smallest dslr available in US

On Mar 10, 6:43 pm, "John Smith" <shotb....RemoveThis@sneiorglobe.com> wrote:
> Looking for a new 'street" edc camera...since the "compact" trend doesn't
> seem to be cutting it these days (raw becoming hard to find, for example),
> I'm thinking a mini-dslr might be the way to go...
>
> Any thoughts on the he smallest unit I can actually buy in the USA today?
>
> Thanks, DP

EOS 400D, man.
 >> Stay informed about: smallest dslr available in US 

>
> The Nikon D40 may be the smallest, but you are locked into zoom lenses
> as no Nikon primes have internal motors (well the 105 micro VR does
> but not exactly a street lens). The Pentax K100 may be the best
> choice, they have compact lenses like a pancake 21mm.
> There are also the rangefinders, though we are talking another level
> of $. The Epson RD-1 or the Leica M8. Cosina makes an affordable
> series of lenses under the Voigtlander name. Then of course there is
> the the Leica and Zeiss lenses.
>
> Tom
>

Mini Nikon would be good for me as I have a D70 that I hardly carry due to
size...I only use prime lenses on that, would they work on the D40?

DP
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tomm42 wrote:

> The Nikon D40 may be the smallest, but you are locked into zoom lenses
> as no Nikon primes have internal motors (well the 105 micro VR does
> but not exactly a street lens).

Works fine with Nikon primes -- even manual focus. But doesn't
auto-focus with non-AF-S lenses, and doesn't meter with non-chipped
(basically, non-AF) lenses. Since the "classic" street cameras had
neither autofocus nor meters, this doesn't seem like a big problem. (I
made lots of use of old manual-focus lenses on a Fuji S2, where they
didn't meter.)

While I understand some people may feel differently from me about the
importance of these features, and may therefore make different choices
from me, I do think it's important to distinguish between "can't be
used" and "works, but lacking some features". People need to be able to
make their own decisions about which features are worth how much to
them, we shouldn't be imposing our own views (it would be wrong for me
to say "they work just fine" and not mention the limitations).
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David Dyer-Bennet <dd-b DeleteThis @dd-b.net> writes:
> Works fine with Nikon primes -- even manual focus. But doesn't
> auto-focus with non-AF-S lenses, and doesn't meter with non-chipped
> (basically, non-AF) lenses. Since the "classic" street cameras had
> neither autofocus nor meters, this doesn't seem like a big problem.

But they had much better viewfinders, with manual focus assistance
devices.

> (I made lots of use of old manual-focus lenses on a Fuji S2, where
> they didn't meter.)

I dunno how you did that, for anything like street shooting. I
thought the S2's viewfinder was similar to a D70's. There's a
tremendous difference between that and something like an F3.
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On Sat, 10 Mar 2007 10:43:56 -0500, John Smith wrote:

> Looking for a new 'street" edc camera...since the "compact" trend doesn't
> seem to be cutting it these days (raw becoming hard to find, for example),
> I'm thinking a mini-dslr might be the way to go...
>
> Any thoughts on the he smallest unit I can actually buy in the USA today?

The D40 is Nikon's smallest DSLR, and it's slightly smaller than
Canon's 400D. Dpreview has a table including their peers. With
your newsreader set to the right fixed pitch font the copy below
should line up. If not, the table is located at:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond40/page3.asp

> Olympus E-500 130 x 95 x 66 mm (5.1 x 3.7 x 2.6 in) 479 g (1.1 lb)
> Nikon D40 126 x 94 x 64 mm (5.0 x 3.7 x 2.5 in) 524 g (1.2 lb)
> Canon EOS 350D 127 x 94 x 64 mm (5.0 x 3.7 x 2.5 in) 540 g (1.2 lb)
> Canon EOS 400D 127 x 94 x 65 mm (5.0 x 3.7 x 2.5 in) 556 g (1.2 lb)
> Sony DSLR-A100 133 x 95 x 71 mm (5.2 x 3.7 x 2.8 in) 638 g (1.4 lb)
> Pentax K100D 129 x 93 x 70 mm (5.0 x 3.7 x 2.8 in) 660 g (1.5 lb)
> Nikon D80 132 x 103 x 77 mm (5.2 x 4.1 x 3.0 in) 668 g (1.5 lb)
> Nikon D70 / D70s 140 x 111 x 78 mm (5.5 x 4.4 x 3.1 in) 679 g (1.5 lb)
> Nikon D50 133 x 102 x 76 mm (5.2 x 4.0 x 3.0 in) 620 g (1.4 lb)

The Olympus E-400 is quite a bit smaller than any of these, but it
isn't available in the USA. If you can afford to wait (at a guess,
a couple of months) the recently announced E-410 will be available
in the USA. Here's a link to dpreview's announcement, including a
press release and a hands-on preview:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0703/07030503olympuse410.asp


[from another message]
>> The Nikon D40 may be the smallest, but you are locked into zoom
>> lenses as no Nikon primes have internal motors (well the 105 micro
>> VR does but not exactly a street lens).
>
> Mini Nikon would be good for me as I have a D70 that I hardly carry due
> to size...I only use prime lenses on that, would they work on the D40?

From what Tom said, no. The D50 would work with your lenses, but
it's about midway in size and weight between the D40 and the D70. I
added the D50's spec's to the above table, it wasn't included by
dpreview in theirs. All weights are based on an included battery.
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 >> Stay informed about: smallest dslr available in US 

On Mar 10, 11:37 am, "John Smith" <shotb....RemoveThis@sneiorglobe.com> wrote:
> > The Nikon D40 may be the smallest, but you are locked into zoom lenses
> > as no Nikon primes have internal motors (well the 105 micro VR does
> > but not exactly a street lens). The Pentax K100 may be the best
> > choice, they have compact lenses like a pancake 21mm.
> > There are also the rangefinders, though we are talking another level
> > of $. The Epson RD-1 or the Leica M8. Cosina makes an affordable
> > series of lenses under the Voigtlander name. Then of course there is
> > the the Leica and Zeiss lenses.
>
> > Tom
>
> Mini Nikon would be good for me as I have a D70 that I hardly carry due to
> size...I only use prime lenses on that, would they work on the D40?
>
> DP

If they are NIKON screw drive AF lenses they will meter but not AF on
the D40. The Sigma 30 f1.4 has an HSM motor and will AF with the D40.
The problem with the D40 is it has a mirror viewfinder, more mag than
the D70 but still dim, which would make precise focusing difficult.
But on the street there is zone focusing.

Tom
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On Mar 10, 11:37 am, "John Smith" <shotb....RemoveThis@sneiorglobe.com> wrote:
> > The Nikon D40 may be the smallest, but you are locked into zoom lenses
> > as no Nikon primes have internal motors (well the 105 micro VR does
> > but not exactly a street lens). The Pentax K100 may be the best
> > choice, they have compact lenses like a pancake 21mm.
> > There are also the rangefinders, though we are talking another level
> > of $. The Epson RD-1 or the Leica M8. Cosina makes an affordable
> > series of lenses under the Voigtlander name. Then of course there is
> > the the Leica and Zeiss lenses.
>
> > Tom
>
> Mini Nikon would be good for me as I have a D70 that I hardly carry due to
> size...I only use prime lenses on that, would they work on the D40?
>
> DP

If they are NIKON screw drive AF lenses they will meter but not AF on
the D40. The Sigma 30 f1.4 has an HSM motor and will AF with the D40.
The problem with the D40 is it has a mirror viewfinder, more mag than
the D70 but still dim, which would make precise focusing difficult.
But on the street there is zone focusing.

Tom
 >> Stay informed about: smallest dslr available in US 

>
> If they are NIKON screw drive AF lenses they will meter but not AF on
> the D40. The Sigma 30 f1.4 has an HSM motor and will AF with the D40.
> The problem with the D40 is it has a mirror viewfinder, more mag than
> the D70 but still dim, which would make precise focusing difficult.
> But on the street there is zone focusing.
>
> Tom
>
Unless I'm using a long lens, I prefocus and go with dof anyway, so lack of
auto focus is no deal breaker.

But I stopped by a big box store tonight to take a look at the D40 and with
lens, it's still a pretty hefty package for what I have in mind.

Dunno anything about the quality these days, but size wise, that Pentax with
the pancake lens seems like a it might be worth a look.

DP
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"John Smith" <shotbred RemoveThis @sneiorglobe.com> wrote:

> Dunno anything about the quality these days, but size wise, that
> Pentax with the pancake lens seems like a it might be worth a look.

A nice cheap outfit is a Pentax K100D or K110D with an old 28mm F/2.8 prime
lens off of eBay yielding the same FOV as a more expensive 42mm pancake.
F/2.8 is faster than most "kit" lenses, smaller (being a non-zoom), and
also much sharper (same reason). Double your ISO and imagine it is F/2.0
:^)

I use a Pentax-A 28mm F/2.8 as a "normal" lens but also found a cheap
Vivitar equivalent was just as sharp except wide open.
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On Sat, 10 Mar 2007 22:47:16 -0500, John Smith wrote:

> But I stopped by a big box store tonight to take a look at the D40 and with
> lens, it's still a pretty hefty package for what I have in mind.
>
> Dunno anything about the quality these days, but size wise, that Pentax with
> the pancake lens seems like a it might be worth a look.

Considering only the bodies, the Pentax K100D is larger than any
of the small Nikon and Canon bodies and considerably heavier. If
the pancake lens weighs very little, it might make the combined
weights of body + lens comparable, but only for that one
combination. If you ever put another lens on the K100D you'll again
have a larger, heavier package than if a comparable lens was used on
a D40, 350D or 400D. And as I noted, while you did specify
availability in the USA today, if you can afford to wait a little
while, you'll be able to get an Olympus E-410 in the USA, and its
size and weight will be noticeably less than any of the other DSLRs,
479g. vs. 660g. for the E-410 vs. the K100D, for instance, and
Olympus's DSLR and lens quality tends to be pretty high.
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On 3ÔÂ10ÈÕ, ÏÂÎç11ʱ43·Ö, "John Smith" <shotb....RemoveThis@sneiorglobe.com> wrote:
> Looking for a new 'street" edc camera...since the "compact" trend doesn't
> seem to be cutting it these days (raw becoming hard to find, for example),
> I'm thinking a mini-dslr might be the way to go...
>
> Any thoughts on the he smallest unit I can actually buy in the USA today?
>
> Thanks, DP

Good!
http://fy4.net/ad.html
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On Sat, 10 Mar 2007 10:43:56 -0500, "John Smith"
<shotbred.TakeThisOut@sneiorglobe.com> wrote:

>Looking for a new 'street" edc camera...since the "compact" trend doesn't
>seem to be cutting it these days (raw becoming hard to find, for example),
>I'm thinking a mini-dslr might be the way to go...
>
>Any thoughts on the he smallest unit I can actually buy in the USA today?
>
>Thanks, DP
>

Soon:
http://www.minox.com/index.php?id=1267&L=1
Leica M3 replica.

--
The New York Times reported
Barack Obama made investments
in companies owned by his
campaign donors, then tried
to help them with legislation.
He says he didn't know he owned
their stock. Scooter Libby
watched his performance and
gave it a seven.
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