Thread: Cannon SLR's

I'm in a predicament... My Cannon AE1 program is now showing it's age, and abuse... Just discovered green lines around the front joints and the film door has a line or rust around the door...

I'm rather inclined to take it in and have it looked at, cleaning it up or repairing it and such... but fear what that may cost...

OR ditch film and go digital... the practical side says go digital as 99.99% of my pics are just close ups of knives, cooking, food, and such. But I have fond memories with this camera...

If I do go digital I'll be going Cannon if my lenses fit the new format... if not... I'm at a loss as to what I'll do...

What do the photo nuts here have to say ???

I had a similar issue as you DC. I opted to go digital but I have also kept my old film camera gear for the day I do decide to restore them for memorabilia. I recommend you just take the plunge into digital, and I know the feelings that you're having regarding your good old AE1. I love my Canon cameras and have a healthy debate with a mate and fellow photographer about the merits of Canon vs Nikon. If you do decide to do the digital move, remember it's better to have two smaller memory cards rather than one large storage card, just in case things go wrong with the one. Get yourself a twin lens kit and don't worry too much about interchangability of the AE1 lenses. You'll get great macro images from an 18-55 mm lens and you will also have the tele lens as a bonus.

Hope that helps.


Mick

I'm using a Canon Rebel for all my shots. It's got a cheaper 1.6 crop sensor, but takes both the EF and EF-S lenses without a problem. canon rebel The newer ones will take HD video too...

you do not even have to go SLR for good pics, a higher end P&S will get the job done. Canon g11 should be a great camera, and if you want you can get cheap and good lenses for it from here:
Lensmateonline - Canon PowerShot G11, G10

i might be wrong but i dont know if the ae-1 takes the ef lenses that canon uses for their digital slrs, i would check though cause im not positive. if you do decide to go digital i would gladly take the old film camera off your hands

-dan-

Watch the Bay.. I picked up an older Canon 300D Digital Rebel for 100 bucks. It is only 6.3 megapixels but that is fine for what I need. Also was able to pick up an older Rebel II film camera for 15 bucks that works fine as well.

I went digital a long time ago but have always had Point and Shoot cameras. I am looking at taking a photography class and they require 35mm SLR so that was the main reason for picking that one up and the other was just a good deal and gets me running in the Digital SLR area as well.

As far as the Lenses those are the FD not the EF but you can purchase an adapter that will allow you to use the FD on an EF body.

Canon AE1 were not really meant to last. They were made mostly of plastic with a metal finish, and had lots of electronics inside to drive the auto-everything.

If you want to go for old school, then I suggest you to get something more mechanical and sturdy. You can get a Canon F1 (the old professional model, a brick!) for a song, and it will let you use your lenses.

I would go digital and keep the old camera as sort of a keep sake maybe looking into what could be done to preserve it enough to have the option of restoring it later. 1 thing I will never go without on a camera again is manual focus and not many of the non SLR cameras have manual focus but there are a few.

As far as I'm concerned, nothing beats the vesatility of a SLR. Personally, I would go digital at this point. Shaving with an old razor is one thing but you don't have to try and find compatable accessories for it. Repairs could cost you as much as you paid for the camera itself. As far as Canon vs. Nikon goes, I used to sell both until Ritz Camera was forced to close half it's stores, including mine. Both are great products. I'm a Nikon shooter myself but if you've been happy with Canon all these years, there's probably no reason to change. As far as memory cards go, I agree with Mick that two are better than one, but I'd recommend two 4G cards, as two 2Gs will probably cost you almost as much. Good luck.

Lots of food for thought guys thanks

I don't know enough about cameras to fill a small bowl, took a class in college (back in 83) but as with many kids right out of high school... ya I don't remember much at all

My mother got me a Cannon TX when I was in high school and I've been with Cannon ever sence. I still have that frame somewhere...

My daughter has a Nikon CoolPix and it does very well, she's taking the same college class I took, but she's doing it at 15!!! She thinks that photography is the bomb and has ideas of becomming a photographer. I'm so glad she's more collected mentally than I was at her age HAHA!!!