If your computer has an SD card reader, consider using it ...

If your computer does NOT have an SD card reader then you can buy an SD card reader which will plug into any USB port ... the style & cost varies ... the price starts at under $1.00 directly from China (free postage ... it takes 10+ days for small items to arrive from China) through eBay OR for whatever the seller (foreign or domestic) can wrest from you ...

The card reader is ALSO another good alternative for people who don't want to use the camera-to-computer cable.

BTW. If your only USB ports are on the rear of the computer (if you are using a desktop computer), then you can attach a cable with the appropopriate male-female USB connectors on it for easier access.

FWIW. To "control the contrast" I have found that the image produced when shooting with any panchromatic film CAN be enhanced and/or controlled by using color filters ...

Have you tried shooting with a GREEN filter to balance any foiliage?

An ORANGE filter is sometimes a suitable alternative when shooting something architectural like a BRICK building (or, equivalently colored object).

.....A yellow filter? Meh. Why bother?!?

.....A blue filter? What was I thinking? Wasted money.

.....A red filter? That's apparently wasted money, too, if you aren't doing IR ...
.....OR maybe-or-maybe-not, a good thing if you are shooting with an orthochromatic film.

Typically, I would subsequently PRINT for the grey scale that I wanted in either the foiliage or other object in the image.

I guess SOMEONE needs to ask this question ...

.....How LARGE is your computer case AND many drives are you running in it?

.....Were you planning to run 6+ drives off the PS?

IMO, if you aren't running more than three drives (e.g., one DVD drive + two harddrives), then you probably don't need a PS with more than 450 watts.

BTW. I don't think that a PS with 750 watts will make your system better ...

If you want your computer to be more stable, then you should probably consider a larger UPS than you may be currently using ...

And/Or possibly, a harddrive with more capacity.

THAT's a very good information & a good caveat ...

.....Particularly if Dell-or-anyone-else is still following THAT practice!?!

BTW. Unless Dell's "engineers" have gone really rogue with (for example) the RED-wire-being-the-GROUND or any other non-standard color coding, then ...

Simply re-arranging the colored wires on the two plugs of the standard PS to match the color arrangement on the Dell PS's plugs should have made a "standard" PS usable (if I encountered THAT situation then I would probably include a note-to-myself "label" of the irregularity just in case the once-standard PS was used with a different motherboard at some later date ... e.g., 'DELL WIRING ... CHECK SEQUENCE').

FWIW. There are probably only three (?) issues with which you need to be concerned ...

1) The type of PS (e.g., PC, AT, ATX, etc.) because of the actual connectors which mate with the motherboard
2) The accessory power connectors (e.g., MOLEX, SATA, other)
3) The PS actually fits the case which you have (i.e., a "standard" PS will not fit in a "compact" case)

FWIW. In the pre-digital AND pre-TV_light era, I shot a lot of indoor sports photography ...

Have YOU shot any boxing matches, yet?

YOU need to decide whether the lens on whatever camera(s) you used managed to capture the image you wanted OR if you wanted a tighter (?) in-camera cropping ...

So, what I think that YOU need the limitations of the situation you will be in ...

AND THEN, simply decide which camera has the lens which will provide the image you want.

As far as Bridge cameras ... they are great if you are okay with the auto-focus AND their comparatively small sensor.

I presume that the camera you are currently using does not have a lens which will zoom as much as you want ...

So, the zoom capability AND your budget should probably be the two key parameters that guide your purchase ...

Sony?

Why not?!?

Canon?

Why not?!?

Nikon?

Why not?!?

.....et cetera ...

FWIW ...

MY point was just that you could use ANY portable storage device which is more/most convenient for you.

FYI. In case you don't already know, an image which is on an SD card can be edited & re-saved ...

As with a file on ANY device, if you don't want to modify the original, then save the edited image with a new name.

Unless you are referring to your SD card as an 'external drive, I think that simply putting the SD card in a baggie (to more readily keep track of it!) might/could-or-would be an even easier method of transporting the images than lugging the external drive to-and-fro.

I don't know which 35mm Pentax you had-or-have ...

.....Pentax's Takumar lenses were considered to be VERY GOOD to EXCELLENT.

If you still have it then get an adapter for the lens(es) which you have so that you can use it/them on your Canon ...

.....Less than $15 via eBay (postage paid from Hong Kong or someplace in China) ...

FYI. The ONLY (?) caveat is that the inexpensive, hollow-tube adapters which I have will focus PAST infinity ... by MY reckoning, that can probably be 'fixed' with a shim that is about the thickness of a piece of file card or manilla folder ... but, once I figured out the PROBLEM, I stopped racking the lens's focusing ring all the way over to infinity & leaving it there for distant objects.

A lot of cameras will allow you to "peak" at a very small portion of the total viewing area which will greatly facilitate focusing when using a manual focus lens ... if there is a button with a "magnifying glass" somewhere on the back of your camera, try pressing it ...

.....et cetera ...

Even though you are on a fixed income ...

.....Beyond learning how to target the area you want to focus ...

If you can live without the auto-focusing, instead of trying to borrow/rent a 50mm lens from someone/someplace, you may want to consider BUYING your own vintage 50mm lens (if you don't have a 35mm SLR) + a "dumb" hollow-tube adapter ...

Even though you have a Canon, if you are going to be using a "dumb" adapter, then I recommend you choose a Nikkor lens because you ever change camera bodies AND if you opt for a Nikon (yes, I know that is a sacrilegious statement for some people) because the lens will be functional in manual mode without an adapter (THAT can't be said about Canon 35mm SLR lenses on Canon Digital camera bodies) ...

.....If you can live with the manual, vintage 50mm lens then sell your kit lens.

.....If you can't live with the manual, vintage 50mm lens then re-sell the 50mm lens.

BTW. Are you certain that the lens which you have is capable of focusing as sharply as you want?

HMmmmm ...

....."... the Nikkors cost me nothing."

...............Does THAT mean you already have the lenses?

IMAGE STABILIZATION?

.....What's not to like about image stabilization?!?

BUT, I will say that if you feel that you have a good camera & you don't have Parkinson's-or-other-handicap, then I think that image stabilization typically isn't necessary if you are a deliberate photographer ...

To THAT end, I will say that when I am using my comparatively primitive & humongous PANASONIC L-1 with a vintage Nikkor lens that I have little difficulty holding the camera steady ...

.....The L-1 has TTL eye level viewing.

BUT, with the smaller m4/3 variants, having image stabilization is a very good thing when an eye level finder is not being used.

.....YOU may find that you can use a vintage lens on your current camera body without IS!

.....Of course, YOU could always opt for using a tripod to stabilize the camera.

AND, because most vintage "glass" are prime lenses, I think that the potential quality of the final image is mostly determined by the capability of the particular lens AND the ability of the individual to focus the lens.

Most of the "vintage" Nikkor lenses are very, very good. You may be surprised by what you have been accepting as good if you were to use an old Nikkor lens and then compare a shot-at-the-same-time image taken with whatever (presumably) Zoom lens which is your current favorite UNLESS you are using one of those humongous "Sports Illustrated" sideline lenses OR an "Art Wolfe" sized lens OR some other fairly expensive "glass."

.....THAT's not to say that there aren't some excellent "consumer" Zoom lenses, BTW.

So, FWIW, if you are thinking about biting the bullet then it may be worth ponying up for a(dditional(?)) used Nikkor lens(es) + an inexpensive adapter & actually testing it ...

Isn't the worst case scenario that you would resell the Nikkor lens(es) and/or adapter on eBay?

¿ What about simply using some tape OR a small piece of plastic over the pin held on by some tape or secured with dabs of tub-and-tile-caulk-or-equivalent adhesive which can later be removed to hold the pin down?

FWIW. You may want to take advantage of the camera body's image stabilization and use some vintage, full frame (35mm film format) lenses if you have any ...

.....If you don't currently have any, then I recommend most of the vintage Nikkor OR Zuiko OM lenses.

The only (?) caveat is that the hollow tube lens adapters do not appear to be calibrated for infinity (I'm basing that after-the-fact on several different adapters from several different "brands"). The so-called "calibration" (which I have not deemed to be necessary after figuring out you cannot simply rack the focusing ring over to infinity) would simply involve adding an appropriately thick "spacer" made from manilla-folder/index-card stock or similar material OR taking the time to focus on distant objects as necessary.

The only (?) downside (which shouldn't really be considered to be one, IMO) is manual focusing when using a vintage lens.

If you have a mirrorless camera which does not have the option of an ELECTRONIC VIEWFINDER then you can ...

EITHER, use an optical finder which is mounted to the top (if there is an accessory shoe) OR on a bracket which you can probably buy-or-fabricate ...

OR, I have seen a 'gizmo' (~$20 on eBay) which fits OVER/(shrouds) the LCD on the back of any camera ... I forget what it is called ... you can probably input something like 'mirrorless camera viewer' to find the various listings for the product.

First, I love Canon products ...

.....I had three Canon SLRs (TL, Pellix, F-1) ... unfortunately, they were all lost in a burglary.

.....I still have a couple of vintage, Leica-Thread-Mount rangefinder Canons ... suh-weet!

BUT, unless you have more than 50mm lenses on the two "inherited" cameras, then you may want to consider a different product line ...

BECAUSE, once you buy into Canon's digital cameras you will either be married-to-it OR possibly-and-probably suffer a huge financial loss if you decide to switch to a non-Canon at some time in the future ...

BECAUSE Canon's flange-to-"film"-plane distance is shorter than most ...

And so, your only future option (which is not a bad option) would probably be a mirrorless camera BECAUSE Canon may change their lens mount yet again.

Personally, I have a couple of humongous (IMO) Panasonic 4/3 (a DSLR) camera bodies + diminutive-by-comparison m4/3 (mirrorless) bodies ...

......Diminutive is good.

FWIW. If you are planning on a "business" AND if the choice is only between Canon & Nikon then I think you should probably consider a Nikon.

BTW. As disclosure, I have to tell you that in addition to the Canon 35mm cameras which I had-or-have, I also (still) have Nikon & Olympus OM-series 35mm cameras ... and, MY observation is that both the Nikon & Olympus Zuiko lenses were better than similar-focal-length Canon (film) lenses which I had ...

That was then ... also, I can't say about how Canon's & Nikon's current ZOOM lens optics compare AND/OR how the auto-focusing of the two compare.

.....I use the Nikkor & Zuiko "film" lenses on my 4/3 & m4/3 camera bodies.