Is It Ok To Shoot With 10 Years Old Camera
Sometime DSLRs are an utter bargain. I picked upwards a Nikon D700, first debuted in 2008 for around £2000 GBP (or $iii,600 USD at the time), for under €300 last month (~$350 U.S.). It'southward a pro-level machine that is in some ways better than today's cameras. It's tough, its photos expect as amazing as the twenty-four hour period it launched, and is uniform with pretty much any Nikon lens made in the last 60 years.
And it's not but DSLRs. Something like the mirrorless Fujifilm X100s is still every bit skilful equally its newer siblings, for most people. Generally, digital cameras age faster than film—new features and better sensors mean "former" models are obsolete much faster than with motion-picture show cameras. Merely unlike the early days of digital, where yearly improvements were significant, existent improvements have slowed.
The combination of slowing growth and plunging prices means you lot tin pick upward a 5-10 year-old bargain photographic camera right at present that is comparable to today's models. What'southward more, you might be able to use it every bit a webcam, one that will blow your friends and coworkers away, if you demand i.
Why buy an old DSLR?
The main reason to buy an former digital photographic camera is that they're less expensive. A $5,000 pro DSLR will lose ane/3 of its value as soon as you lot open the box, and and so lose $1,000 per year, according to Machine Planet'due south Dante Stella. In 2008, the D700 cost around $three,000. Today you can get one on eBay for ane/tenth that toll. Mine toll me €320 (~$375), including an actress (~$300 originally) battery grip.
The other reason to buy used is that you cann get a much better camera for your money. You can have yesterday's pro automobile, with lots of room for settings, features, and higher-resolution production for a wider range of uses, for the cost of a cheaper pocket photographic camera today Many professional photographers use their favorite models for years, because their skill is in shooting photos, not ownership cameras.
All this applies to whatsoever digital camera, but I will keep using the D700 as an example considering it embodies all the advantages, and many of the pitfalls, of ownership a used digital camera.
Megapixels and ISO
Digital cameras take long been measured in megapixels. Just more isn't ever ameliorate. The D700 just has 12.i megapixels, which might seem similar too few compared to some modern models. But 12 is more plenty. Merely ask Sony, whose latest camera sports a 12 megapixel sensor. First, ask yourself how many photos y'all print. Then, ask how big those prints are. This handy nautical chart shows that a 12 megapixel sensor volition print an excellent xv×x photo. And for sharing on-screen, 12MP is enough.
The D700, and cameras starting in that 2008-ish era, tin besides perform in lower-lite environments. The D700 was one of the commencement cameras to offer high ISO settings that produced usable photos. Modernistic smartphone cameras are using custom algorithms on specialized fries to achieve decent dark photos. But the D700, and many DSLRs after it, shoot peachy pictures with their powerful sensors. The D700 turns out nice stuff at ISO 6,400, which requires 5 times less light than regular daytime ISO 200.
Former lenses never die
The smashing matter nearly DSLRs is that you tin can find, go along, and use quondam lenses, even on relatively newer bodies. Nikon is the gold-standard here. You tin can attach any Nikon F-mount lens made since 1958 to any Nikon SLR trunk.
There are some caveats to lens compatibility, however. But because a lens is compatible with a trunk doesn't mean all its features volition work. Newer consumer-level bodies lack a motor to drive older autofocus lenses, and the actually aboriginal lenses won't work with automatic exposure. But in full general, most stuff works, and yous can shoot photos. Canon changed its lens mount entirely when information technology switched to autofocus in the 1980s, but again, there's plenty of backward compatibility within its model history.
Advantages over modern cameras
Many older cameras are more than sturdily congenital than newer ones. These pro-level cameras from some other time ofttimes preferred metal parts to plastic, and are sealed against weather and dust. Every bit important is the blueprint. The D700, for instance, has a dedicated hardware knob, dial, or button for every important setting. Once it's fix, y'all can use it without ever navigating a menu on a tiny screen, with even tinier buttons, in sunlight. Even formatting the CF card is done by holding down two buttons together on the D700.
This makes the camera style more usable. Cheaper cameras often hide functions in menus, even of import ones similar ISO or white balance.
Things to watch out for
Not everything was ameliorate in the sepia-toned olden days. SLR cameras of this era rarely had video, or fifty-fifty live-view. They may also utilise CompactFlash (CF) cards, which are more than expensive than equivalent-chapters SD cards. CF cards have two rows of tiny holes in one finish, which engage with metal pins within the camera. These pins can get bent, which can ruin a camera. I killed a Canon compact photographic camera in the 2000s past jamming the CF carte du jour in the wrong manner.
Another thing to lookout out for is shutter count. The shutter in the D700 is rated to last through 150,000 actuations, on average. If the camera was actually used by a pro, that boilerplate could come up sooner than yous might think. With digital cameras, you tin ofttimes find an exact actuation count.. And cheque the model you're buying against the Camera Shutter Life Expectancy Database. Even if yous unknowingly bought a camera whose shutter is at the end of its life, replacing a shutter may still be cheaper than buying a new photographic camera.
Sensor dust is another possible trouble. Once grit gets stuck on a sensor, information technology can be hard to shift. Test for grit by shooting a plain black and a plain white surface, then checking the images. Sensor-cleaning kits are bachelor, but you can also get the cleaning done at a repair shop.
The legal video mess
In 2006, the Eu ruled that digital cameras were camcorders, and levied extra import duty of upward to 12.5%. This tax was possibly meant to be compensation for owners using their cameras to pirate movies and Tv shows. To avoid the actress taxes, photographic camera makers limited recording fourth dimension to 30 minutes (29 minutes and 59 seconds). Patently, the European union didn't care about people pirating sitcoms.
Inevitably, hacks are available to disable this limit. 30 minutes is enough for near people, but if you're filming a school play or similar, you lot may want more.
For Catechism cameras, there's a fantastic software add together-on called Magic Lantern. This runs from the CF/SD card, and gives all kinds of astonishing new features to EOS cameras. For other brands, a search will do the trick. Just bear in heed, your current smartphone might shoot better video than a ten-year-old camera.
How to buy
For safety, consider buying from a used camera shop with a warranty. That way yous will at least get some safety buffer, and if you buy from a practiced store, they will have checked information technology over for mutual problems.
Also, avert the top-of-the-line models. The D700 was the second in Nikon'due south lineup later the D3. As such, it was more than likely to be used as a spare past a pro, or as a hobbyist's main camera. I've seen D700s with shutter counts as low every bit 10,000.
If buying privately, endeavor to purchase in person (as safely every bit you lot can do that at present). If you haven't bought used cameras before, take a knowledgeable friend with yous. Don't be afraid to remove the lens, and to run the camera through its paces. Ane bonus of buying a camera like this is that the seller is probable to be an enthusiast, so they'll understand their camera and your needs.
And bring a tablet or laptop so yous can check those photos out on the big screen, and besides run the shutter-count check.
Repairability
A DSLR is a combination of mechanical parts and computers. The downside is that these are tiny, and packed inside a small camera torso. The expert news is that iFixit has a whole section defended to camera repairs. Yous might as well like to browse the Learn Camera Repair site, which is full of excellent tips and resource for fixing upwardly cameras. It'south as well a pretty good read.
It's also more than likely that an older pro-level camera is likely more repairable than a cheap modernistic camera. If a pro spends $5k on a tool, they await to be able to maintain and repair it, or at least have their local shop exercise information technology. Digital is more complex in terms of spare parts and repairs, but it'due south notwithstanding possible. Yet, while Nikon was known for keeping parts available for movie cameras that are years out of product, it recently killed off its authorized repair program. This means that only two locations in the U.Southward.—Melville, NY and Los Angeles, Calif.—will exist able to repair your Nikon camera.
According to the Nikon Photographic camera Repair Site, spares are hard to become for cameras made earlier 2006. The author at the Repair Site recommends trying to purchase broken versions of the same model from flea markets to cannibalize for spares. Check iFixit for repair guides to your used camera—they just happen to have the full Nikon service manual, schematics and all, for my D700.
One tip earlier you open an old DSLR: beware cameras with built-in flashes. Their capacitors can carry quite a jolt. A capacitor stores electricity like a battery, merely information technology can evangelize all of that ability almost instantly. If yous open up a device and get-go poking around without guidance, you could end up discharging it into yourself, which can exist mortiferous. If the camera has a built-in flash, its capacitor will exist pretty large. It's possible to safely belch a capacitor, but definitely stay away if y'all're not 100% sure what you're doing. And remember, even if the photographic camera hasn't been used for a while, capacitors can still remain charged.
Other than that, it'due south time to hit the classifieds, local used goods markets, or your local used camera stores. I get a kick out of knowing that I tin can easily beget a photographic camera that was way, way out of my toll range only a few years ago. You might, besides.
Source: https://www.ifixit.com/News/44277/why-you-should-buy-a-10-year-old-dslr
Posted by: jonesmucconothave.blogspot.com
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