Hello! I recently got into photography, and purchased a Minolta x700, with several MD lenses. I’m very happy with it, but I didn’t realize how expensive film photography can be. I am considering to switching to DSLR once I develop my skills, and I was wondering what some good options are for entry level DSLR cameras would be.
Ideally the DSLR should or can accept my current Minolta MD lenses.
Thanks!
Edit: I’m not even sure that DSLR photography will be more cost effective, so if I’m wrong, please fill me in! I paid 24 dollars for a 3 pack of Fujifilm 200, and it is 17 dollars to develop a single roll at CVS (there are no other photo labs in the area, and they send it away, anyway).
I would 100% not recommend honing your skills with film. Just get any old DSLR. Second hand they can be had for almost nothing for an entry level DSLR. Then you can take 2000 photos in an afternoon and really start to learn the craft of photography and it’s cost you nothing.
The photography world has changed quite a lot since the Minolta days.
To answer your question directly, I’d recommend getting a used Sony a7 of whichever generation you like the price of.
That being said, if we dig a bit deeper, kids are some of the most challenging subjects, and family gathering some of the most challenging events: fast movement requiring fast focusing, low light requiring wide apertures, high ISO or flash.
I’d consider switching entirely to a modern system that can get you those features.
If you are ok with using adapters and using manual capabilities on the lenses…there are adapter rings that can adapt the lenses to almost any camera. I did that starting off as a way to save money.
Like others have said, I’d recommend a mirrorless camera over a DSLR, especially if you’re taking photos of kids. I’ve recently switched from a Pentax k-x DSLR to a Sony a6000 mirrorless. One of the main reasons I switched was for the burst speed of a mirrorless.
This means that if the kids are running around like lunatics, I can set the burst mode to high, and it takes 11 photos a second, for a bit over two seconds. I’ve got a much higher chance of catching them with their eyes open, or not pulling a face as they’re moving, and so on. With a decent sized memory card you can take thousands of photos, and just delete the ones you don’t like.
The camera is a lot lighter too, and the lenses can be smaller, so they’re easier to carry and to use hand held.
What’s your budget for a new camera?
I would have to put a cap at 500 dollars
With that budget I would say get the Canon EOS R100 which is on sale on B&H for $379 currently and normally $479. Then get the FotodioX Pro lens mount adapter (MD-CRF-P) for $65. Don’t forget a memory card; the SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC 64GB for $16.
You’re paying $75 total for three rolls of film. If you take photos a lot then buying a cheap modern mirrorless camera (DSLRs are dated) will definitely be cheaper.
Two great free photo editing software’s are Darktable (editor and photo manager) and PhotoGIMP (a patched version of GIMP to make the UI similar to Photoshop). Bruce Williams on YouTube makes great tutorials for learning how to use Darktable.
Since you are primarily taking photos of your kids I suggest saving some money for a cheap hotshoe flash. It’ll really benefit photos of people.
This is a solid recommendation