these cameras I can tell you that the Sony is the most complicated. I can also say that each brand has its strengths and weaknesses. So if you follow the two suggestions above you should get at least a good start.

The other posters who said you should upgrade your computer are correct. Your computer is essentially your darkroom. Except that your darkroom is full of chemicals that will not process your new digital film. And even if you upgrade your operating system, it will still be a slow and painful process. As for windows versus Apple, go back to the two suggestions above. Which one feels right to you, in which one do your friends have. Software is also complicated, and having a friend that uses the same, allows you to ask... personally I'm an Apple, Adobe, user. But Adobe CC has been so bad lately that I wouldn't recommend it.

Good luck, and have fun

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

All good advice! About manual focusing. If he waits for the Pentax full frame to come out, he should have no problem. Every dslr Pentax is fully backward compatible to older lenses and the newer FF model should be also.

A few older lenses are in my arsenal although I have upgraded everything except for my fabulous 50mm f:1.2. I love that one but my eyesight is, putting it mildly, getting old and manual focusing is more difficult.

Robert1 Loc: Davie, FL

to answer MWSilvers reply, I said:I have no experience at all with digital cameras, all I know is that the APC cameras never did it for me, because of their viewfinders. they cannot match the brightness of my film cameras; at least the ones that over the years I tried at the stores.

As other poster correctly read; my handling of any digital camera has been at the local big stores, like: Best Buy, Wal- Mart, BrandsMart, etc. normally, all of these store only carry the lower tier cameras (APC), I have never been able to have in my hands a full frame, but from what I read, they have brighter viewfinders over APCs. I still maintain that all APCs I have handle at the local stores over the years do not match the brightness of the viewfinders of my film cameras like the Pentax LX.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

There is some logic to your point from two perspectives. As mentioned earlier cameras with a pentamirror are plenty good enough (I have one) but a true pentaprism found in higher end APS-C cameras such as the EOS 7D mk II are generally considered to be a little brighter.

Secondly, a full frame DSLR covers a greater area, and thus 'sucks in more light' potentially appearing brighter.

I have a Canon T3i which is an APS-C DSLR with a pentamirror but don't really notice any issues, especially if I put something like 55mm f/1.2 lens on it. Plenty of light.

Perhaps your issue with the store cameras is that they have a standard zoom lens on them which is frequently something like an f/3.5 - 4.5 lens which clearly won't deliver as much light as a f/1.8 or f/1.4 standard lens that was typical with film SLRs.

Good luck.