Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Digital SLR users – input please.

The f/stop refers to the aperture (or size of the hole) that the shutter opens to while a photo is being taken, which regulates how much light is allowed through to the film/sensor.

Here's a link with more than you need to know.

Thanks Peter(s). I got it now. Maybe if I keep asking these dumb questions I'll figure out how to take a picture.

I found a sight with some info and test results on both lenses.

http://www.popphoto.com/cameralenses/2695/lens-test-olympus-zuiko-digital-ed-18-180mm-f35-63-af.html

http://www.popphoto.com/cameralenses/2763/lens-test-nikon-18-200mm-f35-56g-dx-vr-af-s.html

Ah piss on it….. I got tired of researching and just ordered the Olympus Evolt 510. I never was much for having patience and my trip to the big city got delayed for two weeks, so I wont be able to play with any of these cameras. Plus it’s my B-day Monday

I downloaded a bunch of high res pictures that someone posted that he took with the slightly lower level Evolt 410 and was dazzled buy them. If I can learn to take picures like that with the same type of camera, I'll be a happy camper.

I got a kit that comes with two lenses. Some NYC store has them in stock and it’ll ship one day air on Monday. ( 17th street Photo. ) I hope they are legit. They say they’re authorized….

Olympus Evolt E-510 Live Preview/Dual IS
Two Lens Outfit with 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 and 40-150mm f4.0-5.6 Zuiko Digital Lenses -58mm-
Olympus XD 2GB Panorama Picture Card **Type-M**
$1080 shipped.

Another friend of mine and I got to taking about this and he said he was interested in buying one of the 4/3 cameras. He offered to buy this one from me if I don’t like it.

Now I can get off my ass and do some work. My friggin but's sore from sitting at the computor researching these things for the past week.

Congrats on the decision! That combo sounds great. Olympus makes great equipment. My first digital camera was a little Olympus point-and-shoot, and it was a heck of a nice camera at the time.

I have heard of 17th Street photo, but I don't directly remember if it's + or -. It looks like they're a good one from the ratings here .

Now I don't wish to alarm you, and it's likely that your transaction will go through without a hitch, judging from the feedback they've received. But just in case it doesn't, I can tell you what some of the 'scammy' stores do...

They will call you on Monday and try to 'upsell' you to a different model, or tell you that you need to pay $xxx more for the US Version. Sometimes they will disguise this sell as a 'your credit card didn't go through', or 'address verification' or some such nonsense. They very often call and will try to sell you accessories (which sometimes can even be the manual for the camera). I have heard stories that cameras were suddenly out of stock when people refused to buy the vastly overpriced accessories. I've also read stories of cameras just never arriving and credit card charges sticking for weeks before being resolved. I have heard stories of folks receiving grey market goods when there were supposed to be genuine US stuff. That's a pretty common tactic with some of the lowball-price places.

The internet can be a wild place to buy cameras!

When you receive your stuff, I'd just make sure you have all of the US Warranty cards and that any serial numbers match between boxes, documentation, and product. If any of it is suspect (photocopied manual, missing warranty cards, opened boxes, missing charger, etc) then be wary.

I just bought the Nikon D40 camera this weekend.
Nikon D40

Can't wait to start using it. God it has an awful lot of functions. It's going to take me awhile to figure them all out. Good thing the camera came with a dvd on digital photograpy. At least now I can finally take a pic of my home theatre setup!

Great choice. I've had the D40 for about 4 months and added the VR 18-200 lens about 2 months ago. For me, this camera takes better pics than anything I've ever had and I've had many different cameras. Just a suggestion, follow Ken Rockwell's settings and your pics will be brilliant, crisp and fantastic. You an always adjust if you want but his settings give you a great starting point. This camera should do everything you want.

Here is a link to the aforementioned guide. There is also a PDF you can download.
I used it to start getting a sense of my D40, but have moved on to my own personal favorites. It's a great way to get comfortable with what your camera can do.

My toy arrived last Tuesday and I’ve been playing with it some, reading the manual some…..

It took me about five minutes to realize I’m completely lost. This thing has more friggin settings, options, modes, etc than I will ever understand. I am overwhelmed. Heck I don’t know which record mode to use……. Holly crap, what did I get myself into?? Is there a good DSLR for dummies book worth getting?? Sonofabitch, this is going to take years to figure out! UGGG…

Other than being completely overwhelmed, this is very nice little camera. I shouldn’t really call it a little camera either. I’ve read where some folks say it will fit in a pocket……ya, right…maybe a pocket in a parka, but it ain’t fitting in any pockets of mine.

Congrats on the new toy - I'm sure you will get to know it well after a while. Just hang in there. At least there's no film to waste. You can just start taking pictures ad lib and keep only the good ones, sending the bad ones off to a digital graveyard.

Tangent alert: Are you still racing cars/bikes/anything with wheels?